By David in TN
friday, september 6, 2024 at 10:13:00 p.m. edt
TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Jacques Tourneur’s Out of the Past (1947), with Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming, Steve Brodie, Virginia Huston and Paul Valentine.
Film Noir Guide: “A small town gas station owner (Mitchum) has a dark past, which he has kept from the woman he loves (Huston). But when a hood (Valentine) from his previous life accidentally stumbles into his establishment, the former P.I. decides to come clean with his girl.
“Years earlier, he tells her, he was hired by a gangster (Douglas) to find his moll (Greer), who shot him and ran off with forty grand of his dough. Mitchum caught up with her in Acapulco and fell madly in love with her, buying into her story that, yes, she shot the abusive Douglas but didn’t steal his money.
“They ran off together, always keeping one step ahead of Douglas’ new P.I. (Brodie), Mitchum’s former partner. Eventually, Brodie caught up with them and everything hit the fan, with Greer ditching Mitchum and leaving him to face a murder rap. Thus, his new identity and life. Huston decides to stick by her man as he’s about to meet with Douglas and Greer, who’s back with the gangster.
“Mitchum is sensational as the classic noir protagonist, doomed because he has stumbled into the web of a lethal femme fatale, convincingly played by the beautiful Greer. Douglas is terrific as the vicious, but lovesick, gangster who will forgive Greer anything, including shooting him four times. Despite its convoluted plot, Out of the Past really delivers and is worthy of its reputation as THE quintessential film noir.”
David in TN: Red Eddie Muller and Film Noir of the Week return after a month’s hiatus.
N.S.: Weak ending.
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Lauren Bacall is TCM's Star of the Month with her films being shown on Monday nights during September. Monday Night-Early Tuesday morning at 12:30 a.m. ET TCM shows Herman Shumlin's Confidential Agent (1945) with Bacall, Charles Boyer, Victor Francen, Wanda Hendrix, Peter Lorre, Katina Paxinou.
Film Noir Guide: "A Spanish patriot (Boyer) travels secretly to England to purchase coal for the Loyalist cause in Spain, but his every move is thwarted by his Fascist nemesis (Francen). Fortunately for Boyer, he meets up with the coal mining company owner's daughter (Bacall); she falls hard for him and helps him elude police, who wrongly suspect he's a murderer.
"Hendrix is the 14-year old girl whose crush on Boyer leads to tragedy, and Lorre and Paxinou are the Spanish quislings who are interested more in gold than coal. Bacall, who made no attempt to disguise her American accent, isn't believable as the aristocratic English girl who falls hard for the Spaniard.
"Boyer gives an enjoyable low-key performance, but Lorre and Paxinou, both of whom brazenly ham it up, are the top attractions."
David In TN: The critics were rough on Bacall, causing Jack Warner to reshoot scenes of The Big Sleep to improve her performance. Paxinou plays a fascist after her Academy Award winning role for Best Supporting Actress as a Loyalist guerrilla in For Whom the Bell Tolls. Her and Lorre's character would have considered themselves Spanish Nationalists/Patriots, not quislings. Confidential Agent is not often shown by TCM. It has a dark, brooding atmosphere.
TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Joseph H. Lewis' A Lady Without Passport with Hedy Lamarr, John Hodiak, James Craig, George Macready.
Film Noir guide: "Hodiak is an undercover immigration agent posing as a Hungarian refugee in Cuba in order to infiltrate Macready's gang, which smuggles illegal aliens into the U.S. The beautiful Lamarr, a former concentration camp prisoner trying to make her way to America, falls in love with Hodiak.
"But before the G-man can tell her the truth about himself, the jealous Macready spills the beans and convinces Lamarr that Hodiak is interested only in arresting her. Lamarr's beauty and the unique aerial photography keep this from being too tedious to watch.
David In TN: Hedy Lamarr was billed as "the most beautiful woman in the world."
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