Reviews

this is one of those films... takes place in the 80s but it's clear the makers didn't LIVE then. Soul Patches, tattoo sleeves and goatees are so 90s. There was none of that in 1983. Believe me.

The film is humorless and angry. You really have to be in the mood to see people tortured and screaming in each others faces for what seems like the entire film.

Great -- great -- cast wasted. Interesting to see Defoe and Berenger together again. Who would have guessed Defoe was the one that wouldn't age? There's a reason this one went straight to video and streaming. It's a mess of a movie.

Some great country music including:

Talk Good Boogie; Get it On Again; So Good Woman; This Time; Defying Gravity (Executioner's Song); Are You Ready for the Country

all performed by Waylon Jennings.

Also,

One Piece at a Time Johnny Cash

There's a few more that I can't identify. Certainly a good film but made better by having a decent soundtrack

If anyone has a more complete soundtrack listing please share it. The movie is out on DVD but there's also another cut that may have more soundtrack music.

This is a crackerjack little noir that actually got better as it went along. It begins with a chesty stripper with blonde hair down to her butt running down the street being chased by a gunman. I thought, "OK. I know what kind of movie this is going to be. Pure B movie with cheesy dialog." Well, it actually develops into an excellent character study about two cops - best friends - one white and one Asian. They both fall in love with the same women while investigating the crime. Along the way they meet up with a boozy middle-aged female artist that's always around to give handy advice and the required colorful commentary. The black-and-white photography is not as artistic as the films noir from the 40's but the night shots of Chinatown in San Fran looked exotic. Recommended.

First of all, let me say that the title Jail Bait has to do with a gun and not under-age sex. This is one of Ed Wood's classics. Yes, it's horrible and the movie is so cheap it's funny. However, it's not as "good" as Plan 9.

Things to watch for:

The doctor's office. His desk is huge. When ever anyone wants to sit down, the have to squeeze between a plant and chair.

The music - it's horrible and ALWAYS playing. Even when someones parking a car the suspenseful guitar music begins strumming.

The doc performs plastic surgery in a guys living room! On his couch! At gun point!

Steve Reeves first movie - he takes his shirt off to prove it's him.

Worth the rental. The scenes in the theater (with the exception of a horrible and really kind of shocking black-face act thrown in for no reason at all) made me laugh out loud.

Raw Deal is Anthony Mann's 1948 crime noir follow-up to the slightly better T-Men. Again it stars James Cagney-wannabe Dennis O'Keefe this time as bad apple Joe Sullivan. Escaped convict Sullivan, after a criss cross, is being chased by both the police and the mob. He becomes a lambster with two dames one bad -co-star Clair Trevor (so deliciously evil the year before in Born To Kill) and one good. Like all noirs, the bad girl is always the most interesting. Trevor plays her part perfectly as the love-starved and none-to-bright Pat. The plot is your basic noir - criminal on the loose. What sets this and other Mann movies apart are the interesting camera angles and black and white photography from cinematographer John Alton. Never satisfied with conventional camera setup, Alton always made Mann's films look great. Also worth mentioning is an incredibly brutal scene featuring baddie Raymond (The Blue Gardenia) Burr splashing a flaming drink into a woman's face. It's shocking to say the least.

"I told you he had a cash register mind. Rings every time he opens his mouth."

Odds Against Tomorrow is a sharp little Black-and-White noir caper movie. Robert Ryan is very good as a southern accented hateful bigot. He's teamed with the sharp dressed, compulsive gambler Harry Belafonte. Belafonte financed the movie. No doubt that's why the bouncy jazz soundtrack is so good. The movie's pairing of the two builds to an explosive finale following the heist that goes about as wrong as it could. Also starring Ed Begley is the leader of the gang. He's also excellent as the one man keeping the caper on track and keeping the two crooks from killing each other.

Here's what Begley says after one of Ryan's racial slurs:

"Don't beat out that Civil War jazz here, Slater! We're all in this together, each man equal. And we're taking care of each other. It's one big play, our one and only chance to grab stakes forever. And I don't want to hear what your grandpappy thought on the old farm down in Oklahoma! You got it?"

A worthwhile caper for fans of noir or Belafonte.

