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Post by london777 on Nov 9, 2018 22:34:13 GMT
Most of these I have seen and enjoyed. A few I did not like, but others have enjoyed them and so may you. Some I have yet to see but I would welcome your comments. And I have surely omitted dozens. Please add any you can think of. When looking at Brit Noirs, the main point is that they are rarely "pure" noirs. The best ones are usually hybrids with other genres. Most of the "pure" Brit Noirs are pale imitations of American movies, so no "Double Indemnities" or "Out of the Pasts" emerged from this side of The Pond. One "pure noir" that can hold its head up in that company is: Night and the City (1950) dir: Jules Dassin, though the director and production company were American, as were the lead (Richard Widmark) and some other actors, so hardly a solely British triumph. The British contribution came from the original story by Gerald Kersh, a pulp-fiction writer who is overdue for a massive re-assessment, the acting of Googie Withers, Francis L. Sullivan, and other stalwarts, the superb location cinematography of Max Greene which made London a dominant character, and the score by Benjamin Frankel, a major composer who later notched up eight symphonies. Frankel's music was replaced for the American version by that of Franz Waxman. Whether this was because Frankel's music was considered too "advanced" for American ears, or because of his known left-wing sympathies, I do not know. Dassin himself was under investigation by HUAC and that may have heightened the frenzied paranoia of the movie. He was blacklisted once it was completed and did not direct again for five years, but as his next effort was the definitive heist movie "Rififi" maybe that was no bad thing. The reason why this film seems more English than American to me is its Dickensian quality, especially in the scenes with Withers and Sullivan. As in Dickens, there are lots of stories going on at the same time, more so than in a typical US noir where any sub-plots exist to serve the main plot. Another reason may be that there are no totally bad people here, they are all rounded portraits in shades of grey, betrayed by their weaknesses.
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Post by london777 on Nov 9, 2018 22:39:35 GMT
Others I hope to write about are:
On the Night of the Fire (1939) A Voice in the Night (1946) Temptation Harbor (1947) The October Man (1947) It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) Odd Man Out (1947) The Upturned Glass (1947) Brighton Rock (1948) Daybreak (1948) The Fallen Idol (1948) The Interrupted Journey (1949) The Small Back Room (1949) The Third Man (1949) The Clouded Yellow (1950) Pool of London (1951) The Man Between (1953) The Long Memory (1953) The Sleeping Tiger (1954) Joe MacBeth (1955) Across the Bridge (1957) Nowhere to Go (1958) Peeping Tom (1960)
But if you beat me to it, be my guest. I should be most interested in your opinions. Some we have already written about in other threads so feel free to copy-and-paste from those or post a link to them.
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Post by mikef6 on Nov 9, 2018 23:17:42 GMT
Hi London. I would like to accept your invitation to post our own reviews. I do have write-ups of some on your list but would like to start with two titles you don't have, if that's all right.
Cloudburst / Francis Searle (1951). This virtually unknown thriller shows that the British could do noir with the best of them. We also get a chance to see Robert Preston – the Music Man himself – as we have never seen him before. The setting is shortly after the end of WWII. Husband and wife Preston and Elizabeth Sellars are former Behind The German Lines spies. Preston is also a master code maker and breaker and is still in charge of that government department. As the movie progresses, we learn just how tough they both were and still are. While out for a walk one evening, they are informed by a constable that there had been a robbery and killing of a watchman nearby. Sellars says, “If I was that night watchman’s widow, I’d get them first. I would hound them with as little pity as we hounded Zimmerman. I couldn’t help it, John. My hatred would overwhelm me like a cloudburst.” Pretty strong stuff, especially for 1952. When tragedy strikes, Preston follows her example and uses his skills and contacts from the war to track down two lowlife criminals and execute them. His major nemesis is a police inspector who at first comes to ask Preston to work as a consultant but then comes to suspect the man he just hired. This is a tough, dark little revenge tale but with some heart and feeling. Robert Preston is the stand-out in the cast and a major reason for seeing this film.
