Agnes SajtiNoirvember 2020 – Seven lesser-known film noirs. Features: Woman on the Run, Crossfire, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Tension, Decoy, I Wake Up Screaming, and Death is a Caress.
1.
WOMEN ON THE RUN (1950)
Woman on the Run works on two levels: an entertaining female-led crime mystery and a melodrama about a failed marriage. Its plot is simple in construction; Frank Johnson (Ross Elliott) lands up in the wrong place at the wrong time by witnessing a murder. However, instead of reporting it to the police, he goes into hiding. Meanwhile, his estranged wife, Eleanor (Ann Sheridan), works with a local reporter (Dennis O’Keefe) to find him, ultimately leading them to the murderer. Given the film’s short runtime of 77 minutes, director Norman Foster ensures each scene is action-packed. The witty, sharp and cynical screenplay is bathed in a glorious atmosphere, and when you add to this a surprising twist and a cliche-free story arc for the female protagonist, Woman on the Run shines as a true gem of B-Noir filmmaking.
Director: Norman Foster
2.
CROSSFIRE (1947)
Crossfire is well-known among cinephiles for two reasons. First, it was the first B movie in history to receive a Best Picture Academy Award nomination. Second, it was the first Hollywood film to deal with antisemitism. Based on the 1945 novel The Brick Foxhole, the book’s original exploration of homophobia was swapped for race, a sign of the sexuality-based discrimination inherent in American filmmaking at the time. The plot revolves around the murder of a Jewish man, Joseph Samuels (Sam Levene), and the subsequent police investigation. The culprit is likely one of two American soldiers (George Cooper and Robert Ryan) who were drinking with Samuels the night before his death. However, interestingly, the film eschews this murder mystery plot for much of its runtime. Instead, it observes its characters as they drift through life in an existential malaise free from motivation or goals, foreshadowing the cinéma verité style of filmmakers like John Cassavetes.
Crossfire remains a milestone in American film history, featuring noir veterans Robert Mitchum and Gloria Grahame and a screenplay that bravely and boldly depicted the antisemitism of a Post-World War Two America. However, the investigating detective’s concluding monologue on hate crime and racism, while urgent then, is hypocritical today, especially in its avoidance of discussions on racial hate against black Americans. At the same time, the homophobic themes of the book were erased by a Hollywood system where gay men remained hidden from view, and homophobia ran wild across the American states.
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Noirvember 2020 – Seven Lesser-Known Film Noirs
3.
THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS (1946)
No film noir list is complete without mentioning Barbara Stanwyck, who portrayed cinema’s most iconic femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson, in Double Indemnity. However, while Billy Wilder’s masterpiece is widely cited as the film that set the standard for noir, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is a lesser-known classic. Here, Stanwyck plays the titular character of Martha, a cold-hearted, tough-as-nails businesswoman. The film opens with a prologue showing a tragic event in Martha’s past involving her two childhood friends, Sam (Van Heflin), a street-smart kid from the wrong side of the tracks and Walter (Kirk Douglas), the timid son of Martha’s private tutor. We are then transported back to the present, where Martha finds herself in a loveless marriage with Walter as her childhood friend Sam returns to town with unfinished business.
The resulting story has more twists and turns than your average soap opera but remains highly enjoyable. Here, aspects of the screenplay remain notable for the suggestive use of implied sex. For example, when Sam and Martha rekindle their passionate love affair, the camera pans down from kissing to a roaring fire before dissolving from flames to burnt-out ashes, indicating a long and sensual physical event. As implied sex scenes go in old movies, it is up there with Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, where we cut from a kiss to a train entering a tunnel. Despite a convoluted plot, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers manages to portray the existential loneliness of its characters. Despite their ruthless actions, the subsequent journey demonstrates sympathy as their underlying human frailty is revealed. But it’s Barbara Stanwyck who shines in a great ensemble cast despite not having nearly enough screen time.
Director: Lewis Milestone
4.
TENSION (1949)
Tension opens with police lieutenant Bonnabel (Barry Sullivan) explaining his methods for solving a murder case: apply pressure until the suspect snaps. We are then taken on a narrated journey into a recent case involving Warren Quimby (Richard Basehart), a man humiliated by his wife Claire (Audrey Totter) and her new lover Barney. To get revenge, Quimby creates a false persona (Paul Sothern). However, as he visits Barney at night, he discovers he can’t go through with the murder.
