I watch a lot of (noir) films and tv. Unless they're scheduled into the #BNoirDetour live tweet or otherwise made use of through recommendations, blogathons, or inspiration for research, however, I don't make note of them. This means, for one,... Continue Reading →
Exhausted from Thanksgiving? Christmas on the brain already? Not in the mood for the darkness of noir? Let #BNoirDetour take you away this Sunday. Join us on a campy criminal cruise: BEAT THE DEVIL (1953) Though humor generally ruins the mood... Continue Reading →
I had serious reservations about Netflix's new series Jessica Jones. For one, it's yet another Marvel title, and I'm not a big Marvel fan. It's not that I dislike all comic book-inspired film and TV. I'm enjoying iZombie, for instance, just as I... Continue Reading →
Ok, so it's 1966, it's filmed in color, and it's full of California sunshine. So it's noirish mostly because its central character is a tough Los Angeles private eye, a hip Marlowe for the 60s. But it's Paul Newman as Lew... Continue Reading →
Before 1955's The Big Combo, I'd never seen Helene Stanton before. In the small role of Rita, a Burlesque performer with a heart of gold, she wowed me (enough to be the header image for this blog). From her striking looks... Continue Reading →
How much did you love to hate Anne Baxter in 1950's All About Eve? Want to see her practice for the role in 1944? This Sunday, #BNoirDetour offers a #Noirvember opportunity to enjoy Baxter at her evil best, six years before... Continue Reading →
More livetweeting for Noir fans!
Usually, our The Gangsters All Here movies start out with the main characters already established as gangsters. But this week’s movie, Too Late for Tears, takes a different approach. What if a set of a particular set of circumstances was dropped in an Everyman’s lap to make him turn into a gangster?
Actually, in this case, it’s not an Everyman, but an Everywoman — social-climbing housewife Jane Palmer (Lizabeth Scott). And it’s not one circumstance, but sixty thousand of them. One night, Jane and her milquetoast husband Alan (Arthur Kennedy) are driving along a dark highway in their convertible, when a passing car happens to drop a satchel in their back seat. Upon further examination, the Palmers discover that the satchel contains $60,000 ($584,000 in 2015 dollars, if you’re counting).
Alan is all set to surrender the money to the police. But then Jane opens the satchel and spreads…
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It had to happen sooner or later: Sinatra comes to #BNoirDetour! Suddenly (1954) is the tale of a crisis in a small California town. It's a lot like Mayberry, we might think. But rather than Sheriff Taylor and Barney Fife being... Continue Reading →
When presented with the opportunity to blog on one of my favorite cartoons for MovieMovieBlogBlog's One of My Favorite Cartoons Blogathon, I quickly found there were interesting but limited noir-inflected choices. I love "Racketeer Rabbit," for instance, featuring Looney Tunes versions of... Continue Reading →
B Noir Detour 