The Naked Edge / Michael Anderson (1961). Who would have thought that Gary Cooper would end his career in a British noir? Cooper is top billed in this, his last movie, but the main character is really Deborah Kerr. (Coop died the month this premiered in the U.K. The movie opened in the U.S. two or three months after that.) The screenplay is by Joseph Stefano (from another writer’s novel). Stefano also penned the screenplay to Hitchcock’s “Psycho”, a fact that the movie’s tagline screams in ALL CAPS. Eric Portman (several Archers’ films) has a major supporting role. Peter Cushing, Hermione Gingold, and Michael Wilding show up in brief cameos. The short pre-credit sequence opens on a man’s arm and hand from the left of the frame. The hand holds a knife. The camera tracks the knife down a hallway and into an office. The knife is plunged into a man’s stomach. Opening titles. When we rejoin the film, someone is on trial in London for the murder and robbery (all the stolen money is missing). Cooper is waiting to be called as a witness. Kerr notes that he is sweating heavily. On Cooper’s evidence, the defendant, a co-worker in the murdered man’s company, is sentenced to Life for murder and robbery. Outside the courtroom, Cooper tells Kerr that he has made a lot of money on the stock market (“I’ve made a killing”), and they are now set for life. Years pass. Cooper and Kerr are very wealthy. A news report tells of a mail robbery a decade earlier from which a bag of regular mail had just been found. The old letters were to be delivered. One of those letters was from Portman demanding blackmail from Cooper. Cooper shrugs it off, but his wife, remembering the day of the trial, begins to investigate if only to relieve her own suspicions of her husband. This is a nice tight, twisty noir that will hold you to your seat until the end. Is Gary Cooper guilty of murder? Are you kidding me! The wife of the innocent man in prison is played, in one well-acted scene, by Diane Cilento, pretty much unknown at the time but only two years away from a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination and one year away from marriage to an equally unknown actor, Sean Connery. Cilento died in 2011. Actor Jason Connery is her son.
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Post by OldAussie on Nov 9, 2018 23:19:51 GMT
From your list I've only seen -
Odd Man Out (1947) Brighton Rock (1948) The Fallen Idol (1948) The Small Back Room (1949) The Third Man (1949) The Man Between (1953)
and as I would recommend all of these, I'm keen to seek out the others.
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Post by london777 on Nov 10, 2018 0:32:49 GMT
Hi London. I would like to accept your invitation to post our own reviews. ... We are very formal tonight, Mike. Do you wear your tuxedo to post on this board?... would like to start with two titles you don't have, if that's all right. Even better, but you do not need my permission for anything. You own this board (well, the Classics section, anyway).
I have never seen Cloudburst (1951) so will not comment except to point out that the story was by Leo G Marks, who know something about cyphers as he headed the coding section of Special Operations Executive in WWII. How did he first get interested in cyphers as a child? By decoding the buying prices which his father, like all antiquarian booksellers, penciled in code inside the front covers of his stock. Who was his father? He was Benjamin Marks, founder of Marks & Co, of 84 Charing Cross Road fame. Small world, ain't it? Leo frequently came to our shop just round the corner to dispute with my boss about Judaism. Our code, by the way, was: M A N U S C R I P T 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 I don't suppose that one would have held him up for long! Below: Preston and Harold Lang, who would be a good candidate for maxwellperfect's "Weaselly characters" thread. He specialized in sneering, slimy characters who broke down under pressure. Often with a sadistic streak and/or ambiguous sexual orientation.
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Post by mikef6 on Nov 10, 2018 1:38:54 GMT
Hi London. I would like to accept your invitation to post our own reviews. ... We are very formal tonight, Mike. Do you wear your tuxedo to post on this board?... would like to start with two titles you don't have, if that's all right. Even better, but you do not need my permission for anything. You own this board (well, the Classics section, anyway).
Small world, ain't it? Leo frequently came to our shop just round the corner to dispute with my boss about Judaism. Our code, by the way was: M A N U S C R I P T 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 I don't suppose that one would have held him up for long! Yes, it is a small world - and in the movie business and show business in general there is always a lot of fascinating Random Trivia to be Discovered, as the current thread goes. A lot of interesting connections between people.
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Post by london777 on Nov 10, 2018 12:44:32 GMT
From your list I've only seen - Odd Man Out (1947) Brighton Rock (1948) The Fallen Idol (1948) The Small Back Room (1949) The Third Man (1949) The Man Between (1953) and as I would recommend all of these, I'm keen to seek out the others. You have seen most of the best (the others are good, or not so good but with interesting aspects). The only other one (besides Night and the City and those you have listed) which I would rate as a "must see" is It Always Rains on Sunday (1947). One of the best English films ever. There is a 8 minute discussion of "It Always Rains on Sunday" here:
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Post by petrolino on Nov 10, 2018 14:56:35 GMT
Hammer Horror master Terence Fisher's highly regarded crime pictures of the 1950s are often highlighted as Brit noir. I'd enjoy hearing your thoughts on movies like the period noir 'So Long At The Fair' (1950); other crime titles worth considering are 'Home To Danger' (1951), 'Stolen Face' (1952), 'Wings Of Danger' (1952), 'Blood Orange' (1953), 'Mantrap' (1953), 'Blackout' (1954), 'A Stranger Came Home' (1954), 'The Flaw' (1955), 'The Last Man To Hang' (1956) and 'The Gelignite Gang' (1956).
