Classic movie site with rare images, original ads, and behind-the-scenes photos, with informative and insightful commentary. We like to have fun with movies!
Archive and Links
grbrpix@aol.com
Search Index Here




Monday, October 10, 2022

Film Noir #14

 


Noir: Blow Out, The Blue Dahlia, and The Blue Gardenia


BLOW OUT (1981) --- I saw Blow Out when it was new and sort of liked it. Forty years later however and what a difference. Movies cannot help but date, however we pretend our favorites do not, but this one, by Brian De Palma (he wrote as well), is heavy with hoke, a sort I could envision youth laughing out loud at. Conspiracy yarns were the rage in 1981, in fact had run their course by then, so maybe Blow Out was seen from a start as stating the obvious, or conspiracies have since become so much a norm that we’re surprised when there aren’t elaborate pre-plans afoot, the government always complicit. More I think about Blow Out however, the more its quaintness appeals. There are adventurous moments courtesy De Palma. He will do things interesting even where material given him is not. Blow Out was the sort of thing that excited us once upon when. I must remind myself too that 1981 was forty years ago, and that seems more than a lifetime for many watching. Blow Out is a thriller, a US patch on Blow Up, except this title refers to a tire blowing, plus a gunshot, that propels sound fx man John Travolta into action. Not a bad concept, but De Palma as writer seems inspired more by older movies than what he observed from life, a criticism laid upon most of his generation that had grown up to be filmmakers. Then too was his fascination with Hitchcock, enough so to virtually remake the master’s work, one after unsatisfactory other (a plus: he gave late-in-career Bernard Herrmann work). De Palma seemed intent on having women carved up in these copies, as in even Blow Out, John Lithgow commits sex murders in addition to story-related villainy, and I still can’t figure why of that. De Palma continues to direct, though you may not have heard of these: Domino (2019), Passion (2012), Redacted (2007). I admire the man for still working where he can (now age eighty-one), and remember there are these … The Untouchables, Scarface. Someone should footnote the Easy Riders-Raging Bulls book where they bring those 70’s filmmakers up to present day. Note virtually all who are alive remain at the till, or seek to. Good for that. Blow Out is part of the Criterion collection, but I watched on Amazon Prime, where it looked fine.



THE BLUE DAHLIA (1946) --- Done in a rush, so Alan Ladd could report for wartime duty, then release-delayed nearly a year for reasons I’ve not divined. Noteworthy because it was written by Raymond Chandler, a job he was not initially pleased by, but liked better when he got out the script a few years later and re-read it. Chandler was never comfortable with Hollywood, in part because he didn’t enjoy working close with people, and Hollywood people forever got too close. The Blue Dahlia was never the classic some might expect, but it says words unique to Chandler, has Paramount polish, plus Ladd and Veronica Lake in shared isolation apart from less engaging others. The how-it-came-to-be is spoken of more than content of the film, so it’s easy to forget how forgettable content is. Producer John Houseman tells the whole background story in his memoir, Front and Center, about as vivid a personal recollection of Chandler as anyone left us. Return to civilian life is no joy for Ladd and pals William Bendix and Hugh Beaumont. We’re allowed to think it less so for any returning warrior. Bendix refers to swing as “monkey music,” and whatever PTSD triggers the response, he may well have a point considering jukeboxes that seem to pursue him up-down streets. Doris Dowling is a monster of a faithless wartime wife who gets hers from any of a dozen who might be motivated. Ladd conveys pain of coming home to … nothing. His were still waters running deeper than lead men handed similar commissions. I’m guessing a lot of lonely folk identified with Ladd (this why Rebel Without a Cause’s “Plato” has AL’s portrait pasted in his school locker). Chandler earned much for the work, more than what any of literature paid, but screenwriting took life’s blood he could no longer spare, him on a down slope of productivity in any case. Still-good income from past work kept him fortunately fed.



THE BLUE GARDENIA (1952) --- Bachelor girls sharing modest digs have a problem … one of them might be a murderess. Fritz Lang wrinkles this noir to his measure. A blind witness to killer identity looks like a drop-in from Mabuse past, and Raymond Burr makes an oddly sympathetic victim, being a wolf and a heel, yes, but Lang doesn’t present his conduct so open-shut as to manipulate sympathies by standard movie rote. The Blue Gardenia was produced independently, only distributed by Warner Bros., after which it slipped from their control, thus an end to good prints and us stuck with punk transfers on DVD. Story, cast, and Lang put over nicely how guilt can eat one from insides, which all can identify with, save level of anxiety which in this case comes of a killing. We become Anne Baxter, if to a lesser degree, just for running a stop signal or failing to return a library book. Single gals as a commune, taking turns for the bath, pouring morning juice, in-out of towels and night wear, still a presumed titillation by 1953, harks back to Joan Crawford and sisterhood doing a same at early 30’s MGM, though suave Robert Montgomery is here replaced by burly Burr, with Richard Conte consulting his little black book that loser pal Richard Erdman covets. No one refuses a cigarette where offered, and the girls (men too) are constantly minding each other’s business. How could anyone hope to get away with murder in cloistered circumstance like this? Maybe 1953 wasn’t such a swell time to be making single way after all. Authority is ever watchful, bosses, police, especially police, chief of which is George Reeves, who puts wit into line readings, shades his character nicely, always a way with George, who I understand was pals with F. Lang and had the director over for barbecues at Benedict Canyon, a favor returned as Reeves turns up in The Blue Gardenia plus Rancho Notorious. There is a title theme to haunt us, sung onscreen by the King Cole quartet, a recording of which will later accompany Burr’s licking by a fire poker. Ads were properly lurid ("The Clinch-and-Kill Girl!"), and of course a public was lured. The Blue Gardenia got $759K in domestic rentals, $591K foreign, so I’m guessing no one ended with empty pockets, being the picture looks to have been frugally made.

