Noir City Austin: I Wake Up Screaming (1941) and Quiet Please: Murder (1942)

Watched:  05/18/2018
Format:  Noir City Austin at Alamo Ritz
Viewing:  Second/ First
Decade:  1940's

It's Noir City Austin 2018 down at The Alamo Ritz!  As in prior years, Eddie Muller - the Czar of Noir and host of TCM's Noir Alley series is in attendance.  As he does so well for Noir Alley, Eddie introduces each film, providing Hollywood history and necessary context, as well as any anecdotes he's dug up over the years, often from first-hand interviews.

I can't make it to all the movies this year, but I am trying to make it out to see a few.  Friday night SimonUK and I took in the first two films, I Wake Up Screaming (1941) and Quiet Please: Murder (1942).

Noir Watch: Caged (1950)

Watched:  05/15/2018
Format:  Noir Alley on TCM (on DVR)
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1950's

There are probably two ways to watch Caged (1950), either as a camp classic or through the lens of 1950.  JimD taught me several valuable phrases, and in the top three I include "chronological snobbery".   Basically - chronological snobbery is that thing you do when you watch a movie made from a time probably before your birth and nod sagely to yourself saying "oh, thank goodness we figured out how to make better movies, people sure were dumb as both filmmakers and as an audience back then."

Noir/ Windsor Watch: The Narrow Margin (1952)

Watched:  05/11/2018
Format:  Noir Alley on TCM - DVR
Viewing:  Fourth
Decade:  1950's

Holy smokes I love this movie.

Noir Watch: Armored Car Robbery (1950)

Watched:  05/10/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1950's

It will surprise you that a movie entitled Armored Car Robbery (1950) is, indeed, about the robbery of an armored car and the fallout of that same robbery.

Noir Watch: Hollow Triumph/ The Scar/ The Man Who Murdered Himself (1948)

Watched:  05/06/2018
Viewing:  First
Format:  TCM Noir Alley on the DVR
Decade:  1940's

If you're wondering why I have three names listed for this movie, it's because this movie was released under three different names at three different times - but I think it was first released under Hollow Triumph (1948).  However, I can't find a poster I like better than the one for The Scar, so.. behold!

This movie was a *lot* of fun.  It's not a glossy studio movie, but acting talent, direction and cinematography carry you really far in a picture.

Noir Watch: Mystery Street (1950)

Watched:  04/25/2018
Format:  Noir Alley on TCM/ DVR
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1950's

Noir Watch: Brick (2005)

Watched:  04/24/2018
Format:  DVD
Viewing:  third
Decade:  2000's

There's probably plenty to say about this movie, but I'm saving it for a podcast.

Noir Watch: No Questions Asked (1951)

Watched:  04/08/2018
Format:  DVR from TCM's Noir Alley
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1950's

Noir Watch: Crossfire (1947)

Watched:  03/23/2018
Format:  Noir Alley on TCM/ DVR
Viewing:  Third
Decade:  1940's

Noir Watch: Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

Watched: 03/15/2017
Format: TCM on DVR (Noir Alley)
Viewing: First
Decade: 1940's

Noir Watch: The Big Heat (1953)

Watched:  03/10/2018
Format:  DVR from TCM (Noir Alley)
Viewing:  4th or 5th
Decade:  1950's

Second Maigret Post Up at Texas Public Radio

Watched:  02/24/2017
Format:  Kino-Lorber BluRay
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1950's

I watched not one, but TWO Maigret mystery movies.  And, shockingly, wrote them both up.

Here's my post over at Texas Public Radio.

French Detective Watch: Maigret Sets a Trap (1958)

Watched:  02/17/2018
Format:  Kino-Lorber BluRay
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1950's

I am reviewing a pair of excellent films for Texas Public Radio, based on a series of novels by a Belgian writing about a French Detective. 

Here is the review for the first movie.  Thanks to TPR for the opportunity!

Noir Watch: Night and the City (1950)

Watched:  02/16/2018
Format:  TCM Noir Alley DVR (from November.  Yeesh.)
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1950's

At this age, it's not often you wrap up a movie and are pretty sure you've just seen one of the best movies of its genre.  But there you have it.

Coen Watch: Miller's Crossing (1990)

Watched:  02/03/2018
Format:  Google Play Streaming
Viewing:  Unknown, but somewhere over 25th
Decade:  1990's

Noir Watch: Tomorrow is Another Day (1951)

Watched:  02/09/2018
Format:  Noir Alley on Turner Classic Movies
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1950's

Noir Watch: Act of Violence (1949)

Watched: 01/29/2018
Format: TCM/ Noir Alley
Viewing: first
Decade: 1940's

Peggy Cummins Has Merged With The Infinite

I was unable to confirm yesterday when I saw the news, but now The Hollywood Reporter has it that actor Peggy Cummins has passed.

Cummins is in at least two fantastic movies, Curse of the Demon (1957) and, of course, one of my hands-down favorite films, Gun Crazy (1950).

You can read the linked article to get a notion of Cummins' career, which was fairly brief despite her obvious talents.  Not everyone stays in pictures, or even in Hollywood.

Remembering Audrey Totter on her 100th Birthday

Several years ago I was out visiting San Francisco and JeniferS showed me a noir she knew I'd never seen, starring Richard Basehart, Cyd Charise and an actor she adored but with whom I was unfamiliar, Audrey Totter.  The movie was Tension, and it was all kinds of terrific.  But, yes, Jenifer was right, Audrey Totter was absolutely phenomenal in that movie, stealing focus in every scene.

It's Just not Christmas Until Audrey Totter is Looking Right Into the Lens

Through not-so-mysterious means, the 1947 film Lady in the Lake has become a perennial holiday favorite for me.  Philip Marlowe detecting, Christmas time and Audrey Totter sorta looking you in the face.

This is the movie directed by (and kinda starring) Robert Montgomery as Marlowe and shot almost entirely from his POV.  Pretty amazing work for the era and size of cameras in 1947.  The book is darker and more grisly than the movie, and not set at Christmas, if memory serves.  The plot is complicated by the fact the movie never visits the key location from the book, keeping everything in the city and refusing much in the way of exterior shooting.

But, hey, Audrey Totter is terrific.  And they actually make Christmas kind of key to the adaptation, so that's fun.