FILM RADAR: Film Noir Double Feature

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Friday, April 8th, 2005

Film Noir Double Feature

So tonight I once again put on my clingy black 1940s dress, my cat eye sunglasses and crimson red headscarf and went to the Egyptian for some Film Noir bliss!

THE WEB (1947) Universal
This was a fun little movie that felt more like a murder mystery than an actual noir, but regardless it was fun! It had great dialogue and excellent actors including Edmond O’ Brien, Ella Raines and my beloved Vincent Price.
The print was a new 35mm and looked lovely! It is such a luxury to get to see so many films like this on the big screen.

BORDER INCIDENT (1949) MGM
This film was directed by Anthony Mann who is widely regarded as one of the greatest noir directors. The plot for this film was about a Mexican cop (Ricardo Montalban) who teams up with American agent (George Murphy) to stop a gang who are killing illegal immigrants on the U.S./Mexico border. The cinematography was by the great John Alton. His work is amazing. I could just stare at his films for hours and get lost in their brutal, stark, haunting images. This film was intense and well made and was a more unusual setting for a noir. I tend to think of noirs as happening in the big city, most notably Los Angeles, San Francisco or New York. Then again, crooked cops and dirty villans can crop up in any corner of the world—including a remote farm town across the border. Ricardo Montalban was very impressive as the lead character. The scene were the man gets run over by the tractor was particularly brutal and has to be one of the most disturbing death scenes I’ve seen in ages.

I really wanted to stay for the third film, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. As much as I love noir (and believe me I really do) if I see more than 2 in one day they all start to run together in my mind and I can’t keep it all straight. I get disoriented and confused as to what exactly I’ve just seen. I don’t want to overdose. I prefer to keep my noir addition in small but very steady quantities.

Written by Karie (site owner) on 04/08 at 01:45 AM