Film Noir #23

 

Noir: Christmas Holiday, City of Fear, and City of Industry

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY (1944) --- Deanna Durbin was drawn to Christmas Holiday like Tyrone Power was later to Nightmare Alley, both wanting to escape starry if superficial images and give themselves space to act in a same way real actors act. This being 1944 and Hollywood still by way of persona building made their stand seem worthy, though hopeless was hopeless where solidly paved personalities sought to soften, or in these cases harden, cement. Universal put Durbin dramatics on a front burner, Christmas Holiday ads rife with her registering all emotions save glee, which we presumably had surfeit of since 1936 and Three Smart Girls, but how smart was it to thrust Deanna into surrounding so bleak as this, down-and-outness seeming more a stunt than honest effort toward expanding her range. Christmas Holiday is less noir than woman's gothic, a genre offshoot popular for a while during the forties. There are songs, there had to be else why come see Durbin, but mostly it was tears, pop-eyed reactions to go B. Davis one better, and malaise wrought by serial liar, thief, and murderer lent surface charm by Gene Kelly, who won't dance as expected, displaying instead what made him least attractive as a screen personality (some thought, still do, of Kelly on and off screen in these terms). Imagine entering blind to Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly in Christmas Holiday … talk about expectations blown to H. There’s even Deanna slapped silly by spider woman Sondergaard, more a highlight today than it would have been in 1944, tastes debased since betters who attended Durbin with open hearts and minds.

Our girl did more relaxed performing in vehicles she disdained, to care less making for more honesty perhaps. Christmas Holiday was said to be Deanna’s favorite in hindsight, but did she have trouble in later years getting anyone to watch it with her? I sped-scrolled through much of Kelly being mean and DD on weep setting, seeing Christmas Holiday my duty to do, so after years putting off, I dood it. It's a rarest of Durbins next to Spring Parade, latter still truant, though I understand the LoC is using it for a weekend festival come June. Worth a six-hour drive up? Could be. Story rights (Somerset Maugham) tied up Christmas Holiday long ago, knot tight since. Did Showtime network use it once thirty or so years back or did I dream that? Anyway, Christmas Holiday is nowhere now except a Region Two disc England got out in early days of DVD. Seems there are UK pockets of love still for Deanna. Are Brits more cultivated than us? Christmas Holiday was directed by Robert Siodmak, rendering noir in all caps, and that alone will attract interest, but so do road accidents where encountered. By all means let noir be enjoyed, just let’s leave dear Deanna out of them, though I concede light noir, as in murder mystery with song, dark house, and jumping cats, serves DD well in Lady On a Train, cheerier Yule antidote to Christmas Holiday.

CITY OF FEAR (1959) --- Unknowing escaped con Vincent Edwards has a tiger by the tail, his stole cannister of what he thinks is heroin being instead Cobalt-60, which sounds dangerous and sure enough is, potential in a grain to wipe out populations. That won’t happen of course, not in noir so budget as City of Fear, but tension is plenty for 81 minutes, and Vince invokes hardest bark lowlife as with Murder by Contract and The Killing of previous seasons. He would be Ben Casey later, rare bird of a hit for lowly ABC, plus Vince sang for record albums well received. I wondered then why he didn’t have a bigger career, unless he perversely wanted to follow Casey with things like Hammerhead. Stopping a plague lends suspense even where common sense tells us it won’t happen, an issue Hitchcock nimbly fixed by leaving his birds still for ’63 fade, but making it clear the problem wasn’t licked and they would fly, we'd all die, etc., in post-end title reckoning. Cities done in by a microbe was hard for most to conceive, but believable for few pretending to understand how such things could happen, which is why handy doctors and scientists are there to assure that oh yes, it's coming, and soon. Cheapest ventures gain stature for thinking the unthinkable, City of Fear hinting apocalypse in best sense of fifties unease. Noir pushing hot buttons was more frightful than speculation sci-fi indulged, threats down streets or alleys more immediate, and who knew but that criminals could get hold of germs to do us in? Mike Hammer tickled oblivion just by opening a box, so what if somehow Vince managed to crack his cannister? Goodness knows, he tries, these most chilling moments in City of Fear. Indicator out of Region Two has a nice Blu-Ray with extras. Columbia distributed mostly to lower berths in 1959. Who would have dreamed then that City of Fear would command such interest now?

CITY OF INDUSTRY (1997) --- Heist-gone-wrong followed by track down and retribution all done in 97 minutes, same as Out of the Past lasted, and there’s good example to follow. Double-cross comes early and shockingly. Cast members we figured around for the length are suddenly out, Harvey Keitel all of rooting interest left, and yes, he thirsts for blood of the betrayer. A British director, John Irvin, gets values from American backdrop Yanks may miss or ignore. Near-everything is bleak and blanched, even a trendy jewel store the crew knocks over. Keitel is a compact bundle of aggression, a gangster you could figure for real after so many occasions playing them. Funny how DeNiro can swap around gang subjects and yet be dirty grandpas, while Keitel could no way play characters so frivolous. Does that make him less of an actor for apparent lack of range? Best of modern noir is the most relentless, mood less a priority now than shooting your way in first and fastest. I said rooting interest a moment ago and yes, we have arrived at want for thieves and killers to come away clean from crimes. What sort of viewer have moderns become? Surely I wouldn’t want Harvey Keitel to thrive for robbing my jewelry store. Looks like moral compasses askew throughout the land, but don’t let that block watching City of Industry, a small noir hardly known it seems, but plenty fine. There was a Blu-Ray from Kino that went quick out of print, so this one's sort of rare now.