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Tag: film noir

Odds Against Tomorrow: The Last Great Noir Film.

Odds Against Tomorrow: The Last Great Noir Film.

Released: 1959 Dir.: Robert Wise Growing up I’d been led to believe that Touch of Evil (1958) was the end of the film noir era. Then I saw Odds Against Tomorrow. Directed by noir legend Robert Wise, Odds Against Tomorrow is the story of three desperate men, from three distinctively different backgrounds, who all have the same goal. To make some quick money, and just maybe a fresh start. Johnny Ingram (Harry Belafonte) is a jazz musician with a gambling…

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Elevator to the Gallows: Turning Film Noir on its Head.

Elevator to the Gallows: Turning Film Noir on its Head.

Released: 1958 Dir.: Louis Malle First time viewing.               Deep in my gut, which can be a dark and foreboding place, I knew Elevator to the Gallows was going to be good. What I didn’t realize was how good it was going to be. It’s not just good, it’s great, especially if you like seeing Hollywood formulas turned on their head.               Elevator to the Gallows is a French film noir/new wave crime story that reimagines the classic story of…

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Detour: A Noir Nightmare on a Poverty Row Budget

Detour: A Noir Nightmare on a Poverty Row Budget

Released: 1945 Dir. Edgar G. Ulmer               Detour is film noir stripped of all the usual studio polish, leaving bare the rotting surface of a ladder leading to a nightmarish decent into hell. And what a decent it is.               Made by poverty row studio PRC in 1945, Detour is a fine example of what a small studio could do with a meager budget and produce what is now considered essential film noir viewing. Poverty row Hollywood was hardly taken…

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