I Wake Up Streaming: The Year in Film, Part 1

Tags

Feminism, Film Noir, James Bond, Media, Silent Film

375.

That’s how many feature films I watched in 2019, either at home or in the theater. Though, truth be told, it was mostly at home. [Side note: I really want to get out to the theater more in 2020.] I also saw 98 shorts, all at home, most of which were early silent films that I watched in preparation for my Century+ project.

For this reason, I decided to once again break my year-end film wrap-up into two parts. This post will focus on films released prior to 2019 and the next will feature 2019 releases. Since that still leaves 334 films to talk about here, I will not be going into any great detail, but, never fear, many of these films are sure to pop up again in Century+ posts throughout the year.

First, some stats on my 2019 viewing (both new and old films):
Films watched in the theater: 11%
Films watched on DVD: 48%
Films watched via streaming: 41%
Most used streaming service: Criterion Channel (51 films)

Films released in the 1890s: 15 (all shorts)
Films released in the 1900s: 48 (all shorts)
Films released in the 1910s: 10 (+ 26 shorts)
Films released in the 1920s: 32 (+ 8 shorts)
Films released in the 1930s: 57
Films released in the 1940s: 57
Films released in the 1950s: 42
Films released in the 1960s: 14
Films released in the 1970s: 14
Films released in the 1980s: 20
Films released in the 1990s: 17
Films released in the 2000s: 15
Films released in the 2010s: 97

Most popular genre: film noir (52 films)

Most watched director: Ernst Lubitsch (8 films)
Runners-up: George Cukor (7 films), Buster Keaton (6 films)

Films directed by women: 52 (14%)

So, with all that, what did I like the most? What would I recommend?

Read on, MacDuff…

Streaming Services

What Price Hollywood? (1932) by George Cukor

Although DVDs from the San Francisco Public Library and the Mechanics Institute Library together remained my best source for older films, after launching in April, the Criterion Channel quickly became my go-to streaming source for the classics. Next in popularity was Kanopy (29 films), which is a free streaming service that grants membership via public libraries and universities with ten credits* per month that can be used on feature films, documentaries, and educational programming. Their collection is a mixed bag of old and new films but often they have something I just can’t get anywhere else. Just below Kanopy was Netflix (25 films), and then MUBI (18 films). I was a bit surprised to see MUBI below Netflix in these stats but I quickly realized that was due to the fact that I did a full James Bond rewatch primarily on Netflix, so I think that ranking is a 2019 aberration.

There has been a lot talk on Twitter about streaming services and how the costs add up to where the customer is getting screwed, but, frankly, I still pay far less for these services than I did for cable, where I had almost no channels I really wanted. When I first cut the cord in 2012, my monthly cable bill was $75. Adding the channels I really wanted at the time—HBO, TCM, TV5, and the Fox Soccer Channel (for the Premier League)—would have increased that bill to roughly $125/month. And that did not include internet service.

Compare that to what I pay now on a monthly basis (I have yearly subscriptions to Criterion and MUBI, which make them a bit cheaper):
HBO Now ($14.99)
Netflix Basic ($8.99)
Hulu Base Plan ($5.99)
Criterion Channel ($7.50)
MUBI ($8.00)
Kanopy ($0.00)
Amazon/Apple TV (per movie)

So the total cost is about $45–$50 per month depending on whether I watch something on Amazon or Apple TV. And, in fact, it is really about $30–$35 per month since the HBO subscription is paid for by the Math Greek and I would probably drop it if that weren’t the case since I rarely watch it myself. Nor do I really watch Hulu so I could probably let that one go as well. I just don’t watch TV shows anymore.

One thing that has simplified all this streaming is buying a Roku. I really only bought it so that I could stream the Criterion Channel, which wasn’t available as an app on my (older) Smart TV or Blu-Ray player, but I absolutely love it and can’t believe I lived without it for so long. It has a number of free channels (albeit with ads), which sometimes have older films not available on other streaming services, and it is fantastic for road trips, where you can just hook it up to your hotel TV and watch whatever you might watch at home.

In any case, if you are a cinephile, I can’t recommend the Criterion Channel enough. If you’re wondering, they show far more than the films they have released on DVD. My favorite thing about them is the themed collections they put together. For example, “Caught on Tape” includes films like Blow Out, Caché, The Conversation, Diva, A Face in the Crowd, Klute, and The Lives of Others. Other recent collections include The Art of the Heist, Blue Christmas, Glorious Food, MGM Musicals, and 70s Sci-Fi. They also put together great collections featuring specific directors (Cukor, Hitchcock, Wyler) or stars (Bette Davis, Alec Guinness) and put female filmmakers front and center on their homepage. My only quibble with them is that they are so upfront about what is expiring at the end of the month (unlike say Netflix or Hulu) that I find myself streaming massive numbers of films at the end of each month before certain films or my Kanopy credits expire.

Here are the top fifteen films I watched on Criterion this year:
Gaslight (1944)
Girlfriends (1978)
The Kid (1921)
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
Hopscotch (1980)
Jubal (1956)
White Heat (1949)
L’assassin habite au 21 (The Murderer Lives at Number 21) (1942)
Top Hat (1935)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
The Gay Divorcée (1934)
What Price Hollywood? (1932)
Craig’s Wife (1936)
My Name Is Julia Ross (1945)

Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) by Dorothy Arzner

52 Films By Women

The Bride Word Red (1937) by Dorothy Arzner

By the skin of my teeth (I saw Greta Gerwig’s Little Women on December 29), I managed to meet my yearly goal of watching #52FilmsByWomen. In fact, films by women make up half of my top ten for 2019. But I saw many great older films as well, some of which were new to me and some of which weren’t.

Here are my top fifteen of those films:
Winter’s Bone (2010)
The Tale (2018)
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)
Obvious Child (2014)
Stories We Tell (2013)
Girlfriends (1978)
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)
Caramel (2008)
White Material (2009)
The Bride Wore Red (1937)
Two Days in Paris (2007)
Enough Said (2013)
Blockers (2018)
Skate Kitchen (2018)

You’re very inflexible.
—Who, me?
—I don’t like you when you’re inflexible.
—I don’t like it when you exaggerate to make sure I’ll listen to you.
—Well, I can’t stand it when you don’t listen to me.
—I don’t like it when you’re loud.
—Well, I don’t like you when you’re not loud. I don’t know why I like you.
—Because you can tell me why you don’t like me.
—I like me when I don’t need you.
—I don’t want you to need me. I want you to want me.
—There’s no truth like bullshit.
—Very good, Susan. 2 points.
—Thank you.

—Susan to Eric in Girlfriends

Girlfriends (1978) by Claudia Weill

Silent Films

La Cigarette (The Cigarette) (1919) by Germaine Dulac

When I wasn’t watching films specifically directed by women, I was catching up on silent films in preparation for my Century+ project—37 features and 97 shorts to be exact. A few of these were even directed by women (specifically, 3 features and 13 shorts).

