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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 24, 2022 0:12:44 GMT -5
The chauffeur killed himself.
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Post by berkley on Apr 24, 2022 12:07:00 GMT -5
The chauffeur killed himself. Ran himself over with the car. Fiendishly clever of him. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 24, 2022 13:59:42 GMT -5
The chauffeur killed himself. Ran himself over with the car. Fiendishly clever of him. I was thinking more along the lines of “the chauffeur drove the car off the end of Santa Monica Pier.” But I guess he could have run himself over, got back in the car and then drove off the pier. I’m not sure how clever it is. But it does kind of sound like the most logical conclusion for the what goes on in, for example, Golden Age Hourman stories. |
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Post by berkley on Apr 24, 2022 19:45:51 GMT -5
Ran himself over with the car. Fiendishly clever of him. I was thinking more along the lines of “the chauffeur drove the car off the end of Santa Monica Pier.” But I guess he could have run himself over, got back in the car and then drove off the pier. I’m not sure how clever it is. But it does kind of sound like the most logical conclusion for the what goes on in, for example, Golden Age Hourman stories. I'll try to remember to keep that idea in mind next time I read it. Can't recall the details at the moment, or what I felt last time. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 24, 2022 19:59:34 GMT -5
I was thinking more along the lines of “the chauffeur drove the car off the end of Santa Monica Pier.” But I guess he could have run himself over, got back in the car and then drove off the pier. I’m not sure how clever it is. But it does kind of sound like the most logical conclusion for the what goes on in, for example, Golden Age Hourman stories. I'll try to remember to keep that idea in mind next time I read it. Can't recall the details at the moment, or what I felt last time. I’ve read the book three or four times. And I’ve seen the movie at least twenty times. I started to write a short story about the chauffeur’s family coming to Los Angeles and hiring a private investigator. I made two or three pages of notes and read only the relevant sections on the death of the chauffeur. When you focus only on that, it’s pretty clear that the chauffeur was very troubled by his failure to secure the incriminating photos of Carmen (and maybe he was also upset by what he found out about her) that suicide is not only likely, it’s the only explanation that makes any sense, unless you think Brodie drove the chauffeur to the pier and aimed the car into the ocean and then walked back several miles to get his own car. I didn’t finish the short story because it’s just too obvious. The movie changes thing around a bit, but I don’t think it substantially changes things enough that there’s any better explanation for the death of the chauffeur. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 24, 2022 21:31:57 GMT -5
I found some notes I typed! They’re still on my laptop.
My notes say the Lido Pier, not Santa Monica Pier.
I had forgotten that Jim Brodie was not alone. Carol Lundgren was with him. So one of them could have driven the Packard that Owen Taylor has been driving and the other one could have driven the other car.
But all they wanted was the photos. I don’t see why they would have killed him. And there are better ways to get rid of a body than to drive to the Lido Pier and try to fake a suicide. It sounds very risky.
The mystery comes in from trying to figure out EXACTLY what happened from the clues given in the book (and it’s even harder in the movie). Suicide seems most likely. Owen Taylor has a motive for suicide, and it’s pretty easy to drive to the Lido Pier and fly off the end.
Trying to make it work with Brodie and Carol killing him for no real reason and then caravaning to Lido Pier to fake a suicide just makes it very complicated ... but not impossible.
And it’s not a priority for anybody. It’s not Marlowe’s case. As far as the police are concerned, the two suspects (if it IS murder) are either dead (Brodie) or in custody for a pretty cut-and-dry murder (Lundgren, for killing Brodie). Treating Taylor’s death as a murder looks like a lot of work and it’s not profitable.
