100 Greatest Film Noirs - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonard 

 

23. Blast of Silence (Allen Baron, 1961)

Like so many noirs, this also serves as a prime example of low-budget indie filmmaking. Can't afford sound on location? Just supply one of the great voiceovers of all time:

"You know the type. Second-string syndicate boss with too much ambition and a mustache to hide the fact he has lips like a woman. The kind of face you hate."

(Bonus factoid: the uncredited voiceover is by Lionel Stander, who was blacklisted at the time. He would go on to become the butler on Hart to Hart.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Parker 

So Art, I find it interesting that you listed Bunny Lake in both the film noir thread and neo noir thread. I think it's possible for it to be listed in both (one of the few films I can see arguing either way over) but I'm curious about what you think its true genre is, or if it even really matters. 

While I feel that the visual presentation is steeped in noir, I think the film overall is squarely in the psychological thriller category, which I is why I'd originally listed it as a "neo-noir". It's kind of like an extroverted version of Repulsion. I would argue that it's closest contemporary equivalents are Memento & Fincher's The Game, both of which boast the same measure of psychodrama & suspense within the frame of familiar noir tropes.

Some dude had a fit about Bunny... in the neo-noir thread, so I went ahead & threw the film in here. I've no strong opinions about it's listing one way or the other.

No other writer has had more works adapted for film noir than Cornell Woolrich, who some would even call the father of noir. And yet, I'm having trouble thinking of a Woolrich adaptation that was completely satisfying, that really found his atmosphere, his sense of despair and hopelessness. Possibly THE LEOPARD MAN, though it never captures the escalating suspense of Black Alibi and changes the killer's identity, unwisely.

It does have Tourneur's strong direction and at least two hugely influential murder sequences (one of which William Friedkin attributes entirely to Tourneur on the audio commentary, but was actually Woolrich's creation).

"I'm having trouble thinking of a Woolrich adaptation that was completely satisfying..."

EDIT: I do love REAR WINDOW, but wouldn't consider it noir.

26. Kansas City Confidential.

An ex-con get's wrongly arrested for involvement in an armoured car heist, when he get's out, he does what any upstanding ex-con would do, he goes looking for the men that framed him. I have to say, this film is about as hard boiled as it get's, John Payne isn't a particularly remarkable actor but he has a certain intensity, it has a pretty inventive plot and Phil Karlson really pulls the audience along for a ride even if the plot twists get out of hand. Lee Van Cleef and Jack Elam show up as a couple of lowlifes. It's a pretty basic plot but Phil Karson gives it a real grittiness, it's a sadly underseen film but it deserves to be listed among the greats.

I get so confused about noir, but let's just say I know I LIKE it -- I'm just not sure how to explain it. Films I identify (in my mind) as "noir" are, in fact, neo-noir -- 'Chinatown,' for example. That might be my favorite movie ever (it changes, but I come back to this one year after year). I see all these "best of noir" lists and I get completely mixed up. Some throw everything in the same pot, so as a casual fan I have trouble. This, for example, the best film noir movies.

See? The best film noir movies, but it looks like they've included neo as well? To be fair, I've seen almost all of the movies you've posted info on/about, and MANY of the ones on that other list -- and I've loved them all. So am I a noir fan, a neo-noir fan?

Great little noir with Vince Edwards as an Existentialist hitman who has trouble killing a woman. Awesome score.