Here are my top fifteen of those films:
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Lady Windermere’s Fan (1925)
The Patsy (1928)
The Kid (1921)
It (1927)
Die Puppe (The Doll) (1919)
City Lights (1931)
Tol’able David (1921)
Our Hospitality (1923)
Traffic in Souls (1913)
Der Letzte Mann (The Last Laugh) (1924)
Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928)
Gretchen the Greenhorn (1916)
Show People (1928)
La Cigarette (The Cigarette) (1919)

Traffic in Souls (1913) by George Loane Tucker

Film Noir

Gaslight (1944) by George Cukor

Between taking in four double features as part of Noir City at the Castro Theatre in January and creating fifteen double features for my own #Noirvember celebration at home in November, it was not surprising to see film noir turn up as my most watched genre.

Here are my top fifteen of those films:
Gaslight (1944)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
Lured (1947)
Private Hell 36 (1954)
The Burglar (1957)
White Heat (1949)
The Big Combo (1955)
Tension (1949)
Split Second (1953)
The Big Clock (1948)
They Live By Night (1948)
Dark Passage (1947)
The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950)

Best Noir City Double Feature: Pushover (1954) and Private Hell 36 (1954)

Though somewhat underwhelmed by my first outing to Noir City 17, nevertheless, I persisted, and the night I saw Pushover and Private Hell 36 I came back home positively glowing with excitement. I liked both these films a lot. I had high expectations for Pushover, a voyeuristic tale of a police stakeout and investigation, starring Fred MacMurray and Kim Novak in her first starring role, but the real surprise was Private Hell 36, which I had never heard of before. I should have known this tale of two dirty cops would be good—it was directed by Don Siegel (The Big Steal, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Lineup, Dirty Harry, and Escape from Alcatraz).

Pushover (1954) by Richard Quine

The Name Is Bond, James Bond

Sean Connery in Goldfinger, my favorite Bond in my favorite Bond film

As noted above, one reason I watched so much Netflix this year is that I noticed in early March that most of the Bond films were available there. When I realized soon after that the films would be leaving April 1, I decided to pack in as many as I could. I then filled in the gaps with library DVDs and managed to watch the entire franchise. For most of these films, that actually meant a rewatch, but there were a few stragglers I hadn’t yet seen. I scored these films in the usual way but also developed a secondary ranking system with categories such as Allies, Bond Girls, Credit Sequence & Theme Song, Devices & Escapes, and Nemesis.

Here are my top fifteen of those films:
Goldfinger (1964)
From Russia with Love (1963)
Skyfall (2012)
Casino Royale (2006)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Thunderball (1965)
Moonraker (1979)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Dr. No (1962)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Goldeneye (1995)
Octopussy (1983)
A View to a Kill (1985)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

Eva Green as Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale is by far my favorite Bond girl.

The Best of the Rest

And that is pretty much it for my major projects of the year. But the films in these top fifteen lists aren’t the only pre-2019 movies worth watching. If you are looking for something beyond the films above, here are some other ideas and recommendations.

Manbiki Kazoku (Shoplifters) by Hirokazu Kore-eda

Best of the Unseen 2018: Manbiki Kazoku (Shoplifters). In my year-end round-up last year, I listed the eighteen 2018 films I was most looking forward to catching up on in 2019. Shoplifters ended up blowing me away and vaulting to the top of my final 2018 list.

Best Surprise of 2018 (tie): Bad Times at the El Royale and Searching. Neither of these films were on my radar, but when I finally saw them, I thoroughly enjoyed both and definitely recommend them if you are looking for an entertaining thriller.

Best New-to-Me Film: Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933). One of my biggest film history gaps is musicals. When I decided to start filling those gaps, I first turned to the few on Edgar Wright’s 1000 favorites list, figuring that he would have the best of the best on there. Once I watched (and loved) 42nd Street (1933), I quickly turned to the others on his list. My favorite of those was Gold Diggers of 1933.

Most Surprising New-to-Me Film: Five Easy Pieces (1970). This was one I avoided for the longest time simply based on the scene that everyone has seen from it, you know the one, which never really seemed interesting or funny to me. But that scene is so not the rest of this movie! I had no clue about the surprising direction in which this story was headed. Really a fascinating character study with a great performance by Nicholson and so many subtle little touches of humanity.

Most Surprising New-to-Me Film (runner-up): The Bridges of Madison County (1995). I watched this on my return from a road trip through Iowa, where I had actually visited the literal bridges. I didn’t have high hopes for what I thought was going to be a schmaltzy romance but instead I discovered a film that was remarkably moving and some of Eastwood’s best work.

Best on Rewatch: The Thin Man (1934). What can I say? This is a film I inevitably include on any favorites-of-all-time list but I hadn’t actually watched it in some time. I rewatched it this past December as part of an eventual Christmas film project and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.

Best “Holiday” Discovery: It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947). I discovered this title when I was putting together the spreadsheet for my review of classic Christmas films. I absolutely adored this tale of a homeless man who spends every winter squatting a 5th Avenue mansion while the owners winter in West Virginia.

Best Math Greek Selection (tie): Buffalo ’66 (1998) and Collateral (2004). Some of the films I watched this year that I might never have seen without the Math Greek’s coaxing include Persona (1966), Bugsy Malone (1976), Lost Highway (1997), and The New World (2005), among others, but my favorites of the films that fall under this description are Collateral and Buffalo ’66, the former of which I always meant to see and the latter of which I almost certainly never would have chosen myself.

Best Foreign-Language Film: Les Gardiennes (The Guardians) (2018). A gorgeous film by Xavier Beauvois about women on a French farm holding down the home front during World War I. Its slow-moving, painterly qualities would make an interesting pairing with 1917.

Les Gardiennes (The Guardians) by Xavier Beauvois

And, finally…

Top Five Films I Just Can’t Recommend
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Tank Girl (1995)
A Fool There Was (1915)
Casino Royale (1967)
So Dark the Night (1948)

One from pretty much every category above, these were my lowest-ranked films of the year.

I wanted to like Tank Girl, I really did.

How many films did you watch at home this year? What was your greatest discovery? What was your favorite rewatch? What are your favorite streaming services? What do you find yourself subscribed to but never watch? Let me know in the comments.

*I have since learned that my sister in the Boston area only gets eight credits per month so I guess the number of credits granted varies depending on the library or university system. Note, however, that sometimes films are listed as double features or playlists that use only one credit. Still, even eight credits per month means two free films a week so that is not bad.

The Twelve Days of Christmas Movies

Tags

Film Noir, Musicals

On this first day of Christmas, a Merry Christmas to us all, every one!

