Road House has acquired a cult as a prime film noir. Certainly the title location is archetypal, a lounge and bowling alley up toward the Canadian border, and Ida Lupino and Richard Widmark make the most of flavorful roles that would qualify them as exemplary noir denizens even if they hadn’t established that elsewhere. Read More »Road House
Moontide is a variety of things — a forgotten movie with excellent acting, a character study, a film noir. It’s the story of a French wanderer named Bobo (Jean Gabin). Bobo is a handsome, hard-drinking man who considers himself a wandering gypsy. He wanders from place to place and job to job. His best friend Tiny (Thomas Mitchell) tails him. But this friend is more of a leech. He blackmails Bobo into paying his bills so that Tiny doesn’t have to work for a living.
Until they come to a small fishing town, and Bobo falls for a beautiful waitress (Ida Lupino). And after Bobo rescues her from an attempted suicide by drowning, the two begin falling in love. Then, Bobo begins to think about settling down for the first time … But that doesn’t fit in with Tiny’s plans. And an old man has been murdered. But Bobo remembers nothing about it since he was drinking at the time …
A lesser-known, but classic Humphrey Bogart movie, possibly his best performance in the film noir genre – Bogart plays screenwriter Dixon Steele, accused of a murder that he may, or may not, have committed. It is a riveting character study that must be seen to be appreciated.
DVD review of John Huston’s production of The Maltese Falcon — starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre
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Scarlet Street (1945) starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea – classic film noir directed by Fritz Lang
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Chicago Confidential is one of those films that wouldn’t be produced today. It’s not that it’s a film noir. The basic plot has an honest Illinois District Attorney. Played well by Brian Keith. He’s investigating a murder seemingly committed by a Union head played by Dick Foran. Foran’s character is innocent. His girlfriend, convincingly played by Beverly Garland, is instrumental in convincing Keith after the conviction.
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Movie review of the classic film noir, Nightmare Alley, possibly Tyrone Power’s best role as a carny hustler who becomes a mentalist, then a spiritualist, then begins his downfall as guilt eats away at him
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