Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Scrapped: The Original Opening Sequence of “Sunset Boulevard” was Even Stranger than the Final Cut, and Audiences had a Peculiar Reaction to It

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Erich von Stroheim, William Holden, Gloria Swanson, "Sunset Boulevard" (1950). Test Audiences Were Stunned, Amused and Confused Jo...
2 comments:
Sunday, April 21, 2024

Pop! Goes the Flashbulb: In Noir, Photographers Did It the Old Fashioned Way, and their Pictures Usually Turned the Town, and Crime Investigations, Upside Down

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Howard Duff snaps a candid shot in "Shakedown" (1950). Contains Spoilers By Paul Parcellin Lighting and photographic style play a...
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Monday, April 8, 2024

Kings of the Road: Alienated, Disenchanted Drifters May Think They’re Heading Toward their Destination, but They’re Really on Course to a Tragic End

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Ann Savage, Tom Neal, "Detour" (1945). Contains Spoilers By Paul Parcellin Film noir is full of cheap hotel rooms, train stations...
Sunday, March 24, 2024

Is It or Isn’t It? “Clash by Night” is a Gripping Drama, Alright, But Some Insist It Doesn’t Make the Cut as an Authentic Noir Because It Lacks One Crucial Element

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Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, "Clash by Night" (1952). Contains Spoilers By Paul Parcellin “Clash by Night” has   t...
Monday, March 11, 2024

One Revealing Moment: Something that Happens in “The Night of the Hunter” Made Me Rethink My First Impression of the Film and See It in an Entirely New Light

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Robert Mitchum, "The Night of the Hunter" (1955). By Paul Parcellin I first saw “The Night of the Hunter” (1955) around 20 or so ...
7 comments:
Sunday, March 3, 2024

The 900 Pound Gorilla in the Room: Why Watching “Lady in the Lake” Requires Extensive Mind Over Matter Skills, and Perhaps a Bourbon on the Rocks

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Robert Montgomery, "Lady in the Lake" (1946).  By Paul Parcellin   I have a confession to make: For as long as I’ve watched film ...
4 comments:
Sunday, February 25, 2024

The Man From Nowhere: Who is Larry Cravat and why do so many people want to do him harm?

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John Hodiak, Nancy Guild, "Somewhere in the Night" (1946). Battle Fatigue on the Homefront: Two views of life after the big one By...