Traditionally, Christmas movies for me have meant the Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated holiday specials and other Christmas-themed classic films that aired on television during my childhood, namely Holiday Inn, It’s a Wonderful Life, and White Christmas. At some point, The Thin Man got added into the mix, along with modern favorites like Trading Places and While You Were Sleeping.

However, as part of the preparations for my 2020 Century+ of Cinema blogging project, I’ve spent this past December trying to catch up on and assess other holiday classics from the period 1895–1960. Some films—such as Miracle on 34th Street—I had seen before but was never tempted to add to my Christmas rotation, others I had barely heard of before film twitter or my own research.

Unfortunately, the work that has been partly responsible for my lack of blogging this year once again reared its ugly head and I didn’t get through my full list by Christmas Day, including some I really wanted to watch or rewatch. So, I’ve decided to spend the twelve days of Christmas watching the remaining films on my spreadsheet in the hopes of coming up with a definitive Top Twelve. Before revealing which films those are, here is a rough ranking of the thirty holiday-themed or holiday-adjacent movies I have watched (or rewatched) since December 1st.

Christmas Movies (Ranked)
The Thin Man
It Happened on 5th Avenue
Miracle on 34th Street
White Christmas
Christmas in Connecticut
The Shop Around the Corner
Remember the Night
I’ll Be Seeing You
Holiday Inn
Lady in the Lake
The Man Who Came to Dinner
3 Godfathers
Beyond Tomorrow
The Holly and the Ivy
Holiday Affair
A Trap For Santa
The Adventure of the Wrong Santa Claus
Santa Claus (1898)
Scrooge, or Marley’s Ghost (1901)
The Bishop’s Wife
A Bill of Divorcement (1932)
A Bill of Divorcement (1940)
A Christmas Accident
Santa Claus (1925)
Santa Claus vs. Cupid
A Winter Straw Ride
A Christmas Carol (1910)
La Petite Marchande d’allumettes (The Little Match Girl)
The Night Before Christmas (1905)
A Holiday Pageant At Home

These rankings are very much subject to change, especially as I watch the remaining films on my list and hone in on what exactly makes a film a “Christmas movie” (for me anyways). On the road to Epiphany, I hope to examine (or re-examine) the following films:
Meet John Doe
Christmas Holiday
Meet Me in St. Louis
Lady on a Train
It’s a Wonderful Life
Christmas Eve
Scrooge (A Christmas Carol)
We’re No Angels
Desk Set
Auntie Mame
Bell, Book and Candle
The Apartment

Do you make a special effort to watch certain movies during the holiday season? If so, which ones? Are there any other films made between 1895 and 1960 that I should consider adding to this list?

Noirvember 2019

Tags

Film Noir

As I did in 2017 and 2018, I celebrated Noirvember on Twitter by watching thirty films throughout the month, organized into twelve double features and two triple features. This post is simply to log my #Noirvember selections.

Double Bagged

Looking for a good noir double feature? It’s in the bag. But where’s the bag?

“Listen to me. The only thing to do is to go to the police. Tell them exactly how it happened.”
Lee Bowman to Louis Hayward in House by the River (1950)

“Get a hold of yourself, Jane, will you? It’s a bag of dynamite. That was a payoff. Probably blackmail… If we don’t report this, it’s a felony, the same as stealing it.”
Arthur Kennedy to Lizabeth Scott in Too Late for Tears (1949)

Double Up

If you want to travel vicariously up and over the hills of San Francisco, and then up and up again, look no further.

“I suppose you want to be untied.”
Lauren Bacall to Humphrey Bogart in Dark Passage (1947)

“I used to come here with my girl when I was a kid. It’s more frightening than romantic. It’s the way love is when you’re young… life is when you’re older.”
Dennis O’Keefe to Ann Sheridan in Woman on the Run (1950)

Double Chin

How can you tell the color of someone’s beard if everything is black and white? #ProTip: Be sure to check your fiancé’s chin or you may be forced to take it on your own.

“What are you going to do?”
“The only thing I can do.”
John Carradine to Jean Parker in Bluebeard (1944)

“I’m not even conscious until I’ve had three cups of coffee.”
Joan Bennett to Anne Revere in Secret Beyond the Door (1947)

Double Identity

To celebrate #FemaleFilmmakerFriday, I watched the first woman (as far as I know) to direct herself in a feature film, but it was the men in both who were leading double lives.

“I can’t figure out my feelings towards you. I despise you. And I pity you. I don’t even want to shake your hand, and yet… I almost wish you luck.”
Edmund Gwenn to Edmond O’Brien in The Bigamist (1953)

“If you haven’t got enough brains to agree with me, well, then, keep your mouth shut.”
Audrey Totter to Richard Basehart in Tension (1949)

Gothic Double

I wouldn’t gaslight you by pretending I hadn’t seen Gaslight, but I’ve long wanted to explore the Gothic world beyond it. #ProTip: Don’t show up to a gas light with an aquarium.

“Remember the lines? Life is short and the art is long. Decision difficult, experiment perilous.”
Paul Lukas to George Brent in Experiment Perilous (1944)

“She’s nice.”
“She’s lucky.”
“If you’re nice, you have to be lucky.”
“If you’re lucky, you can afford to be nice.”
Two wise wedding guests in The Locket (1946)

Triple Break Point

It’s tough to break out of prison. Not to mention confronting the age-old question “What do I do now?”

“Two years I let you alone. What do you want, Christmas every day? I let you alone because I didn’t need you. Now I do.”
Sterling Hayden to Gene Nelson in Crime Wave (1954)

“Don’t let that face of yours go to your head.”
“Or to yours?”
“Wouldn’t matter if it did. People who use pretty faces like you use yours don’t live very long anyway.”
Sheldon Leonard to Jean Gillie in Decoy (1946)

“I can’t take this money of yours. No, sir. In a way, I’m a thief just the same as you are. But I won’t sell you hope when there ain’t any.”
Ian Wolfe to Farley Granger in They Live by Night (1948)

Double Digits

It’s one thing to know how to handle a gun, but nothing beats a character whose fingers can tickle the ivories.

“So when this drunk handed me a ten-spot after a request, I couldn’t get very excited. What was it, I asked myself? A piece of paper crawling with germs. Couldn’t buy anything I wanted.”
Tom Neal as Al Roberts in Detour (1945)

“You know you’re quite an attractive man.”
“Keep going.”
“How far do you want me to go?”
“I’m at the plate. You’re doing the pitching.”
Kristine Miller to Burt Lancaster in I Walk Alone (1947)

Double Duty

When you’re an officer of the law, it can be tough to choose between doing your duty and Barbara Stanwyck. #ProTip: Choose Stanwyck or suffer the consequences.

“The game’s over. In my book, you wind up with enough chips. Now pick ’em up and go home.”
Raymond Burr to Barbara Stanwyck in Crime of Passion (1957)

“Is that what you want to do? Or is it that you just don’t want to listen to me?”
Barbara Stanwyck to Wendell Corey in The File on Thelma Jordan (1950)

Triple Sec

Sure it can get hot in the desert, but it’s a dry heat. Bone dry. Completamente seco. Archi-sec.