The film’s portrayal of police methods is remarkable, as Bonnabel uses unconventional and highly questionable tactics to crack the case. For example, he flirts with women, taking them out on dates to extract information while manipulating suspects and witnesses. But, the icing on the cake is his affair with Quimby’s wife, Claire, which ultimately leads to a Maltese Falcon-esque finale. Tension is a fresh take on the classic love triangle, especially given the handful of characters it operates with. The identity of the murderer is indeed relatively easy to figure out, but that does not take away from the film’s enjoyability. Meanwhile, the transformation of Warren into Paul is subtle and well done, but Barry Sullivan and Audrey Totter steal the show – the latter, quite delightfully, portraying one of the most rotten Femme fatales ever created.
Director: John Berry
Noirvember 2020 – Seven Lesser-Known Film Noirs
5.
DECOY (1946)
A film known for having the “toughest femme fatale” in noir history had to be included on this list. Decoy is a true-noir classic made by one of the ‘Poverty Row’ studios, Monogram Pictures. It is told through flashbacks of a dying Margot Shelby (the tragically short-lived Jean Gillie) as she recalls the events leading up to her murder in a plot that revolves around money and greed. Margot’s boyfriend Frank has robbed a bank and hidden the money in an unknown location. But Frank is now in prison, awaiting death for killing a guard during the heist, and Margot is determined to claim the money at any cost. She quickly comes up with a diabolical plan to steal Frank’s body from the morgue after his execution, only to revive him with a “miracle” chemical to find out where the money is buried. However, her horrible idea needs support. Enter Jim, a gangster willing to fund the operation, and Dr Craig, the prison physician, seduced by the promise of a final cut of the money.
Decoy is delightfully violent and over the top, often bordering on dark comedy. The violence bounces from dastardly shootings to people being run over by cars and gassy executions. At the same time, the fantastical comedy sees a man revived just moments after his death, only to be shot a few minutes later. However, having the femme fatale as the narrator creates an exciting and fresh take, especially in a story where she has zero redeeming qualities. After all, this is a woman bordering on psychotic who deceives, seduces and lies to each man, her own needs outweighing any moral compass she may have as she acts with little sign of remorse. But, the unrestrained nature of her character makes Decoy a guilty pleasure in the noir genre.
Director: Jack Bernhard
Noirvember 2020 – Seven Lesser-Known Film Noirs
6.
I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941)
The first film noir made by 20th Century Fox has a title more befitting of slasher horror. It was initially titled Hot Spot, having been adapted from Steve Fisher’s novel of the same name. However, the title was changed shortly after release due to a tie-in with Photoplay magazine, and I Wake Up Screaming was deemed more dramatic. The film opens with the police simultaneously interrogating Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature) and Jill Lynn (Betty Grable) in connection with the murder of Jill’s sister, Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis). With their recollection of the events rendered in flashback form. Frankie is a promoter who helped Vicky rise to fame, only to find her murdered the day before she arrived in Hollywood, his close relationship with Vicky cementing his place as the prime suspect. Police officer Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar) obsessively works to prove his guilt, but Jill believes in his innocence, and together, they start their search for Vicky’s killer.
As a whodunit murder mystery, I Wake Up Screaming is interesting, although nothing we haven’t seen before. However, the motive takes the film into the dark depths of film noir, as everything falls into place just as the credits roll. The resulting picture is much darker than its contemporary, The Maltese Falcon. Here, the film’s psychological themes of obsession are accompanied by some genuinely atmospheric imagery, foreshadowing many of the noir films that followed.
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone
7.
Death is a Caress / Døden er et kjærtegn (1949)
Death is a Caress is a unique film as the first Norwegian noir directed by a woman (Edith Carlmar). With a story told through flashbacks, Carlmar’s film revolves around the tempestuous and destructive love affair/marriage of young car mechanic Erik (Claus Wiese) and older socialite Sonja (Bjørg Riiser-Larsen).
The first half of the plot resembles James M. Cain’s classic The Postman Always Rings Twice. However, the second half takes an exciting and provocative turn, offering us a more realistic solution to the recurring conflicts of the classic film noir. For example, instead of murder, Carlmar embeds the narrative within the realism of European filmmaking. However, this does not apply to happy endings, as the marriage ends in a tragedy. Visually, Death is a Caress has stood the test of time with some archetypical noir montages, alongside great editing. One scene, in particular, remains memorable as a surreal clock with beer bottles for hands represents the hazy passage of time during a drunken night. But, what makes Death is a Caress different from its American cousins is the lack of studio censorship. After all, this is a 1940s film that openly talks about abortion and shows adulterers half-naked both pre- and post-coitus. In fact, at one point, Sonja’s female friends even justify her adultery by calling Erik more attractive than her husband, all of which create a more realistic journey than many American noirs of the time.
Director: Edith Carlmar
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