In a Lonely Place

In a Lonely Place (1950), directed by Nicholas Ray (They Live by Night, Rebel Without a Cause) and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, is a film noir based on the Dorothy B. Hughes (1947) novel of the same name. I've heard the book is still a compelling read, and I'd say the movie holds its own as well despite the now outdated male-female power dynamic (in Hollywood films) and lead actors' 20-year-plus age difference. I read that the film was criticized after its release for the unhappy ending. This, though, I felt was refreshing, and kind of the point of the story, in which a screenwriter is a suspect in a murder investigation over the same two weeks he's falling hard for his neighbor. The cops keep hounding the guy, and this weighs on him, the girl, and ultimately their relationship, which eventually breaks down and then apart. What did they expect? It's noir. And great to see Bogey not playing the toughie who never loses his cool but rather the toughie who does, then spirals out of control.

Out of the Past

I've watched a hundred or so noir films since I set out to explore the genre in January 2018, and on my list I finally got to Out of the Past (Build My Gallows High in the U.K.). If I had a nickel for every time I read or heard that a particular 40s or 50s flick is the quintessential noir film, I'd have a big pile of coins. I'd read the same about this one, directed by Jacques Tourneur, thrilling audiences in 1947, and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. In this case, though, the reviewer might actually be right. My favorite noir remains Kiss Me Deadly (1955), but Out of the Past is probably in my top twenty or even top ten. Why? Well, it's got everything we want from the genre, from quirky melodrama to dark labyrinth narratives, from the sense that things will end badly to off-kilter shots to claustrophobic cinematography. But in this one especially, it's the femme fatale (the gorgeous Greer) who takes the cake, bumping off each guy who gets in her way, with bewitching charm and style to boot. I won't bother summarizing the plot; it's complicated and would sound ridiculous boiled down to a few lines. Suffice it to say it holds the viewer's attention. And seeing murder by fishing lure is a good enough reason alone to watch it, not to mention you get to see Mitchum and Douglas share the screen, and Greer of course.

Ace in the Hole

Ace in the Hole (1951) (renamed The Big Carnival before its release) is a film noir starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Billy Wilder (The Apartment (1860), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Double Indemnity (1944)). It's about "phony, below-the-belt journalism" and a cynical reporter who will stop at nothing to build up a sensational story in order to free himself from his small-town rut and dead-end job at the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin. A man gets trapped in a cave and reporter Chuck Tatum (Douglas) finds out and immediately resolves to exploit the situation. The trapped man's wife, who's ready to leave her husband anyway, is convinced by Tatum that, once he gets the story out nationwide, she too can benefit from her husband's misfortune, by selling food and knick-knacks to all those about to be drawn to the excitement of the rescue effort at the site, which is adjacent to her husband's property and near-forgotten shop. And so three characters want to escape, from a hole in a mountain, from a spouse and dull life, and from a small-time/town newspaper gig; plus the local sheriff joins the scheme, seeing it as an opportunity to gain votes toward his re-election. It's a great film—visually impressive with an entertaining script and a whole lot of witty one-liners. It's also the most cynical film noir I've seen, and relevant to this day and age in view of the "fake news" issue.

Kirk Douglas in Ace in the Hole