“I feel for you. But I’m consumed with apathy. Why should I mix in?”
Walter Brennan to Spencer Tracy in Bad Day at Black Rock (1954)

“You know, I’m very fond of chess. You can figure out how the other fellow thinks.”
Howard Da Silva to George Murphy in Border Incident (1949)

“Hot day isn’t it? You know, this is the road where those three people from Cedar Rapids died of thirst last year. Could I… uh… offer you a drink?”
Keith Andes to Jan Sterling in Split Second (1953)

Double Time

As I realized I had only five more days to watch ten more #Noirvember selections, it seemed only fitting I focus on films that are also very much concerned with time.

“There are 2,081,376,000 seconds in the average man’s life… each tick of the clock, the beat of a heart… and yet you sit here uselessly ticking your lives away because certain members of our conference are not on schedule.”
Charles Laughton in The Big Clock (1948)

“Sounds desperate… Who is it I have to kill?”
“Me.”
Paul Kirby to Dane Clark in Paid to Kill (aka Five Days) (1954)

Double Bind

They say blood is thicker than water, but what do you do when the family ties that bind are the ones dragging you under?

“What if there’s bad blood in me, Mose, that makes me do bad things?”
“I don’t know what you talking about… bad blood. Blood is red. It keeps you alive. It doesn’t tell you what you have to do.”
Dane Clark to Rex Ingram in Moonrise (1948)

“How can I protect her from the past when I can’t shut it out myself?”
Edward G. Robinson to Judith Anderson in The Red House (1947)

Double Down

If you are going to try and rob a casino, you better know when to double down and when to split.

“Do you mind my standing here?”
“I haven’t called for a guard, have I?”
Brian Keith to Jean Willes in 5 Against the House (1955)

“Did you ever notice pretty girls nowadays walk around with an angry look on their face all the time?”
Paul Henreid to Joan Bennett in The Scar (Hollow Triumph) (1948)

Double Trouble

Double rates for women and presidents, because they’re “always double-trouble”! #ProTip: Never believe those who say “it’s just business”—they’re probably contract killers.

“The only type of killing that’s safe is when a stranger kills a stranger. No motive. Nothing to link the victim to the executioner… I look at it like a good business. The risk is high, but so is the profit.”
Vince Edwards in Murder by Contract (1958)

“The thing about killing him or you or her or him is that I wouldn’t be getting paid for it and I don’t like giving anything away for free.”
Frank Sinatra in Suddenly (1954)

Double Major

I had to stay up a bit late to wrap up my traditional #Noirvember 30 by Thanksgiving, but I went out in a “big” way—with two major classics of the genre I hadn’t yet seen.

“I feel sorry for you, Joe. So I’m gonna do you a favor. You won’t hear the bullets.”
Richard Conte to Brian Donlevy in The Big Combo (1955)

“Listen, I knew you since you was a little kid. You was always a regular kind of crook. I never figured you for a louse.”
“Stop, you’re breaking my heart.”
“Even in our crummy kind of business you gotta draw the line somewheres.”
Thelma Ritter to Richard Widmark in Pickup on South Street (1953)

Filmography
Bluebeard (1944)
Experiment Perilous (1944)
Detour (1945)
Decoy (1946)
The Locket (1946)
Dark Passage (1947)
I Walk Alone (1947)
The Red House (1947)
The Big Clock (1948)
Hollow Triumph (The Scar) (1948)
Moonrise (1948)
Secret Beyond the Door (1948)
They Live by Night (1948)
Border Incident (1949)
Tension (1949)
Too Late for Tears (1949)
The File on Thelma Jordon (1950)
House by the River (1950)
Woman on the Run (1950)
The Bigamist (1953)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Split Second (1953)
Crime Wave (1954)
Paid to Kill (Five Days) (1954)
Suddenly (1954)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
The Big Combo (1955)
5 Against the House (1955)
Crime of Passion (1957)
Murder by Contract (1958)

Be Kind, Please Rewind: The Year in Film, Part 1

Tags

Film Noir, French Cinema, Horror

Dorothy McGuire as Helen in Robert Siodmak’s The Spiral Staircase

Since I watched 250 films this year, with more than 200 of those being prior to 2018, I decided to break this year-end wrap-up into two parts. This post will focus on those films released prior to 2018* and the next will feature 2018 releases.

First, some stats on my 2018 viewing (both new and old films):
Films watched in the theater: 15%
Films watched on DVD: 55%
Films watched via streaming: 30%
Most used streaming service: Mubi (33 films)

Films released in the silent era: 6
Films released in the 1930s: 10
Films released in the 1940s: 53
Films released in the 1950s: 22
Films released in the 1960s: 13
Films released in the 1970s: 20
Films released in the 1980s: 10
Films released in the 1990s: 19
Films released in the 2000s: 15
Films released in the 2010s: 82

Most watched genre: film noir (40 films)

Most watched director: Alexander Mackendrick (5 films)
Runners-up: Jacques Audiard, Fritz Lang, Claude Sautet, Jacques Tourneur

Films directed by women: 30 (12%)

Nothing too surprising given that my main focuses for the year were classic horror and #Noirvember. I had pledged to watch #52FilmsByWomen but that ended up taking a back seat to my other projects. In fact, the only reason I even watched as many films directed by women as I did is because so many appeared on year-end critic lists and I caught up with them in my traditional December blitz.

Romy Schneider and Michel Piccoli in Claude Sautet’s Les Choses de la vie

Since I didn’t write up quarterly reports this year, let’s start by finalizing my thoughts on 2017 films. Did I see anything in 2018 that changed my original Top Ten posted in early January? Yes! Phantom Thread and Brigsby Bear both made their way onto the list, edging off Blade Runner 2049 and Logan Lucky.

Final Top Ten of 2017
Lady Bird
A Ghost Story
The Florida Project
Phantom Thread
Ingrid Goes West
Brigsby Bear
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Get Out
Bacalaureat (Graduation)
Wind River

But those ten films weren’t the only movies from 2017 worth watching. If you are looking for something beyond the excellent films above, here are some ideas.

If You Have a Cinematographer’s Eye:
Atomic Blonde
Blade Runner 2049
Columbus
Lady Macbeth
Mudbound

The wonders of architecture and framing are on display in Columbus.

If You Want a Film that Crushes the Bechdel-Wallace Test:
Landline
Novitiate
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Their Finest
Wonder Woman

Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Holdo has no patience for your bullsh*t.

If You Want a Movie That Keeps You Guessing:
Atomic Blonde
Before I Fall
The Blackcoat’s Daughter (February)
Molly’s Game
Wind River

Before I Fall is Heathers, wrapped in Groundhog Day, inside of Looper.

