Daily Archives: July 15, 2014

Panic in the Streets (1950)

Posted on July 15, 2014 | 2 comments

Panic in the Streetspanic in the streets poster
Directed by Elia Kazan
Written by Richard Murphy and Daniel Fuchs; story by Edna and Edward Anhalt
1950/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant Video

[box] Nancy Reed: If there’s a plague here, you’re the most important guy in this town.[/box]

Elia Kazan does some beautiful work on location in New Orleans in his lead up to On the Waterfront.

As the story begins, Blackie (Jack Palance) and Raymond Fitch (Zero Mostel) are playing cards with a stowaway who was introduced to the others by his cousin Poldi.  The stowaway is winning.  He feels sick and decides he has had enough.  Blackie does not care to lose though and sends Fitch and Poldi off to drag him back.  He resists and Blackie shoots and kills him.  An autopsy reveals that the man would have died of pneumonic plague in about 12 hours anyway.

Panic in the streets 3

Public Health Officer Clint Reed (Richard Widmark) is called in.  He orders the body cremated and all the man’s possessions to be destroyed.  The stowaway was carrying no identification. He tells the city authorities and police that all the people that had any contact with the man must be located and treated within 48  hours and that the press must not be notified.  The rest of the story is devoted to a breakneck chase to track down the killers with almost nothing to go on.  With Paul Douglas as the lead.cop and Barbara Bel Geddes as Reed’s wife.

panic in the streets 1

This was Jack Palance’s (then Walter Jack Palance) screen debut and he makes a fine and scary villain.  Zero Mostel is also wonderful as a cowering , seedy hood.  The direction is amazing.  I don’t know how Kazan got some of the shots, such as the one tracking through a very crowded and narrow working man’s bar.  You can feel the heat, humidity, and decay of New Orleans throughout.  It’s very nice to see Widmark as a hero for a change.  The tension never lets up in this noir classic.  Recommended.

Panic in the Streets won an Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story.

John Landis on “Panic in the Streets” – Trailers from Hell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaVjDUjvMCc

Trailer sans commentary – cinematography by Joseph MacDonald

 

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Posted in 1950, Noir Month

The Harder They Fall (1956)

Posted on July 15, 2014 | Leave a comment

The Harder They Fall
Directed by Mark Robson
Written by Philip Yordan based on a play by Bud Schulberg
1956/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing/Amazon Instant Video

 

[box] Nick Benko: The people, Eddie, the people! Don’t tell me about the people, Eddie. The people sit in front of their little TVs with their bellies full of beer and fall asleep. What do the people know, Eddie? Don’t tell me about the people, Eddie![/box]

This was Humphrey Bogart’s last performance.  He went out with a bang.

Shady fight promoter Nick Benko (Rod Steiger) imports ‘Toro’ Moreno from Argentina. Toro’s claim to fame is his huge size – he cannot hold his own in the ring even against his sparring partner.  This does not deter Benko in the slightest and he offers washed-up newspaper columnist Eddie Willis (Bogart) big bucks to act as Toro’s press agent. Despite knowing that the fights will all be fixed, Eddie needs the money and does a great job, disgusting his old friends and his wife (Jan Sterling).in the process.

But Eddie becomes one of the two people Toro likes and trusts and when his manager is sent back to Argentina, Eddie has increasing moral qualms.  These build to a head when Toro is put up for the championship against a fighter who will not take a fall.

Bogart looks a bit haggard but is a dynamo of energy with an underlying sensitivity that shines through his expressive eyes.  Steiger is every bit his equal as the ruthless and volatile promoter who cares about nothing but his bottom line.  This is a fairly standard indictment of the boxing game, and by extension dog-eat-dog capitalism, otherwise.  The two lead performances make it well worth seeing, though.

Burnett Guffey was nominated for an Academy Award for Black-and-White cinematography for The Harder They Fall.

Clip

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Posted in Movie Reviews

Caught (1949)

Posted on July 15, 2014 | Leave a comment

CaughtCaught poster
Directed by Max Ophüls
Written by Arthur Laurents from a novel by Libbie Block
1949/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Enterprise Productions
First viewing/Amazon Prime Instant Video

 

Leonora Eames: What’sa matter with George?
Maxine: Well, he’ll never be able to buy you a mink coat.

I still don’t know quite how I feel about this uneven morality play.

Maude Eames (Barbara Bel Geddes) is a young woman who spends her time flipping through Vogue and dreaming of having the finer things in life.  Her roommate tells her the only way to do that is to marry rich and that Maude needs to go to charm school to do so.  Charm school leads Maude to change her name to Leonora and to get some modeling work.  This pays off with an invitation to a party on the yacht  of multi-millionaire Smith Ohlrig (Robert Ryan).

Caught 1

Unfortunately for Leonora, she gets Ohlrig’s attention and he marries her to spite his psychiatrist.  It turns out that he is one tough and arrogant bastard who treats Leona like a possession, and not his favorite possession at that.  She finally escapes and goes to work in a doctor’s office.  There she falls in love with pediatrician Dr, Larry Quinada (James Mason).  But Ohlrig has a secret hold on her and is too determined to continue his torture to let her go without a fight.

caught 2

This movie has some of my favorite actors.  Unfortunately, Robert Ryan is a very odd choice as a millionaire, however menacing, and James Mason is wasted as a straight forward romantic lead.  Barbara Bel Geddes, on the other hand, is absolutely delightful, especially in the lighter moments of the film.  Ophül’s direction is also quite innovative and stylish.  The script sells its “money isn’t everything” message too hard and descends into mawkishness at points.

Trailer – Introducing James Mason in his first American performance

Clip – Barbara Bel Geddes on catching a man – cinematography by Lee Garmes

 

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Posted in Noir Month