Some of these used to screen here in the U K on the short-lived 'Bad Movies' film channel. I think, if I recall correctly, you've seen Fisher's movie 'Man Bait' (1952) with Diana Dors.
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Post by teleadm on Nov 10, 2018 17:25:29 GMT
For some reason two titles popped up in the back of my brain: Mr. Denning Drives North 1951, based on a novel by Alec Coppel, our old site refers to this movie as a Britt Noir Trent's Last Case 1952, based on a novel by E.C. Bentley, but maybe this is more a puzzle detective story. petrolino mentioned some older Hammer-Lippert era of movies, before Hammer went horror. The Last Page aka Man Bait 1952, with an aging George Brent and a young Diana Dors, bookstore owner after an affair is blackmailed. Well if I'm wrong I'm wrong
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biker1
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Post by biker1 on Nov 11, 2018 22:59:45 GMT
the sleeping tiger kind of anticipates the servant (1963-uk) - also from American director, Joseph Posey and starring Dick Bogarde. Interesting, if not particularly memorable. The other Losey movie there, time without pity (1957-uk), I found tedious, largely due to Michael Redgrave's dreary performance as struggling alcoholic.
I saw the the upturned glass (1947-uk) recently; Ho Hum James Mason psycho romance.
Brighton rock remains my favorite from those seen.
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Post by manfromplanetx on Nov 12, 2018 6:46:29 GMT
Dual Alibi (1947) directed by Alfred Travers, stars with a dynamic dual role Herbert Lom, striptease dancer in a rare film appearance Phyllis Dixey and Terence De Marney. An excellent British film noir, treachery, deceit a gorgeous femme filmed with a very dark tone, with an original courtroom twist. highly recommended... Terence De Marney stars as Johnnie Thompson, a veteran and popular boxer known as "The Croucher" . When he finally faces life outside the ring, life spirals out of his control. Unable to satisfy his demanding wife Jonnie becomes involved in criminal activity and finds himself with No Way Back (1949) Stefan Osiecki A great favourite film of mine is, Meet Mr Callaghan (1954) directed by Charles Saunders and based on the 1938 novel The Urgent Hangman by Peter Cheyney, the highly entertaining mystery thriller it is also notable for the theme music and score by Eric Spear which became a best-selling record. Starring as Private Eye Slim Callaghan with a wonderfully entertaining tongue-in-cheek performance is Derrick De Marney ..
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 14, 2018 1:16:57 GMT
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Post by london777 on Nov 14, 2018 2:10:13 GMT
Thanks Hitch, a massive contribution to the thread. Health and IT problems delayed me returning until now, but now you have given me a lot of homework to do before I dare write another word. I look forward to reading up. Just a superficial comment. You omit It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) and Peeping Tom (1960). I presume this was not through lack of merit but because you do not consider them true Film Noirs, which I could well understand. I hope to discuss this when I get round to them.
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Post by london777 on Nov 14, 2018 2:53:34 GMT
One "pure noir" that can hold its head up in that company is: Night and the City (1950) dir: Jules Dassin I enjoyed this brief piece in the Guardian eight years ago. It reminded me that Fabian was not an American in the original novel but a second-generation Londonized Jew. But I don't think the film loses anything by the change. There are plenty of reasons why he might have wanted to make himself scarce in the US, or he could simply have stayed in the UK at the end of war service. And impossible to think of an English actor who could equal Widmark in the role. Andrew Pulver on "Night and the City"The article mentions the London gangster, Jack "Spot" Comer. My father knew him slightly through greyhound racing meetings at Wembley Stadium (Pop's squalid pastime!). One of Comer's most lucrative rackets was illegal off-course betting so when betting shops were legalized he stood to lose a lot. He asked my father to "front" a betting shop for him. My father was too sensible to get involved but was terrified of giving offence by refusing. I cannot remember how he managed to wriggle out of it, but Jack Spot's empire was crumbling around that time as new rivals like the Kray brothers entered the scene.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 14, 2018 3:55:38 GMT
Thanks Hitch, a massive contribution to the thread. Health and IT problems delayed me returning until now, but now you have given me a lot of homework to do before I dare write another word. I look forward to reading up. Just a superficial comment. You omit It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) and Peeping Tom (1960). I presume this was not through lack of merit but because you do not consider them true Film Noirs, which I could well understand. I hope to discuss this when I get round to them.