If You Want to Laugh:
The Big Sick
Landline
Logan Lucky

Gillian Robespierre teams up again with Jenny Slate for Landline.

If You Want Something to Warm Your Heart:
Brigsby Bear
Victoria & Abdul
The Zookeeper’s Wife

Kyle Mooney breaks your heart in the best way possible in Brigsby Bear.

If You Think Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold:
I don’t feel at home in this world anymore.
Moka
Wind River

Emmanuelle Devos walks the fine line between grief and vengeance in Moka.

If You Don’t Mind Something Disturbing:
The Blackcoat’s Daughter (February)
Detroit
Lady Macbeth

If You Want to See Things That (Literally) Go Bump in the Night:
A Ghost Story
It Comes at Night
Personal Shopper

A Ghost Story is the most haunting and affecting film I saw last year.

If You Want to See America’s Gritty Underbelly:
Beach Rats
The Florida Project
Good Time

If You Want to Travel in Time:
Professor Marston & the Wonder Women
Victoria & Abdul
Wonder Woman

Professor Marston & the Wonder Women tie their relationship up in knots for decades.

If You Want to Relive World War II:
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Their Finest
The Zookeeper’s Wife

If You Want to Relive the 1960s:
Detroit
Novitiate
The Post
The Shape of Water

If You Want to Relive the 1990s:
120 battements par minute (BPM)
I, Tonya
Landline

If You Want to Travel Vicariously:
Call Me By Your Name
Queen of the Desert
Visages, Villages (Faces Places)

Queen of the Desert follows the incredible life of British explorer, cartographer, and political officer Gertrude Bell.

If You Want a Science Fiction Triple Feature:
Blade Runner 2049
Colossal
War for the Planet of the Apes

If You Want a Wild Ride:
Baby Driver
John Wick: Chapter 2
Kidnap

If You Want to Get Back to the Land:
God’s Own Country
Lady Macbeth
Mudbound

God’s Own Country explores immigration, masculinity, and the rural-urban divide in contemporary Yorkshire.

If You Are Holding Out for a Hero(ine):
Battle of the Sexes
Coco
Thor: Ragnarok

The Kids Are Alright (Star Performances by the Underage Set):
Ava
The Blackcoat’s Daughter (February)
Logan

Noée Abita as the eponymous heroine of Léa Mysius’s Ava

And that does it for 2017 recommendations. Now, on to even older films!

Best of “The Great Unseen”: Dog Day Afternoon (1975). The early part of the year saw me complete the final phase of my project to fill in the biggest gaps in my cinéphile life, The Great Unseen. While Dog Day Afternoon wasn’t quite what I expected and probably not something I would choose to rewatch, you should definitely check it out if you haven’t seen it.

Favorite of “The Great Unseen”: Assault on Precinct 13 (1976). While not technically part of my original “Great Unseen” list, I watched Assault on Precinct 13 as a companion piece to The Thing (1982) and never looked back. One of my favorite discoveries of the year and a film I suspect I will return to more than once.

Laurie Zimmer and Austin Stoker in Assault on Precinct 13

Best New-to-Me Classic Horror: The Innocents (1961). I watched a lot of horror in an effort to complete my series on classic horror (“It’s in the trees! It’s coming!” I swear). However, many of these films were actually rewatches from when I started the original series so they didn’t impress me quite as much as this gorgeous take on The Turn of the Screw. The use of dissolves and other framing choices are absolutely stunning, and there is one moment that is one of the creepiest things I have ever seen on screen.

Favorite New-to-Me Classic Horror: Them! (1954). I was expecting something pretty cheesy when I started this film about radiated ants for my post on Creature Features, but it turned out to be so much better than I expected. It is hard to find but definitely worth catching if you can.

Probably a good thing I didn’t watch Them! before visiting White Sands National Monument.

I once again watched thirty films as part of the #Noirvember celebration on Twitter. All thirty were new to me. This year I am hoping to rewatch a few of the greats throughout the year and when November rolls around again come up with a definitive list of my favorites. In the meantime, here are my ten favorites from those I watched in 2018.

Top Ten #Noirvember Films
The Spiral Staircase (1946)
Clash by Night (1952)
The Unsuspected (1947)
Criss Cross (1949)
The Woman in the Window (1944)
Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
The Big Steal (1949)
The Lineup (1958)
Cry Danger (1951)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Robert Ryan as Earl Pfeiffer, projectionist, in Clash by Night

Best Movie by a Female Director: Wanda (1971). This was one of those films that appears on every list of must-see women directors but I thought looked incredibly dreary, a study in coal-mining poverty and depression. However, when it turned up on the program of the Castro Theatre, I decided to “force” myself to sit through it. Needless to say, I was quite surprised when it turned into a sort of road-trip heist film. It’s definitely indie fare, and not a joyride by any means, but still far more enjoyable than I thought it would be.

Barbara Loden as Wanda Goronski in her groundbreaking film, Wanda

Best Math Greek Selection: Stalker (1979). There were a number of great films that I watched this year that I may never have seen without the Math Greek’s coaxing—Kieślowski’s Przypadek (Blind Chance) (1987), P.T. Anderson’s Magnolia (1999), Donnie Darko (2001), Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987), among others—but the best of these was Stalker, which also holds a special place in my heart because it hearkens back to my first extended conversation with the MG, almost nine years ago, when I was more than a little tipsy and decided to argue with him about how much I hated his favorite Russian director, the whole time confusing Tarkovsky with Sokurov. Good times.

Given my love of Annihilation, it is perhaps not surprising I liked Stalker.

Best “Worst” Math Greek Selection: Mac and Me (1988). Given that Mac and Me features prominently on many “Worst Movies Ever” lists, I was dubious when the Math Greek suggested we watch the MST2K version currently streaming on Netflix. It certainly deserves its place on those lists, but I have to admit it was fun to watch that way.

Another fantastic suggestion from the Math Greek was watching all the A Star Is Born movies before Filmstruck disappeared (RIP Filmstruck). SPOILER ALERT for Part 2 of The Year in Film: I loved the most recent version, which is the first one I watched. To consider them all a bit more objectively, I ranked them from 1 to 4 on ten different story elements they had in common (for example, how they handled the discovery/big break moment). Interestingly enough, they all scored both 1s and 4s in at least one category. Here is how they fared overall.

A Star Is Born Ranked
2018
1937
1954
1976

I do think my assessment of the 1954 version suffered from the fact that the version I saw was the fuller version reconstructed with stills and existing audio, which made for an odd viewing experience to say the least. However, that aside, the songs in the 1954 version just aren’t good enough for me to embrace it the way that others do. Sorry!

A Star Is Born (1937) wins out over the 1954 version by a hair.

