"Captured!" (1933) is a prince of a film noir, and will serve to illustrate exactly what film noir is: (1) the theme is not only downbeat, but unrelentingly so from start to finish, except for a flashback or two which serve to make the hero's situation even more poignant and impossible-to-endure; (2) the central character is depressed. He feels hemmed in, disillusioned, and is convinced he has no way to go, no way out – except death; (3) the atmosphere of the film is extremely black, the mood intensified by clever cinematography and effects.
Captured! represents an extreme example of all three noir characteristics. Not only is almost every scene set at night, but the lighting always makes a distinct contrast between pinpoints of brightness and seas of black.
To add to the realistic effects, the central character (Leslie Howard) is unflatteringly photographed, whereas his nemesis (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) always looks as if he has just stepped out of a band-box.
Paul Lukas, as immaculately attired as he is good-mannered, serves as a further contrast to the quietly-spoken, nervy hero.
Superbly paced and directed by the way under-rated Roy Del Ruth, "Captured!" is, if anything, too grim, too uncompromising in its depiction of a hideous prison camp, to be regarded as escapist entertainment, but it definitely ranks as a definitive must-see for film noir fans.
Captured! represents an extreme example of all three noir characteristics. Not only is almost every scene set at night, but the lighting always makes a distinct contrast between pinpoints of brightness and seas of black.
To add to the realistic effects, the central character (Leslie Howard) is unflatteringly photographed, whereas his nemesis (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) always looks as if he has just stepped out of a band-box.
Paul Lukas, as immaculately attired as he is good-mannered, serves as a further contrast to the quietly-spoken, nervy hero.
Superbly paced and directed by the way under-rated Roy Del Ruth, "Captured!" is, if anything, too grim, too uncompromising in its depiction of a hideous prison camp, to be regarded as escapist entertainment, but it definitely ranks as a definitive must-see for film noir fans.