4 Comments:

Blogger Dave K said...

Good grouping in this post. Well, at least I think it is... I don't remember seeing THE BLUE GARDENIA, although it sounds like something right up my dingy alley. George Reeves was always a plus in less than totally sympathetic roles. For me personally, the biggest commonality between THE BLUE DAHLIA and BLOW OUT is they are both movies I enjoyed a lot until their unsatisfactory endings. Could just be me!

2:32 PM  
Blogger Kevin K. said...

I remember Blue Gardenia being better than I expected. In fact, that's all I remember about it.

10:00 AM  
Blogger Rick said...

And all I remember about it is Nat King Cole and the title song.

7:18 PM  
Blogger Robert Fiore said...

I thought the gang enforcer with sore feet in The Blue Dahlia was one of the most Chandleresque things ever to get on film.

11:29 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

grbrpix@aol.com
  • December 2005
  • January 2006
  • February 2006
  • March 2006
  • April 2006
  • May 2006
  • June 2006
  • July 2006
  • August 2006
  • September 2006
  • October 2006
  • November 2006
  • December 2006
  • January 2007
  • February 2007
  • March 2007
  • April 2007
  • May 2007
  • June 2007
  • July 2007
  • August 2007
  • September 2007
  • October 2007
  • November 2007
  • December 2007
  • January 2008
  • February 2008
  • March 2008
  • April 2008
  • May 2008
  • June 2008
  • July 2008
  • August 2008
  • September 2008
  • October 2008
  • November 2008
  • December 2008
  • January 2009
  • February 2009
  • March 2009
  • April 2009
  • May 2009
  • June 2009
  • July 2009
  • August 2009
  • September 2009
  • October 2009
  • November 2009
  • December 2009
  • January 2010
  • February 2010
  • March 2010
  • April 2010
  • May 2010
  • June 2010
  • July 2010
  • August 2010
  • September 2010
  • October 2010
  • November 2010
  • December 2010
  • January 2011
  • February 2011
  • March 2011
  • April 2011
  • May 2011
  • June 2011
  • July 2011
  • August 2011
  • September 2011
  • October 2011
  • November 2011
  • December 2011
  • January 2012
  • February 2012
  • March 2012
  • April 2012
  • May 2012
  • June 2012
  • July 2012
  • August 2012
  • September 2012
  • October 2012
  • November 2012
  • December 2012
  • January 2013
  • February 2013
  • March 2013
  • April 2013
  • May 2013
  • June 2013
  • July 2013
  • August 2013
  • September 2013
  • October 2013
  • November 2013
  • December 2013
  • January 2014
  • February 2014
  • March 2014
  • April 2014
  • May 2014
  • June 2014
  • July 2014
  • August 2014
  • September 2014
  • October 2014
  • November 2014
  • December 2014
  • January 2015
  • February 2015
  • March 2015
  • April 2015
  • May 2015
  • June 2015
  • July 2015
  • August 2015
  • September 2015
  • October 2015
  • November 2015
  • December 2015
  • January 2016
  • February 2016
  • March 2016
  • April 2016
  • May 2016
  • June 2016
  • July 2016
  • August 2016
  • September 2016
  • October 2016
  • November 2016
  • December 2016
  • January 2017
  • February 2017
  • March 2017
  • April 2017
  • May 2017
  • June 2017
  • July 2017
  • August 2017
  • September 2017
  • October 2017
  • November 2017
  • December 2017
  • January 2018
  • February 2018
  • March 2018
  • April 2018
  • May 2018
  • June 2018
  • July 2018
  • August 2018
  • September 2018
  • October 2018
  • November 2018
  • December 2018
  • January 2019
  • February 2019
  • March 2019
  • April 2019
  • May 2019
  • June 2019
  • July 2019
  • August 2019
  • September 2019
  • October 2019
  • November 2019
  • December 2019
  • January 2020
  • February 2020
  • March 2020
  • April 2020
  • May 2020
  • June 2020
  • July 2020
  • August 2020
  • September 2020
  • October 2020
  • November 2020
  • December 2020
  • January 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2021
  • April 2021
  • May 2021
  • June 2021
  • July 2021
  • August 2021
  • September 2021
  • October 2021
  • November 2021
  • December 2021
  • January 2022
  • February 2022
  • March 2022
  • April 2022
  • May 2022
  • June 2022
  • July 2022
  • August 2022
  • September 2022
  • October 2022
  • November 2022
  • December 2022
  • January 2023
  • February 2023
  • March 2023
  • April 2023
  • May 2023
  • June 2023
  • July 2023
  • August 2023
  • September 2023
  • October 2023
  • November 2023
  • December 2023
  • January 2024
  • February 2024
  • March 2024
  • April 2024
  • May 2024
  • June 2024
  • July 2024
  • August 2024
  • September 2024