Peeping Tom
Fear and the Nervous System.
Peeping To is directed by Michael Powell and written by Leo Marks. It stars Carl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley and Brenda Bruce. Music is by Brian Easdale and cinematography by Otto Heller.
A famous (infamous) film for a number of reasons, not least that the fall out from its release effectively finished the career of the great Michael Powell. Interestingly now, still some 50 plus years later, there are still people discovering the film for the first time and not being sure what they have just watched; much like many critics back in 1960 as it happens! While horror seekers quite often come away disappointed that they haven't seen a Jack the Ripper bloodshed movie. Apparently they see the words serial killer and expect gore and terror on tap.
As fans of the film will attest, Peeping Tom isn't that sort of serial killer film, it's a fascinating piece of work. A cunningly crafted observation of a darkened mind, of voyeurism, loneliness and child abuse. From the opening strains of Easdale's skin itching piano the mood is set, then the brilliantly lurid colour scheme comes into play as troubled Mark Lewis (Boehm) hones in on a victim, a lady of the night about to be filmed in the throes of death. It's the start of Powell and Marks' ploy to make us complicit in Lewis' actions, and then the makers challenge us to sympathise with him as his back story is revealed and also as he struggles with his affections for Helen Stephens (Massey) in the present day.
There is also a sly aside to the movie industry running through the picture, something which no doubt irked critics and film distributors back in 1960. There could maybe be an argument that the trauma and psychological thematics at work that underpin the plot are a little dated now? But what is still relevant is the film making/voyeurism angle as we today are constantly fed reality TV for entertainment purpose. The production is across the board grade "A", the performances highly effective, with the unfairly maligned Boehm perfect as Lewis, the actor even providing shadings of Peter Lorre at times. Heller's bold colour photography is disgustingly atmospheric, Easdale's music a stalking menace and the sound department really come up trumps. Perfect.
Then of course there is Powell himself, deeply hurt by the savaging he received when Tom was released, it's nice to note that before he passed away in 1990 he would see the film become a highly regarded piece of film making. It and he deserves praise, his direction is conceptually daring, his framing of Lewis methodical, and of course his camera is our eyes and ears, uncomfortably so. A remarkable and genius film. 10/10
Peeping Tom makes a lot of lists for film noir but I don't see it as such myself, if anything I would have to put it at the start of my British Neo-Noir list if including in the noir universe. Still to see It Always Rains On Sunday in its entirety, from what I saw it's another that I'm not sure quite fits the bill, but it pretty much features on every Brit Noir list around! So it's there for me to dig out and fully digest.
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Post by mikef6 on Nov 14, 2018 4:54:07 GMT
hitchcockthelegendThe initial reception of "Peeping Tom" is the stuff of legend. In a 1997 documentary, “A Very British Psycho,” (included on the DVD), star Carl Boehm tells us that at its premiere, all of the movie stars and industry VIPs who attended were the first to be ushered out at the end. Powell, Boehm, and others were waiting in the theater lobby for comments and congratulations. The VIPs exited the auditorium, seemed to be headed for the reception line, then made a left turn and went out through the front doors leaving the film makers stunned. Boehm said that both he and Powell were deeply hurt. The film was withdrawn from most theaters after one week. Most critical reviews were savage. Powell left Britain for Australia soon after. One of the interviews on the documentary was with a modern British film critic who attempted a half-hearted defense of his 1960 colleagues. “We can look back and point out that they got it wrong, but in the context of their time…” He goes on to talk about social conditions, then pauses before saying, “But they did get it wrong.” They sure did.
