By 1946 actor Humphrey Bogart fit into the role of detective Philip Marlowe so perfectly it might as well have been his favorite pair of shoes. Though this was Bogie’s own time playing the detective, The Big Sleep was simply a culmination of his past films coming together in perfect unison. He’d played another famous…
Last year I reviewed the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) starring James Stewart and Doris Day. I wasn’t in love with it, but Day was solid and the sweeping cinematography captivated me. During the recent TCM Classic Film Festival I was able to watch the original installment of Hitchcock’s kidnapping…
If you’ve looked at my previous coverage on Alfred Hitchcock then you’re aware of the glaring omissions in his filmography for me. Well, cross one of the biggies off the list for I’ve finally seen North by Northwest. Hitchcock’s Bond-esque story of the man who wasn’t there is a top-notch in every sense of the…
The Phantom of Crestwood is the equivalent of watching a radio serial play out on-screen. Maybe that’s because it was! As the film’s introduction states, the series was broadcast via radio with the final episode, solving the murder, revealed in the film. Call it deceptive or ingenious, The Phantom of Crestwood would attract just as…
“Murder starts in the heart, and its first weapon is a vicious tongue.” You can’t sum up the macabre lunacy of Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte any better. A film more well-known for what didn’t end up on-screen than what does, this concludes Robert Aldrich’s series of films created with Bette Davis (the other being What Ever Happened to Baby…
Originally published December 4th, 2011 We move on to another diverse Christmas film, one that has a more tenuous connection to Christmas than even Rent could boast, but nonetheless takes place on Christmas! The 1934 W.S. Van Dyke noir The Thin Man is one of my favorite movies and continues my adoration of William Powell…
Originally published December 15th, 2015 Maybe it’s the forced togetherness and spirit of brotherhood that makes the holidays so perfect for the noir genre. Whether it’s the glittery Hollywood pulp of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) or the nightclubs and trains in Lady on a Train, the subgenre of “Christmas noirs” are always funner and…
