On May 7, Turner Classic Movies is broadcasting three classics of film noir.
You really haven’t sampled film noir if you haven’t seen Out of the Past (1947). Perhaps the model of a film noir hero, Robert Mitchum plays a guy who is cynical, strong, smart and resourceful – but still a sap for the femme fatale…played by the irresistible Jane Greer. Greer later reported that she received this guidance from director Jacques Tourneur: “First half of the picture – good girl. Second half – bad girl.” Kirk Douglas plays The Bad Guy You Don’t Want to Mess With, emanating a mix of evil and power. With Out of the Past, Tourneur crafted one of the most dramatically lit and photographed noirs – not one puff of cigarette smoke goes uncelebrated.
In The Asphalt Jungle (1950), the crooks assemble a team and pull off the big heist…and then things begin to go wrong. There aren’t many noirs with better casting – the crooks include Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Sam Jaffe and James Whitmore. The 23-year-old Marilyn Monroe plays Calhern’s companion in her first real speaking part. How noir is it? Even the cop who breaks the case goes to jail. Directed by the great John Huston.
Every police procedural from 1948 through today’s Law and Order and CSI owes something to the prototypical The Naked City (1948). Tenacious New York City cops solve a murder amid gritty streets and shady characters. Unusual for the time, it was shot on location. Directed by noir great Jules Dassin, The Naked City won Oscars for black and white cinematography and film editing.