My notes say that Taylor’s family comes to hire Marlowe, and he’s a little hesitant, but he takes the case because he feels a little bit like he’s owe it to them. When I was reviewing the way Taylor’s death is treated in the book, it’s highly likely that it’s suicide. But there is no kind of follow up with the coroner because the book is about Marlowe and his investigation into the disappearance of Shawn Regan. And he’s not spending any time on poor Owen Taylor.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 26, 2022 13:47:14 GMT -5
Moving on to 1947. 1947 is another year dominated (for me) by film noir. But unlike 1946, it's been a long time since I've seen a lot of the movies from '47. That may be why my favorite seems so self-evident. Though it also may be that it's just that good and important a movie. Out of the Past - A seminal film noir based on Daniel Mainwaring's novel "Build My Gallows High" with the screenplay by Mainwaring and directed by Jacques Tourneur. While this wasn't the first starring role for Robert Mitchum it's the role that truly set his screen persona and made him one of the quintessential film tough guys. The combination of the tough storyline, the dark cinematography and one of the great femmes fatale, Jane Greer as Kathie Moffat, make this almost universally acclaimed as one of the best film noirs ever. And that reputation is rightly deserved. Oh...and add in a great turn by a very young Kirk Douglas. Nightmare Alley - There's always something sinister about a carnival and Nightmare Alley turns that up to 11. Based on the novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham, this is another seminal film noir. Tyrone Power effectively moves beyond his swashbuckling type to play The Great Stanton, a nasty scheming carnival barker cum mentalist cum circus geek. Helen Walker is very good as the femme fatale. But really it's the story and the setting that make this a great film noir. A box office bomb when released with middling reviews it has since been re-evaluated as an important film noir. Dark Passage - You can't beat the pedigree for Dark Passage. Starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (with a great supporting role for Agnes Moorehead) and based on the novel by David Goodis, one of the best writers of literary noir, the whole is slightly less than the sum of the parts. It's still a good film sometimes approaching great. I think the biggest issue is the choice to use a subjective camera technique for the first half of the movie. Lady From Shanghai - Ahh Orson. One wonders what he could have done if he'd been able to escape both the studios and his own ego. Another flawed, but occasionally brilliant film from Orson Welles. The climactic shoot-out in the house of mirrors is simply breath-taking cinema. Kiss of Death - Another excellent film noir that was critically acclaimed when it came out. While I like it, to me it is over-shadowed by a few of its 1947 bretheren. Except when it comes to the performance of Richard Widmark as Tommy Udo. Widmark was absolutely brilliant in his movie debut and crafted one of the great film villains. Crossfire - It's been far too long since I've seen this film. I remember liking it a lot (Robert Ryan, Robert Mitchum and Robert Taylor, what's not to like). But it's been so long I have only vague recollections. In Non-Noir there's not a lot that I remember. The Egg and I - It's been a long time since I've seen this one, but it definitely hits my nostalgia buttons. My Mom was a huge fan of Ma & Pa Kettle. And I remember staying up late and watching this with her on a Friday night when I was a kid. I should probably watch it again. My favorite...well it's Out of the Past by a fairly decent margin. Still, a great year for dark movies. 1947 in film for those who want a look. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 26, 2022 15:36:43 GMT -5
Excellent choices here, Slam_Bradley. (I'm sensing you like film noir.) I do, too, but I'm ashamed to admit that though I know of and about Out of the Past, I've never seen it. BUT... it was on TCM a while ago and I "taped" it and will be seeing it soon, I hope. I love Mitchum, and Jane Greer is drop dead gorgeous. Nightmare Alley is one of my favorites from this or any year; Power is very, very good and the atmosphere is creepy and claustrophobic. Try the novel someday. So well written, plus you'll learn a lot about carnivals, con games and mentalists. Robert Ryan is an unsung great actor, a boxer, a Dartmouth grad, and though you'd never know it from many of his roles, a staunch liberal in his politics. He is menacing and dangerous in Crossfire, which may seem tame today, but was considered groundbreaking b/c of the subject matter when it came out and is still gripping. Love Dark Passage, too. Plot's a little creaky in spots, but the acting and the San Francisco setting make up for it. May I add to your list... The Ghost and Mrs. Muir A beautifully written and acted adult fantasy/romance, with a stunning Gene Tierney, a salty Rex Harrison and a slimy George Sanders. Beautiful score by Bernard Hermann and Joseph Mankiewicz's state-of-the art direction. Brute Force Burt Lancaster seethes in the ultimate prison picture, directed by