By David in TN
friday, july 14, 2023 at 11:38:00 p.m. edt
TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Douglas Sirk, Helen Deutsch, and Sam Fuller’s Shockproof (1949), Starring Cornel Wilde, with Patricia Knight, John Baragrey and Esther Minciotti.
Film Noir Guide: “Wilde plays a Los Angeles parole officer who is tempted by his latest parolee (Knight), a woman who murdered her husband. After spending five years in prison, Knight returns home, hoping to continue her romantic relationship with her bookmaker boyfriend (Baragrey).
“Instead, she finds that it would be a violation of her parole to associate with him. When she gets picked up with Baragrey in a police raid on a bookie joint, Wilde gives her a second chance.
“He moves her into his house to take care of his blind mother (Minciotti) and begins to fall in love with her. They secretly marry, also a violation of her parole. Their marriage and his career are jeopardized when Knight becomes involved in a shooting, and the couple must go on the lam. Wilde and Knight are believable as the love-struck couple, but the otherwise entertaining film is spoiled by its cop-out ending.”
David in TN: Film Noir Guide is always complaining about “cop-out endings.” Modern critics (and TCM hosts) praise Douglas Sirk for his ‘50s soapy films: Magnificent Obsession, All that Heaven Allows, etc. They say Sirk is mocking and ridiculing ‘50s American society.
We'll see if Red Eddie Muller talks about Sirk’s first wife and son, whom he left behind in Germany.
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"Shockproof" is also on youtube--1 hour 19 minutes long.
--GRA
"...Sirk is mocking and ridiculing ‘50s American society..." I find that hard to believe, but Scorsese sure did in the opening of ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ETC- he staged it to look just like a 50's Sirk-type movie, then Burstyn ends her soap-opera monologue with a jaw-dropping obscenity that had me turning off the movie. Scorsese is scum, even if he's talented scum (like so many of his generation). -RM
I watched about half of it so far on YouTube today--a definite film noir.
--GRA
Well,I finished "Shockproof" and before the unlikely ending,there were some preposterous coincidences(the drunk guy at the pawn shop,for example)that made the movie look unprofessional.The romance is bizarre--the parole officer staying with a double murderer(potentially),makes zero sense.She looks good--like a young Katherine Hepburn with a Marilyn Monroe voice--that's the only reason besides she's good between the sheets.
In MY movie--Cornell Wilde would have been shot also by the wife--and deserved it,for being so stupid.And later on--in a better movie,she just might have done it--the girl had a definite taste for murder.
2 1/2 stars out of 5
--GRA
TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Andrew L. Stone's Julie (1956) with Doris Day, Louis Jourdan, Barry Sullivan, Frank Lovejoy.
Film Noir Guide: "This disaster starts with Day gaily singing the title song. You might think you're about to enjoy one of her many light romantic comedies so you keep looking for Rock Hudson's name among the credits. But, alas, it's nowhere to be found. Instead, you see Louis Jourdan and Barry Sullivan, and it soon dawns on you that you're watching a 'suspense' film."
"Jourdan plays a nutcase who killed Day's first husband so he could marry her. She's discovered his secret, and now he wants to kill HER. Sullivan plays a friend who helps her hide from her stalker husband, and noir veteran Lovejoy is an ineffective cop."
"Will Jourdan succeed in killing Day? Day is narrating, so you figure it out. What starts as a lame suspense thriller takes a sudden turn approximately an hour into the film and becomes Airport, with Day at the controls of a runaway airliner. Yawn."
David In TN: Another weak selection by Red Eddie Muller. In his outro last week, Eddie said he is a big Doris Day fan.
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