And that is it for projects and mini-projects for the year. But how about the other seventy-five or so older films I watched during the year? Well, here are some highlights…

Best on Rewatch: Pulp Fiction (1994). What can I say? After all these years, this film still holds up for me. The dialogue, visuals, and editing represent a masterclass in filmmaking.

Best on Rewatch (runner-up): Gosford Park (2001)

Best New-to-Me Film: Pleins feux sur l’assassin (Spotlight on a Murderer) (1961). If you read the Old Dark House post in my horror series, you know how much I love an old dark house mystery. Throw in an Agatha Christie–like plot twist by the writers of Les Diaboliques and Jean-Louis Trintignant, and, really, how can I resist? This is probably where I should talk about MUBI, because otherwise I never would have seen this gem.

Jean-Louis Trintignant and Pascale Audret investigate in Pleins feux sur l’assassin by Georges Franju.

One reason I watched so many older films this year is that I decided to subscribe to MUBI, a film website that integrates a streaming subscription, a film database, and an online magazine. The site features classic arthouse fare, including series on specific filmmakers, genres, and national cinemas. For example, right now, you could watch Andrew Bujalski’s debut Funny Ha Ha, Alfonso Cuarón’s Y tu mamá también, a double feature from Carol Reed (including The Third Man), the ethnographic films of Jean Rouch, or Béla Tarr’s The Turin Horse. Two series I loved from this past year were one on comedies from the Ealing Studios (The Ladykillers, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Maggie, The Man in the White Suit, Whisky Galore!) and another on Claude Sautet, a French filmmaker from the 1970s and 1980s whose films are hard to find on DVD. The subscription’s unusual conceit, which works very well for someone like me who has a tendency to add things to a queue and then never watch them, is that a new movie is added to the “now showing” list every day, but it streams for only a month before disappearing. Use it or lose it, as the case may be. All I can say is that it prompts me to actually watch many films I wouldn’t otherwise and that I’ve made some fantastic discoveries via the service, especially foreign films.

Favorite MUBI Discovery: Went the Day Well? (1942). This is a British propaganda film adapted from a story by Graham Greene. Though it came out of Ealing Studios, it was not part of the comedy series listed above, but rather part of a filmmaker series on the works of Italian director Alberto Cavalcanti. It tells the story of an English village being taken over by German paratroopers disguised as British soldiers. As the movie unfolds, it gradually dawns on the villagers that all is not what it seems with the soldiers they are housing and they realize they must take action to save themselves.

Top Ten Foreign-Language Films
Stalker (1979)
Pleins feux sur l’assassin (Spotlight on a Murderer) (1961)
Fuk Sau (Vengeance) (2009)
De battre mon coeur s’est arrêté (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) (2005)
Un prophète (A Prophet) (2010)
Przypadek (Blind Chance) (1987)
César et Rosalie (1972)
Struktura kryształu (The Structure of Crystals) (1969)
Un héros très discret  (A Self-Made Hero) (1997)
Les Choses de la vie (The Things of Life) (1970)

Johnny Hallyday stars as father seeking to avenge his daughter in the Hong Kong thriller Fuk Sau (Vengeance).

Best Film Seen in a Theater (tie): The Accused (1949) and Quiet Please, Murder (1943). Both these films played at the Castro Theatre as part of the annual Noir City film festival. The Accused, starring Loretta Young, is a noir with a feminist slant; Quiet Please, Murder takes place in the Los Angeles Public Library—what’s not to love?

Best Silent Film: Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928). One of Lon Chaney’s greatest performances.

Best Silent Film (runner-up): Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920). John Barrymore’s transformations from Jekyll to Hyde and back again are impressive.

Best Rom Com Rewatch: Moonstruck (1987)

Best New-to-Me Rom Com: Vivacious Lady (1938)

—Are you going to mind your own businesses, or must I really give you a piece of my mind?
—Oh, I couldn’t take the last piece.

—Helen to Francey in Vivacious Lady

Most Heartwarming: Paddington (2015)

Best Heist Rewatch: The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

Best New-to-Me Heist Film: Ad ogni costo (Grand Slam) (1968)

Edward G. Robinson and Janet Leigh try to hang on to their loot in Ad ogni costo (Grand Slam).

Best Documentary Rewatch: Finding Vivian Maier (2014)

Best New-to-Me Documentary: Weiner (2016)

Best Would-Be Double Feature: Black Christmas (1974) and The Spiral Staircase (1946)

Best Use of Black and White: Struktura kryształu (The Structure of Crystals) (1969)

Best First-Half: Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Film That Wasn’t As Good as I Remembered: 3:10 to Yuma (1957)

Most Oddly Relevant for Today: Fight Club (1999)

Most Existential Ennui (aka Frenchiest): L’Eau froide (Cold Water) (1994)

The Rupert Giles Award (aka Mathiest): Struktura kryształu (The Structure of Crystals) (1969)

Best Use of Plumbing as Plot Point: Cluny Brown (1946)

Worst Abuse of Geography: Fog Over Frisco (1934)

Best Movie to Transition from Noirvember into the Christmas Season: Remember the Night (1940), starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray of Double Indemnity

Best Christmas Movie (tie): Black Christmas (1974) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman trying to enjoy an innocent Christmas party in Eyes Wide Shut.

Creepiest Use of Masks (tie): Black Sunday (1960) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Creepiest Dolls: Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)

Carol Lynley visits a doll hospital in Bunny Lake Is Missing.

Top Five Films I Can’t Recommend
The Black Cat
White Zombie
Phantom Ship (The Mystery of the Mary Celeste)
The End
Mac and Me

Sadly, Mac and Me is every bit as bad as it looks in this image.

How many films did you watch at home this year? What was your greatest discovery? What was your favorite rewatch? Let me know in the comment box below.

*The movies I saw or rewatched that were released prior to 2018 include:

2017: Ava, Battle of the Sexes, Beach Rats, Beauty and the Beast, Before I Fall, Brigsby Bear, 120 battements par minute (BPM), Coco, Darkest Hour, A Ghost Story, God’s Own Country, It Comes at Night, Landline, Logan Lucky, Maison du bonheur, Molly’s Game, Mudbound, Oscar Shorts: Animated, Oscar Shorts: Live Action, Phantom Thread, The Post, Professor Marston & the Wonder Women, Queen of the Desert, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Victoria & Abdul