Influenced by the more comic The Asphalt Jungle

Kansas City Confidential is an excellent film noir on the cheap. It stars John Slightly Scarlet Payne playing a revenge-minded ex-con trying to even the score. (He's framed while driving a truck full of posies - probably the most unlikely guy to be framed for a bank job.) Like his part in 99 River Street, director Phil Karlson has Payne playing it both tough, street smart and at the same time good hearted. Yet there's no doubt that he could turn into a killer at any moment. The heist and eventual double crosses are good and very clever for this type of crime picture. I was also surprised (in a good way) that the movie showed some of the police as corrupt - by showing a false arrest and eventual beating. Not to mention a very bad cop behind it all. This movie proves once again that b-noirs were just as good as the big budget ones with Mitchim and Lancaster. And how about the bad guys? Lee Van Cleef AND Jack Elam. Nice.

The film's title is misleading, though. Only a very small part of the film takes place in Kansas City. Almost all of it is in Mexico.

D.O.A. is shot in the classic film noir style, and that's why I enjoy it so much.

The plot is the gimmick that sold the movie. A man is poisoned and only has a little time to live. He tries to solve the murder before he drops dead. The mystery plot is confusing. Even when the killer is revealed I still had half a dozen questions unanswered. Is it worth the watch? Yes. Is it The Postman Only Rings Twice? No, Postman had plot holes, but that wasn't why that movie was successful. It was because the leads were so convincing. The scenes of goofy Edmund O'Brian being smooth with the ladies are very funny, but totally unrealistic. O'Brian was not a leading man. The secondary characters seemed pulled from other movies. The foreigner Luther Adler could have been playing a part in Casablanca.

Also, the director could have done without the slide-whistle wolf call whenever O'Brian saw a dame he liked. Director Rudolph Maté (cinematographer for Pride of the Yankees & Sahara) did better with sound cues when O'Brian was trying to think of the night before, and the sound of the jazz club quietly played in the background.

With a talented Cinematographer directing, it's no surprise that the movie's visual style is excellent. San Francisco looks great.

Back in Film Noir's heyday, films released in this style were considered B-movies. Not in this case. Fresh off his Oscar win for The Treasure of Sierra Madre, Director John Huston took the helm of The Asphalt Jungle. The budget may not have been high, but the cast; sharp dialog and film technique used by Huston is top notch.

TAJ is a caper noir movie. The entire film is shot from the thieves' point of view. Sterling Hayden plays Dix Handley, a real scary bastard. When he shouts "Don't bone me!" to a bookie at the beginning of the movie you can understand why he was hired as the "muscle." Hayden is a mainstay in film noir and he's excellent here. He doesn't seem all that bright. All he seems to care about is the old ranch he grew up on back in his childhood. Between losing money on the ponies and apparently committing small crimes, he and his burger-flipping friend (played by James Whitmore) are hired to help your usual assortment of caper crooks knock over a jewelry store. The heist is great. Shot without music and in real time, Huston not only makes you feel like you're there but you feel like you've just learned how to rob a jewelry store! The great film heist in Rififi was clearly influenced by Asphalt.

The movie also features an early appearance by Marilyn Monroe in just her seventh film. She never looked better.

Hayden is probably best known by modern film viewers as the scary bastard of a police officer in The Godfather. Can anyone forget Hayden being shot by Michael? His gruesome face twitching while choking on blood will stay with me forever.

Without a doubt, The Asphalt Jungle is a classic. I'm trying not to give away too much of the film, because it's worth the rental. TAJ inspired many heist films including Rififi, The Ladykillers, Odds Against Tomorrow and Hayden's The Killing.

"He hasn't got enough blood left in him to keep a chicken alive."

The Set-Up is a great example of film noir. Like The Harder They Fall and Body and Soul , boxing takes center ring. The film stars Robert Ryan as an aging boxer who loves to fight.

The film is shot in what appears to be real time. The film doesn't attempt to be realistic. Instead Paradise City and the boxing matches are exaggerated by director Wise to great effect. The city seems too seedy and dark. The fights have no breaks in the action. No fancy footwork - just two sluggers slamming each other. The actors speak in a tough guy lingo that also seems purposely exaggerated. Red: I tell you, Tiny, you gotta let him in on it. Tiny: How many times I gotta say it? There's no percentage in smartenin' up a chump.

Ryan is perfect in the lead. I'm used to seeing him play bad guys. Before seeing this, I considered Ryan sort of a pretty-boy Sterling Hayden. But he really was a leading man with a likable quality.

