Daily Archives: July 18, 2014

The Killers (1946)

Posted on July 18, 2014 | 2 comments

The Killers
Directed by Robert Siodmak
Written by Anthony Veiller from a story by Ernest Hemingway
1946/USA
Mark Hellinger Productions/Universal Pictures
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#198 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Jim Reardon: She took a powder. The dough went with her.[/box]

This classic is everything a film noir should be from its doomed hero and femme fatale to its fabulous chiaroscuro cinematography and hard-bitten dialogue.

A couple of thugs (William Conrad and Charles McGraw) invade a small town diner and terrorize its occupants, announcing that they are waiting to kill “The Swede” (Burt Lancaster), an attendant at the local gas station.  When he does not show up for dinner, they release their hostages and customer Nick Adams runs out to warn his friend of the killers’ arrival.  But he is content to patiently wait out his demise as if he deserved it, saying only that he “did something wrong – once”, a phrase that could be the motto for many a noir hero with a Past.

Insurance man Jim Reardon (Edmond O’Brien) comes to town to investigate the circumstances of death in connection with the Swede’s life insurance policy and is intrigued by the story.  He probes further and we slowly learn through flashbacks connected to the people he interviews just how the Swede was double-crossed by the lady he loved, one Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner).  Reardon is allowed to stay on the case when he finds that the Swede’s sad story may lead him to the $250,000 proceeds of a payroll robbery.  With Albert Dekker as the ringleader of the robbers and Sam Levene as a police detective.

Anyone who wanted a lesson in film noir style could start with a triple bill of Double Indemnity, Out of the Past, and this film, all of which are must-see viewing.  I am particularly fond of the opening diner scene in this movie. That dialogue seems to be lifted intact from the Hemingway story and could not be bettered.

The Killers was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories: Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Film Editing; and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Miklós Rósza).  How it missed out on Best Cinematography, Black and White is beyond me.

Trailer – cinematography by Elwood Bredell

 

 

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Try and Get Me! (1950)

Posted on July 18, 2014 | Leave a comment

Try and Get Me! (AKA “The Sound of Fury”)
Directed by Cy Enfield
Written by Joe Pagano from his novel “The Condemned”
1950/USA
Robert Stillman Productions
First viewing/Amazon Prime Instant Video

 

[box]The intelligence of that creature known as a crowd is the square root of the number of people in it.  ― Terry Pratchett, Jingo [/box]

Though it drifts over the top in places, this “B” film noir has an irresistible raw energy.

Howard Tyler (Frank Lovejoy) has had no luck finding a job in California.  He can scarcely afford to give a quarter to his son for a movie and there is another baby on the way.  At the bowling alley he gets to talking with Jerry Slocum (Lloyd Bridges) a preening stud who is obviously quite fond of himself.  Jerry says Howard can earn big bucks simply by driving his car.  Of course, it’s a getaway car – Jerry makes his living by sticking up small businesses on the interstate – but Howard is so desperate by this time that he takes the job.  He starts hitting the bottle to cope with his guilt.

Things go south when Jerry wants to hit the big time by kidnapping a millionaire’s son. The crime doesn’t go as billed and Howard descends into an alcoholic miasma of guilt and fear.  Then things get much, much worse.  With Richard Carlson as a muckraking journalist.

The story is based on the same true incident that inspired Fritz Lang’s Fury (1936). Unfortunately, by 1950 the public was not as receptive to messages about the dangers of mob rule and yellow journalism.  HUAC particularly denounced this movie as being un-American and Endfield was blacklisted and driven to England to find work.

The movie starts out with an unrelated scene of a blind fundamentalist preaching fire and brimstone on the street while people run as if fleeing a natural disaster. Groups of people in motion are used throughout building up to the impressive climax with hundreds of extras.  I thought this was quite effective.  Although both actors overdo it when the going gets especially tough, Lovejoy is convincing and Bridges has the ego-maniac character perfected.  The film does suffer from the inclusion of the character of Dr. Simone, a European scientist, who delivers several speeches making explicit the message inherent in what we can see for ourselves.

BAFTA nominated Try and Get Me!/Sound of Fury as Best Film from Any Source and for the UN Award.

Clip – the kidnapping (spoiler) – cinematography by Guy Roe

 

 

 

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