Signal Watch Watches: Lady In The Lake (1947)

Released about 3 months after 1947's Dark Passage*, this movie also employs the first-person-perspective camera-work that somebody must have been wanting to play with at the time.  Where Dark Passage abandons the conceit fairly early in the movie, Lady in the Lake (1947) uses the trick more or less for the duration of the film except during a few, brief framing sequences during which Robert Montgomery, as Philip Marlowe, addresses the audience before merging with them in a spot of cinematic magic during which the audience is given a sort of thrill-ride like experience of seeing the film from Marlowe's perspective.

It's an oddball stunt, one easier to pull that the matinee jazz of 3D pictures or smell-o-vision, but Montgomery's direction definitely gives the effort a sort of "check this out!" quality, drawing attention to itself with awkward use of mirror shots that don't accomplish much but remind the audience that we're all watching a movie here - and, boy, isn't THAT cool...?

Friday Afternoon with Audrey Totter

Last January when I visited Jenifer in San Francisco for the Film Noir Fest, we took an afternoon and watched Tension (1949).  The film stars Richard Basehart (who the ladies cannot help but find dreamy), but it also features Audrey Totter in one of those roles that leaves an impression and makes you want to go back to the movie again and again.

I've now watched Tension a few times,  and I knew Ms. Totter from The Set-Up and a brief but excellent appearance in the classic The Postman Always Rings Twice.  Jenifer is a huge fan of Audrey Totter, and she's seen far more of her work than I have, so credit where it's due.

For a few reasons we've had Ms. Totter on the brain the past few days, especially as I had recently pushed The Lady in the Lake to the top of my Netflix queue, and I hope to discuss it next week.  Then the internet did what it does every once in a while and completely surprises you, and, anyway, we feel like celebrating with a couple more pictures of Ms. Totter.

Have a good Friday.  We'll check in later this weekend.

Still no post Tuesday (with Audrey Totter)

Ms. Audrey Totter is here to see you through the rest of your work day.

Noir Watch Extra: Tension

Between movies, we had a bit of downtime, and so Doug and I joined Jenifer at her swanky apartment where we watched a B-Noir, Tension (1949).

Before we get any further, I had never been less sympathetic to any noir character than I was to Richard Basehart as Warren Quimby, a man who has a dilemma at one point in the movie of picking between Audrey Totter and Cyd Charisse.  Go to hell, Basehart.

Tension probably has its roots in someone reading or seeing The Postman Always Rings Twice and the pot boiler melodramas of the era.  Postman had been adapted in 1946, and while there are limited similarities, you can see that the characters are sort of pushing around what the characters did when and why.  The movie also lifts from Superman comics and Charles Atlas ads, and so one must tip their hat to the writers and director for borrowing from the best.