The Big Clock, starring Ray Milland and Charles Laughton, is a great black and white thriller in every way. Unlike many noirs of it's time, it's not a B movie. The lighting, sets, talent and camera-work are top notch. The acting is perfect, as would be expected with a cast like this. Milland is charming and easy to route for. In fact, I usually find him kind of stiff - a little to up tight and proper. Here he seems to be a real guy with real problems. Milland was most famously known for playing an alcoholic three years earlier. In a kind of nod to that "lost weekend" there's a fun scene of him going on a bender in Manhattan - with unforeseen results. Like all noirs, a small wrong decision becomes a bigger and bigger problem latter on. When Milland decides to hang out with a hot blonde instead of going home to his wife, you just know he's gonna get into big trouble. And boy does he. The big trouble is Laughton.

I've always enjoyed Charles "Capt. Bligh" Laughton. He was such a good actor. In The Big Clock he manages to be fascinating and loathsome playing the media empire kingpin. His character has no morals, and it's fun to watch him work. He clearly enjoyed himself making this film.

Oh, and isn't Elsa Lanchester great as the crazy artist? Everyone know's Lanchester. She wore the most famous hairdos in movie history.

Remade as No Way Out with Costner and Hackman in the leads.

Murder, My Sweet is a Philip Marlowe detective thriller starring Dick Powell. Powell was a controversial choice at the time because he was known as a musical/light comic actor. I have no idea what else he was in. So seeing Powell as Raymond Chandler's most famous private dick suits me just fine. The only thing that may not jive for some noir fans is his light, confidant manner. Some may want Bogie (or one of the many square-jawed actors who played him since) doing his down-in-the-dumps lovable loser character. I admit that's what I was expecting. However, about ten minutes in, Powell makes the part his own. In fact, he fits the Chandler books more than Bogart ever did.

The story is told in flashback and is confusing as the day is long. (Hell, I'm still trying to figure out The Big Sleep!) It's a noir world of double crosses and beautiful dames. The dialog and plot is pure Chandler. The end isn't the movies payoff; it's the wild ride to get there. The drug induced dream sequence is fantastic, rivaling only Salvador Dali's dream scene in Spellbound.

There are so many good lines in this film.

here's just a sample from the witty screenplay:

MARLOWE: It was a nice little front yard. Cozy, okay for the average family. Only you'd need a compass to go to the mailbox. The house was alright, too, but it wasn't as big as Buckingham Palace.

Or:

MARLOWE: She was a charming middle-aged lady with a face like a bucket of mud. I gave her a drink. She was a gal who'd take a drink, if she had to knock you down to get the bottle.

Cinematographer Harry J. Wild, who did The Magnificent Ambersons two years before, is no slouch. His work on this movie is top notch. Apparently many of the RKO crew also worked on Citizen Kane and it's no surprise the movie is a black and white visual treasure. The lights and shadows are usually coming from the side - threatening to eat up the cast. The sets are top notch too. This does not look like most noir B movies using darkness to hide poor sets and backgrounds.

This Gun for Hire is a crime thriller with shades of film noir thrown in. The film stars Alan Ladd as a cold-blooded killer. His portrayal of Raven is the definition of anti hero. He kills without any remorse. In fact, he usually has to think of a good reason not to kill people. This is demonstrated at the beginning of the movie when he's spotted leaving a murder by a crippled little girl. He reaches for his gun then decides better of it. That same thinking, later in the film, saves Ellen Graham (played by Victoria Lake sporting beautiful long blonde hair - mimicked by Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential). Lake has two musical numbers. She does them while performing magic tricks! They're cheesy, but I watched them in slow motion so I could catch the slight of hand. The songs are supposed to make her into an unattainable sex goddess (like "Put the Blame on Mame" did for Rita Hayworth in Gilda.) It doesn't.

The supporting cast is excellent. The heavy (literally and figuratively) Laird Cregar has a lot of fun trying to seduce Lake and at the same time running scared of Ladd. Marc Lawrence as his chauffeur/thug is particularly slimy. He likes to torment his boss by explaining the dirty details of his work. His part reminded me of his uncredited role years later in Diamonds Are Forever.

A good double feature would be this and L.A. Confidential (TGFH is seen on TV in the film.) Remember the lines between Basinger and Crowe?

LYNN BRACKEN: You're the first man in five years who didn't tell me I look like Veronica Lake inside of a minute. BUD WHITE: You look better than Veronica Lake.