Synopsis: Classic 1940's film noir
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Actors: Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Jane Greer, Rhonda Fleming
Date: 1947
How viewed: Lovefilm
Rating: 4/5
David Meyer says:
Director Tourneur's sense of hopelessness and existential dread find expression in a desolate compendium of noir characteristics: violence, sexual obsession, alienation, betrayal, and (justified) paranoia, all presented in eerie, shadow-laden lighting, and dreamlike camera work.
I say:
Blimey, this is such a convoluted story - it starts out OK (in flashback) private detective (Mitchum) hired (by Douglas) to track down missing girlfriend (Greer), finds her, falls for her, they run off together, but are found and she disappears. Years later the guy who hired him contacts him again. His girl has returned to him, and he wants Mitchum to retrieve some documents that show he (Douglas) has been avoiding tax. it's a set-up of course (to revenge the fact that Mitchum and Greer ran off together), but from then on everyone is betraying everyone and eventually everyone gets their comeuppance (i guess). Some of the reviews reckon that this is THE classic noir film with the classic femme fatale (Greer), and that the confused storyline doesn't matter (and is par for the course for noir), and maybe I just haven't seen enough of the genre to judge, but it certainly is enjoyable. Interesting to see a relatively early Robert Mitchum film - one sort of thinks of him as old and grizzled - but here he's younger (30) but you can already see the classic traits. Jane Greer is extraordinary as well - wildly switching from innocent girl to cold blooded killer. And there's some great dialogue - Mitchum saying 'If I'm going to die, I want to be the last'. A couple of points about the review in Robert Meyer's book (the first time I've noticed glitches) - he calls Mitchum's character a hoodlum (no, he's a private detective), and also lists Jack Elam as one of the starts (but he's not in the film at all), sadly, because Jack Elam is one of my all time favourite actors - and here's a photo, just to make up (or compound!) for the error.
Director Tourneur's sense of hopelessness and existential dread find expression in a desolate compendium of noir characteristics: violence, sexual obsession, alienation, betrayal, and (justified) paranoia, all presented in eerie, shadow-laden lighting, and dreamlike camera work.
I say:
Blimey, this is such a convoluted story - it starts out OK (in flashback) private detective (Mitchum) hired (by Douglas) to track down missing girlfriend (Greer), finds her, falls for her, they run off together, but are found and she disappears. Years later the guy who hired him contacts him again. His girl has returned to him, and he wants Mitchum to retrieve some documents that show he (Douglas) has been avoiding tax. it's a set-up of course (to revenge the fact that Mitchum and Greer ran off together), but from then on everyone is betraying everyone and eventually everyone gets their comeuppance (i guess). Some of the reviews reckon that this is THE classic noir film with the classic femme fatale (Greer), and that the confused storyline doesn't matter (and is par for the course for noir), and maybe I just haven't seen enough of the genre to judge, but it certainly is enjoyable. Interesting to see a relatively early Robert Mitchum film - one sort of thinks of him as old and grizzled - but here he's younger (30) but you can already see the classic traits. Jane Greer is extraordinary as well - wildly switching from innocent girl to cold blooded killer. And there's some great dialogue - Mitchum saying 'If I'm going to die, I want to be the last'. A couple of points about the review in Robert Meyer's book (the first time I've noticed glitches) - he calls Mitchum's character a hoodlum (no, he's a private detective), and also lists Jack Elam as one of the starts (but he's not in the film at all), sadly, because Jack Elam is one of my all time favourite actors - and here's a photo, just to make up (or compound!) for the error. 
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