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 of noir, this satirical homage is a glorious romp. And though perhaps you can beat the devil, you can’t beat this line-up:
- John Huston, director
- Truman Capote, screenplay
- Humphrey Bogart, all his hard-boiled personae rolled into one
- Gina Lollobrigida, stunningly mischievous minx
- Jennifer Jones, gloriously British would-be adulteress
- Robert Morley, another Fat Man
- Peter Lorre, the usual tightly-wound criminal sidekick
- Plus a neurotic British husband, a fascistic Major, a cultured Arab, a drunk ship’s captain, and a purser of bad character
Begin watching by thinking of a spoof of The Maltese Falcon, then stay to watch the women steal the film!
Bon mots from Bogart’s Billy Dannreuther:
The only thing standing between you and a watery grave is your wits, and that’s not my idea of adequate protection.
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I’ve got to have money. Doctor’s orders are that I must have a lot of money, otherwise I become dull, listless and have trouble with my complexion.
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O’Hara (Peter Lorre): I give you my word, I feel to you like an older brother. Oh, it’s not so much a difference of age. It’s probably, yes, the reason is, because I come from a culture which is so much older than yours. In my country, a child of 6 years old is older in his heart than you’ll be at, at 60.
Dannreuther: It smokes, it drinks, it philosophizes… at this rate I’ll be 60 before you get to the point.
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See you Sunday at 9pm et! As always use our hashtag, #BNoirDetour
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