Released prior to 2017: The Accused, The Ace of Hearts, Act of Violence, Ad ogni costo (Grand Slam), The Anderson Tapes, Assault on Precinct 13, The Bad Seed, Barry Lyndon, The Beast with Five Fingers, Beau travail, Bedlam, Ben-Hur (1926), Ben-Hur (1959), The Big Steal, The Black Cat, Black Christmas, Black Sunday, Body Double, Boy, Brighton Rock, Brute Force, Bunny Lake Is Missing, Call Northside 777, Captain America: Civil War, Cat People, César et Rosalie, Les Choses de la vie (The Things of Life), Le Clan des Siciliens (The Sicilian Clan), Clash by Night, Cluny Brown, Le Concert (The Concert), Conflict, Cool Hand Luke, Copie Conforme (Certified Copy), Criss Cross, Cry Danger, The Curse of the Cat People, The Dark Mirror, Daughters of the Dust, De battre mon coeur s’est arrêté (The Beat That My Heart Skipped), Dead Reckoning, Defending Your Life, The Devil Rides Out, Le Dîner de cons (The Dinner Game), Doctor Strange, The Doctor Takes a Wife, Dog Day Afternoon, Donnie Darko, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, L’Eau froide (Cold Water), The End, Eyes Wide Shut, Les Femmes du 6e étage (The Women of the 6th Floor), Fight Club, Finding Vivian Maier, The Fly (1958), Fog Over Frisco, Following, The French Connection, Fuk Sau (Vengeance), Full Metal Jacket, Gap-Toothed Women, Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers, The Ghost Ship, The Glass Key, Gosford Park, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, Hak se wui yi wo wai kwai (Triad Election), He Walked by Night, High Sierra, House of Usher, The House on 92nd Street, The Hudsucker Proxy, I Know Where I’m Going!, I Walked with a Zombie, If You Could Only Cook, Impact, In a World…, The Innocents, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Isle of the Dead, It’s a Wonderful World, Johnny Eager, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Kiss of Death, L.627, The Ladykillers, Laugh, Clown, Laugh, The Lavender Hill Mob, Legally Blonde, The Leopard Man, The Letter, The Lineup, A Little Romance, Looker, Mac and Me, The Maggie, Magnolia, The Man in the White Suit, The Man Who Cheated Himself, The Matador, Maverick, Max et les ferrailleurs (Max and the Junkmen), Medicine for Melancholy, Meshes of the Afternoon, Mimì metallurgico ferito nell’onore (The Seduction of Mimi), Ministry of Fear, Moonstruck, Murder by Death, Murder Party, My Sister Eileen, Mystery Street, Nattvardsgästerna (Winter Light), Night of the Demon, A Night to Remember, One A.M., Orlacs Hände (The Hands of Orlac), Orlando, Out of the Fog, Paddington, Phantom Ship (The Mystery of the Mary Celeste), Pleins feux sur l’assassin (Spotlight on a Murderer), Police Python 357, Przypadek (Blind Chance), Pulp Fiction, Quiet Please, Murder, The Racket, Raising Arizona, The Raven, Remember the Night, Ride the Pink Horse, Rings on Her Fingers, Såsom i en spegel (Through a Glass Darkly), Scarlet Street, 711 Ocean Drive, The Seventh Victim, The Shanghai Gesture, She Wouldn’t Say Yes, The Silent Partner, Six Shooter, Sleeping Beauty, The Sniper, Sliding Doors, Sous le sable (Under the Sand), The Spaghetti West, The Spiral Staircase, Stalker, A Star Is Born (1937), A Star Is Born (1954), A Star is Born (1976), The Stranger, Stranger on the Third Floor, Struktura kryształu (The Structure of Crystals), Sweet Smell of Success, Tais-toi! (Shut Up!), Taxi Driver, Them!, Theodora Goes Wild, They Drive by Night, The Thing, The Thomas Crown Affair, 3:10 to Yuma, Together Again, Too Many Husbands, Un prophète (A Prophet), Un héros très discret (A Self-Made Hero), Una pura formalità (A Pure Formality), The Uninvited, The Unsuspected, Victoria (In Bed with Victoria), Vincent, François, Paul et les autres, Vivacious Lady, Wanda, Weiner, Went the Day Well?, Where Danger Lives, Whisky Galore!, White Zombie, Wild at Heart, The Woman in the Window, Z, ZIPPER: Coney Island’s Last Wild Ride

Noirvember 3: Hot Spot

Tags

Film Noir

Having made so many great discoveries earlier in the month, for the final five double features of Noirvember I decided to choose mostly new-to-me films. This is also because the Noirvember hashtag on Twitter provided so many suggestions! At this point, I’ve compiled an incredible list of noirs I haven’t seen and many look absolutely awesome—it has already made me excited for Noirvember 2018!

Double Homicide: I Wake Up Screaming (1941, H. Bruce Humberstone) and The Lady from Shanghai (1948, Orson Welles)

I Wake Up Screaming is one of the very first film noirs, filmed at the same time as The Maltese Falcon but released three months later. In that sense, it is somewhat of a transitional film, carrying over elements from the gangster pictures of the 1930s into the more psychoanalytical world of noir, but without the fatalism of noir. In a plot that foresees that of Laura, the narrative moves back and forth in time as we follow the homicide investigation into the death of Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis), an up-and-coming model/actress discovered by promoter—and now prime suspect—Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature). The investigation is somewhat stymied by the growing attraction between Vicky’s sister Jill (Betty Grable) and Frankie as well as the obsessive drive of the exceedingly creepy policeman played by Laird Cregar and the almost inevitable appearance of Elisha Cook Jr. It is rather quirky for a film noir, especially with Grable and Mature in the leads, but I enjoyed it very much. However, I do wish the film had kept its original name of Hot Spot, as I think that more aptly describe the situation the characters find themselves in (I Wake Up Screaming is the name of the source novel).

That’s the first time anyone ever thought enough of you to call you a shark. If you were a good lawyer, you’d be flattered.

—Everett Sloane as Arthur Bannister in The Lady from Shanghai

Even though I had decided to focus on new-to-me selections for this last push, I still wanted to rewatch The Lady from Shanghai specifically for the mirror-maze shootout ending, which was recently referenced in the ending of John Wick: Chapter 2. Newsflash: It still looks cool. However, this set piece also reflects (!) a fundamental problem with this film, lots of standout moments that don’t quite hang together. I want to love it, but the plot is extremely hard to follow, some scenes—like the Central Park opening—just don’t fit with the rest, and Orson Welles’s Irish accent doesn’t work for me at all. That said, it is an extremely poetic film and there is a speech about sharks that is second only to Quint’s speech in Jaws. Plus, I love Everett Sloane as Arthur Bannister, trial lawyer extraordinaire and husband to Rita Hayworth.

Double Check: Ace in the Hole (1951, Billy Wilder) and The Blue Gardenia (1953, Fritz Lang)

Ace in the Hole was one of those films that didn’t seem like it could be noir based on stills I had seen or the plot description, so I hadn’t put it on my original viewing list. However, David recommended it in the comments of my first Noirvember post, so I added it to the mix. It definitely breaks the mold of standard noir fare, but I certainly consider it a part of the noir canon. The most striking thing about this film was how relevant it remains today. I watched this one with a French cousin who was visiting from Calgary and we both agreed that it seemed fresh and modern (in the most depressing way). The film tells the story of a cynical big-city reporter, played by Kirk Douglas, who finds himself in the “backwater” of the American Southwest with access to a scoop that might allow him to get back a primo job on a major newspaper. Jan Sterling is a particularly callous femme fatale. Corruption, greed, and manipulation rule the day and almost no one comes out of this one looking good.