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Post by london777 on Dec 1, 2018 22:20:54 GMT
I started this thread with a fanfare but then went "dark". My health has not been good for the past few weeks. In particular I had back trouble (still) and mild conjunctivitis (or some Caribbean equivalent). The latter thankfully cleared up. The two combined meant I had to strictly ration my laptop time. Apologies, but let us press on. On the other hand, hitchcockthelegend wrote "Redgrave is terrific, a sweaty mass of fragility". Opinions, opinions ... I won't attempt to rival hitchcockthelegend's excellent review on the other IMDb site, under his alias "Spikeopath": hitchcockthelegend's review of Time Without Pity (1957)but just add a few random comments. Apparently the murder central to the plot is shown before the opening titles, so we know who the murderer is, and that the young man (the Redgrave character's son) who is to be hanged the next day is innocent. The copy I watched online has those initial two minutes lopped off. The result is to change the film into a "whodunnit" of sorts, although we soon surmise who is the killer. Those who can afford it should buy the full version on DVD. So this is another "race with the executioner" movie, and absurdly the father has only 24 hours to overturn months of work by the police and successive failed appeals. As if that is not bad enough, he is a deep-dyed alcoholic. Biker1 called him "dreary". Well, alcoholics are dreary. One of my bête noirs is the eagerness to show drunks as funny in films. In my experience they are more likely to be dangerous or destructive than funny (unless the spectator is a sadist). But usually they are just very boring, i.e "dreary". I think hitch's description of Redgrave as "a sweaty mass of fragility" is brilliant. It captures his clumsily blundering about in search of leads and clues, and his fragility in two senses, his prickliness and lack of protection, and his unreliability (so that when he has a clue he fails to recognize it, when he has a lead he fails to follow it promptly, and his propensity to black out under the influence, thus losing precious time). Redgrave appears in almost every scene, and although Losey rarely uses the "first person" camera view (unlike, say, The Lost Weekend) he does use jump-cuts, abrupt changes of location, a jarring score (reminiscent of, but preceding, Bernard Herrman's screeching strings in Psycho), and opaque pinteresque dialog. Conversations are rarely completed or remarks explained, so that we the audience feel as bewildered and frustrated as if we were drunks ourselves. Redgrave's constant scurrying blindly to the next location, sometimes retracing his steps, reminded me of Richard Widmark doing the same in his desperate attempt to put a life-saving deal together in Night and the City (1950). I too dislike Leo McKern's portrayal. In fact, I would go so far as to say it largely spoils the film. When he is testing the sports car and laughing maniacally I fully expected him to crash. Thankfully, the film avoids that banality, but then that whole long sequence seems pointless, just another hour wasted out of Redgrave's (and our) tight schedule. Maybe the point was to show his impotence, as he pathetically and repeatedly tries to intercept a 100 m.p.h. car on foot. The old Crystal Palace race-track location was interesting, though. The idea of the twist ending was original and, to an extent, moving, but I think that it was too prolonged and not realistically staged, diminishing its pathos. The real story here is Redgrave's fight against alcoholism. In a conventional Hollywood movie he would overcome it, either permanently, or at least long enough to get the job done. The odd thing here is that, after a good start, he succumbs again out of frustration, even to the extent of twice blacking-out, yet still muddles through. I think it is this internal struggle that qualifies this movie as a (typically British) psychological semi-noir. Redgrave does not submit to Fate like a pure Film Noir protagonist, he keeps plugging on. It is the audience who takes on that burden. If you have 24 hours to save someone's life, who would you least trust to do it? How about this bumbling drunk who gets information confused and offends even those few who try to help? We want to scream at the screen, "Stop drinking!" or "You just missed a clue!" But we are helpless to break through the Fourth Wall. I could not immediately place the chorus-girl he was grilling, then I realized it was Joan Plowright in her first movie role. Would Larry have made her Baroness Olivier had he known she was once a dancer at the Windmill? Here she is: As a fan of architecture and (failed) designer, I loved the Stanford's decor in their lounge. It was an early and complete example of the short-lived "Festival of Britain" style. Already by the 'sixties it would be regarded as comically vulgar and out-dated but I know it will come back into vogue and examples will be valuable as they are so rare. I presume that only Stanford himself could have commissioned it. If so, that throws a different light on his character when you compare his home to that of other self-made Northern tycoons in Brit movies.
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Post by teleadm on Dec 2, 2018 0:43:42 GMT
Take it easy london777 !!!, health comes first!
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Post by manfromplanetx on Dec 2, 2018 1:39:35 GMT
" A noir-esque series" … The Merton Park studios produced a second-feature film series, 47 films were made between 1960 and 1965., titled The Edgar Wallace Mysteries the series is available on network dvd The collection is well worth exploring a mixed bag the films are loose adaptations of Edgar Wallace's crime/mystery tales. Set in contemporary times the best of them feature a solid cast, great writing and direction with a genuine dark tone. Downfall (1964) John Moxey
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Post by london777 on Dec 2, 2018 2:01:50 GMT
Take it easy london777 !!!, health comes first! Thanks. Nothing life-threatening. Just an array of different minor health problems but put together I felt miserable for a bit. Much better now thanks. Finally gained my official residency last week so I cannot be summarily deported as an illegal immigrant. After eleven years! That cheered me up a bit.
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