Noir-vember! - A Partial Report

After thinking about it for a few years I finally gave in and spent the month of November watching almost exclusively film noirs – Noirvember! I felt that it was time to really dig into the genre and see a lot of examples of it that I had never caught before. The final count for the month was 23 ‘new to me’ film noir or noir adjacent movies and it was a delightful experience. I enjoyed nearly every one of these movies and it showed me that just watching the more famous titles had given me a shallow sense of the genre. I’m very glad I did this!

 

One reason I set out to do this month-long watch was to justify owning several amazing Indicator box sets of film noirs and I used them as the centerpiece of my viewing plan. Several of the movies were unexpected standouts with some interesting, smart twists embedded in their crime tales. It wasn't too surprising that MILDRED PIERCE (1945) was one of the best, turning out to be a true classic. I’m embarrassed that it took me until 2023 to finally see this bitter, involving melodrama. It's easy to see why the film is so well regarded as it is so well acted and directed that it is a joy to follow the tragedy to its dark conclusion. I’ll admit was surprised to see Bruce Bennett holding his own against the mighty Joan Crawford as I still mostly picture him as Tarzan, but the entire cast is exceptional. 

 

WALK A CROOKED MILE from 1948 is an excellent crime film set in San Francisco with some good on location shooting to add to the feeling of verisimilitude. The story is a fairly standard post World War II anti-communist crime story but it is well made and incredibly engrossing as we follow a British and American cop team untangle a foreign spy network. I found this to be a standout and was surprised that it's not talked about more among fans of the genre.

PUSHOVER (1954) was almost as great even though it starts off in a way that made me think it was going to be a rehash of Fred McMurray’s previous classic in the genre DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944). I found it to be at least as good as that film if not better simply by virtue of it having a few tricks up its sleeve that I wasn't expecting. Watching McMurray’s cop character go through the paces of endearing himself and starting a relationship with Kim Novak's character just so that he can keep tabs on her as in an attempt to arrest her long-term boyfriend is absolutely fantastic. The surprises, and the way the film structures its story is clever and seeing McMurray make his choice to step on to the criminal side of the street is an entertaining ride. This is another unsung and less talked about example of the genre that truly impressed me.

I also really enjoyed AFFAIR IN TRINIDAD (1952) with Rita Hayworth as a widow-turned spy trying to do in some nasty criminal types doing mysterious bad things. Yes, the film plays like an obvious variation on Hitchcock's NOTORIOUS (1946) but it is still a good film with a great performance from Hayworth and getting to see her sing and dance is a nice bonus. 

THE BROTHERS RICO (1957) is a film that I'd heard about for years mainly because it has been championed for decades by Martin Scorsese as one of his favorite examples of the genre. I have to agree that it is an exceptional film although it would be a hard rewatch simply because the story is so much about the inevitability of criminal acts leading to destruction. There are these little threads of hope that get extinguished one by one as the story goes on until, by the end, the main character realizes that choices made years before had inevitable end points that he could do nothing to change. The film is a compelling watch but also pretty dark even with its slightly upbeat final scene. 

I also checked out APPOINTMENT WITH A SHADOW (1957) which is a well done ‘alcoholic newspaper man solves crime’ tale. The film focuses on George Nader's playing an alcoholic reporter who has boozed his way into losing job after job after job. Near the end of his rope, he's given one last chance by a woman who loves him and her cop brother to be on the scene of a very big arrest. The story follows him as he attempts to get through a day prepping himself to be in place to witness things, write it up and to use this scoop as a stepping stone to get his job back, possibly changing his life. It's very effective and becomes a tense, unpredictable exercise as the arrest goes wrong and the newspaper man realizes that he's might have the biggest story that he'll ever have in his career - but only he can make anyone believe what he knows to be true. This is one heck of a film and I was shocked that I had not heard of before. And I caught it on YouTube of all places! 

TIGHT SPOT from 1955 has Ginger Rogers turning in an excellent performance as a prisoner asked to turn States evidence in a case that could paint a bullseye on her back. This is a film that was clearly based on a stage play and therefore has all of the sharp dialogue and interesting characterizations that you would expect from something that had to survive in front of a live audience over and over again. Rogers is fantastic, really digging into the many character shades the script gives her and becoming a multifaceted person in our eyes as the story moves into unexpected areas. With Brian Keith and Edward G. Robinson as well this is an excellent small-scale story with impressive emotional heft.