Honey, if a girl killed every man who got fresh with her, how much of the male population do you think there’d be left?

—Ann Sothern to Anne Baxter in The Blue Gardenia

I paired Ace in the Hole with The Blue Gardenia, a film I had never heard of, because it too stars a newspaper journalist looking for a scoop; however, Richard Conte is much less ruthless than Kirk Douglas. In fact, once again, Raymond Burr is the male heavy, playing a playboy artist whose encounter with switchboard operator Anne Baxter sets the plot in motion. The story is not very original and the murder mystery wraps up a bit too quickly in the end, but there are some nice cinematographic effects and I loved the interactions between the roommates.

Double Decker: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946, Lewis Milestone) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950, Otto Preminger)

It was odd to finally watch The Strange Love of Martha Ivers since the Out of the Past podcast uses its main theme as their intro music and closes with dialogue from the final scene: “Don’t look back, baby. Don’t ever look back.” Still, I didn’t love this movie as much as I thought I would given this familiarity, although it certainly has some memorable moments of dialogue and a key revelation scene towards the end that is simply delicious. I think the main problem for me was that the set-up goes on far too long. You see, the film starts about twenty years in the past of the main characters, when the characters later played by Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, and Kirk Douglas are children. Certainly knowing the details of the main event of this opening—the mysterious death of Martha’s aunt—is critical to the rest of the film, but I think it could have been handled in a few minutes. In any case, the main reason I would rewatch this film is Lizabeth Scott, who plays Toni, a newcomer to this bizarre love triangle.

When you get old like me, you don’t care what time it is.

—Grayce Mills as Ken Paine’s landlady in Where the Sidewalk Ends

Where the Sidewalk Ends (not to be confused with the Shel Silverstein children’s book) is another unusual entry in the noir canon. Directed by Otto Preminger, who made Laura, and starring that film’s leads (Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney), Where the Sidewalk Ends depicts a world even darker and more violent than most film noirs. As in Laura, Dana Andrews is a police detective, although one with decidedly less finesse than Mark McPherson. In fact, he has been demoted after numerous citizen complaints about his violent ways and rough tactics. These rough tactics lead him to inadvertently kill a suspect he is interrogating and then go to desperate lengths to cover up the crime. Gene Tierney plays the estranged wife of the dead man and love interest to Andrews, and the situation becomes even more complicated when her father becomes a suspect in her husband’s death. Although I didn’t really love Andrew’s character or this world (except for Martha of Martha’s Café), there is something very compelling about this film. I look forward to revisiting it when I have a broader knowledge of the canon.

Double Talk: Nightmare Alley (1947, Edmund Goulding) and Whirlpool (1950, Otto Preminger)

Nightmare Alley is another recommendation from David, and it came up in quite a few Noirvember tweets, so I decided to check it out even though I was not at all convinced of the carnival setting. However, this is really a great story about an unscrupulous con man who starts out in the carnival but eventually takes his act into the big time. The con man is played by Tyrone Power, who really throws himself into the unattractive role. Of course, almost everyone here is unattractive, except maybe the slightly more innocent Molly, played by Coleen Gray. There are two other great roles for women, including Zeena, the “psychic” played by Joan Blondell, and the sleazy psychiatrist played by Helen Walker. There is lots of plot and character detail to this seedy world, so I imagine it will reward multiple viewings.

Girls! Girls! Battling over dear David in my bedroom. It’s the most dramatic thing that ever happened in it.

—Constance Collier as Tina Cosgrove in Whirlpool

Whirlpool is a bit of a clunker. On its face, it seems like it could be interesting and there are two strong leads in Gene Tierney and José Ferrer, but the set-up isn’t very believable and the whole film suffers for it. The basic story is that Ann Sutton (Gene Tierney), the wife of a well-known psychiatrist, is caught shoplifting and David Korvo, a hypnotist played by José Ferrer, sees this happen and saves her from arrest. Somehow, despite being warned off by Barbara O’Neil, he manages to talk her into consulting with him to solve her psychoanalytical issues (that her successful analyst husband somehow doesn’t see?) and gets her to a place where she is not sure whether or not she has committed a murder. I didn’t dislike it, but it doesn’t have much to recommend it either. Basically, it’s a second-rate Blue Gardenia.

Double Dose: This Gun for Hire (1942, Frank Tuttle) and The Blue Dahlia (1946, George Marshall)

I decided to conclude Noirvember with a double dose of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, who starred in three film noirs together: This Gun for Hire, The Glass Key, and The Blue Dahlia. I really wanted to end on a triple feature and watch all three, but I just didn’t have time.

This Gun for Hire, based on a novel by Graham Greene, was the first of their pairings. The film transports the action of the novel from England to California, specifically San Francisco and Los Angeles—so I knew I was bound to like it. I was already a huge fan of Veronica Lake from such films as Sullivan’s Travels and I Married a Witch, but I only knew Ladd from Shane. Now, I love Shane, and Ladd is great there, but he doesn’t really work as a noir anti-hero for me. He’s just too clean-cut for the role of gritty, abused assassin. Of course, this is the movie that supposedly made him a star, so what do I know?

You’ve got the wrong lipstick on, Mister.

—Alan Ladd as Johnny Morrison in The Blue Dahlia

Ladd is a bit more believable as a returning war veteran in The Blue Dahlia. Having read The Black Dahlia a few years ago, and knowing the influence of this film’s release on the nicknaming of that murder victim, I wanted to be sure to include this film sometime during the month. It was hard to get, so it fell to the very last slot. On the Out of the Past podcast, they don’t have a very high opinion of this film, the first original screenplay by Raymond Chandler. I liked it somewhat more than they did, although I did find the solution to the mystery rather odd and was happy to learn it was changed from Chandler’s original script. Despite the plot not making much sense (but, hey, it’s Chandler, so…), the script still has moments that truly sparkle, like this gem soon after the three army buddies arrive in Los Angeles:

Buzz: Bourbon straight with a bourbon chaser.
Johnny: Same.
George: Two separate glasses. Get it?
Bartender: Why wouldn’t I get it?

All in all, despite the time commitment it took to watch thirty films in thirty days, I’m so glad I did. I discovered many new films and was able to view films I knew well in a new light. I look forward to Noirvember 2018 (when hopefully I won’t forget to hit “publish” on my write-ups)!

Filmography
I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
This Gun For Hire (1942)
The Blue Dahlia (1946)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
Nightmare Alley (1947)
The Lady from Shanghai (1948)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
Whirlpool (1950)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
The Blue Gardenia (1953)