By definition all film noir are odd, but we have recently watched three that are Odd (note capitalization). In January the Criterion streaming channel has a whole bunch of films we would like to see, so we have now watched 6 films in a row leaving January 31st. Most recently have been three "B" pictures worth noting, all in beautiful b & w. Most recent came The Man I Love, a 1946 film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Ida Lupino. Though it has some soap opera moments, this drama jumps all over the place, telling three stories during the course of the movie. What is most interesting about this film, however, is how strong a woman Lupino is. The film centres on her, and she handles the part with a solid type of acting seldom seen in female characters, especially in the noir genre. She is tough and tender, smart and talented, as she sings her way into top nightclubs. She falls for a down and out jazz pianist, and they almost make a go of it. By the end it appears as if they are not totally washed up, but still might manage to get together later. Robert Alda plays the owner of the nightclub where Lupino sings, and manages to create one of the creepiest creeps who ever crept into a movie. A dizzy blonde, mother of twin babies and wife to husband Johnny, also manages to upset audiences with her lifestyle. An unusual film, and worth a peek for Lupino's performance.
Leaving Criterion January 31st.
Before that came Pickup Alley, a 1956 film starring Victor Mature as a globetrotting cop on the trail of bad guy Trevor Howard, who is being assisted by Anita Ekberg. A few things make this film unusual for a film noir. First of all, it is filmed in Cinemascope. Secondly, we get to travel the world, instead of only staying in New York or LA. The sleazy film title has nothing to do with this film, made fun because the police are looking for Trevor Howard but don't know what he looks like. London, Paris, Rome, and Athens all feature somewhere in this fairly fast paced thriller. Sadly, Mature hardly makes it as a hero cop. He seems to do very little acting in this film, going through his lines like an amateur. Ekberg is, of course, rather cute, though her part is not very demanding. Can she act? We would hardly know for sure from this film.
Leaving Criterion January 31st.
Earliest of the three came Human Desire, an American Fritz Lang directed remake from 1954 of La Bete Humaine, from a story by Emil Zola. Glenn Ford stars as a passenger train engineer who runs headlong into trouble when he falls for a married woman, played by Gloria Grahame. Her overbearing husband, played by Broderick Crawford, is a jealous man, and an alcoholic who lets off too much steam and is fired from his job at the railroad yard. The film, especially at the very beginning, features some of the worst background matting this viewer has ever seen. Glenn Ford guides his train through the mountains, across bridges, and into tunnels, though when the camera pans to him we see Midwest flat farmland in behind him out his cab window. Weird. Ford is mostly emotionless in this picture, hardly acting at all. Grahame is okay as she goes through the motions of loving Ford to help her get rid of her husband. We learn that her past is a sordid one, beginning when she was 16. Will Ford, freshly back from Korea, kill her husband for her? Good tension is built up to this climax. I much prefer the earlier French film starring Jean Gabin, but this one has its moments.
Leaving Criterion January 31st.
In local news, I did some fun things this week. Last Sunday I went ice skating for the first time in 14 years. Public skating at the local arena is on Sunday at 5 pm. I managed to skate for 30 minutes without falling or crashing into someone (It was rather crowded). Seniors can skate on Wednesday afternoons, but our schedule is currently too filled with medical appointments, so I will stick to Sundays for now. On Tuesday morning I dropped Deb off at her physio appointment (for TMJ) in Amherstburg, then went on to walk a segment of the local rails to trails path. It was a very cold day (about 25 F) with a nasty little breeze, but once I was into the forest it was okay. It was strange to be walking here in January, but we had had no snow. The marsh was frozen over and could have been travelled on skates. We haven't gone above 30 F for nine days now, and some of the nights have been bitter. Then on Thursday morning I went over to Dr. Seski's home and put in an hour on his incredible 7' Fazioli piano. I was able to run through my entire program, and it went pretty well. He played a Brahms Intermezzo for me. I may be back into the piano group on occasions when they have smaller gatherings. Last time there were only three of them.
From my trail walk on Tuesday morning. The marsh is frozen solid.
Tonight (Friday) it is snowing, our first real snow event this season. We might get 2" or a bit more, so we should awaken to a white winter wonderland. If so I will take some pics tomorrow morning and add them here.
Mapman Mike