Jules Dassin. The prison sets are works of art in themselves thanks to the great cinematography (Of course it's in black and white!) by the protean William H. Daniels. I've never seen rain in a movie quite as pelting and alive as in Brute Force. Hume cronyn, often endearing, is a venomous reptile of a prison warden. A enormous cast full of familiar faces: Charles McGraw, Sam Levene, Jeff Corey, Charles Bickford and on and on. This hits on all cylinders. Life with Father William Powell runs the house and the movie and is as charming as always as the ultimate upper-class Gilded Age patriarch. Another guy who just never gave a bad performance. Which is why I also like... Song of the Thin Man, which is good, not great, but that's only because I'm comparing to others in the above-average "Thin Man" series. Powell and Loy are as perfectly matched as Bogart and Bacall, just frothier. Repeat Performance is a movie I stumbled onto a year or so ago courtesy TCM -- naturally. It's an unlikely combination of noir and time travel that you'll like if only for its uniqueness. Noirs are all about having no second chance to escape fate, but this movie plays with the idea that you just might be able to do it. One of those great B-movies that rises above its designation. Reminds me of a Val Lewton movie. A Double Life Ronald Colman plays Anthony John, an actor whose role as Othello begins to seep into his personality and behavior. Lusty young Shelley Winters is well, lusty and young, and Colman is nervous and frazzled, gradually losing himself in his character. Signe Hasso plays his worried, loyal wife, who just happens to be playing Desdemona to his Othello. The climactic scene in "Othello" is pretty scary as Colman really loses it as Othello mercilessly abuses the bewildered Desdemona. If you know how that scene ends, you'l know why it is very suspenseful and frightening. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 26, 2022 15:49:15 GMT -5
Excellent choices here, Slam_Bradley . (I'm sensing you like film noir.) Nightmare Alley is one of my favorites from this or any year; Power is very, very good and the atmosphere is creepy and claustrophobic. Try the novel someday. So well written, plus you'll learn a lot about carnivals, con games and mentalists. I've read Nighmare Alley, though it's been a long time. It's a great novel and an important early literary noir. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 26, 2022 15:56:14 GMT -5
Excellent choices here, Slam_Bradley . (I'm sensing you like film noir.) Nightmare Alley is one of my favorites from this or any year; Power is very, very good and the atmosphere is creepy and claustrophobic. Try the novel someday. So well written, plus you'll learn a lot about carnivals, con games and mentalists. I've read Nighmare Alley, though it's been a long time. It's a great novel and an important early literary noir. Gresham was an odd duck. Even odder was that his ex-wife eventually married C.S. Lewis. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 26, 2022 15:59:05 GMT -5
A lot of great 1947 films have been mentioned and I’ve seen most of them. (The Egg and I seems like a particularly egregious omission.)
I have to mention a couple that I love ...
My Favorite Brunette
The Unsuspected
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 26, 2022 16:23:52 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure that the only film I've seen from 1947 is the English gangster movie Brighton Rock, and to be honest, I found it a bit of a slog. It's suitably noir-ish, but the scripting and acting is nothing to write home about. It was quite controversial back in its day, however, for the level of violence in it, but it's not especially violent by today's standards. To be honest, I think the most enjoyable aspect of it was the '40s vintage shots of the town of Brighton in the background.  Other than that, it's a fairly unmemorable crime caper.  |
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Post by berkley on Apr 26, 2022 16:33:55 GMT -5
A lot of great 1947 films have been mentioned and I’ve seen most of them. (The Egg and I seems like a particularly egregious omission.) I have to mention a couple that I love ... My Favorite Brunette The Unsuspected
I just watched My Favorite Brunette a few nights ago and it was hilarious. I love Bob Hope's entire schtick and this is probably one of the best I've seen him do.
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Post by badwolf on Apr 26, 2022 16:59:47 GMT -5
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer was my favorite from 1947, but I also liked The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and The Bishop's Wife.
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 26, 2022 17:10:06 GMT -5
A lot of great 1947 films have been mentioned and I’ve seen most of them. (The Egg and I seems like a particularly egregious omission.) I have to mention a couple that I love ... My Favorite Brunette The Unsuspected
I just watched My Favorite Brunette a few nights ago and it was hilarious. I love Bob Hope's entire schtick and this is probably one of the best I've seen him do.
I like a lot of Bob Hope’s movies. One of my favorite lesser-known Bob Hope movies is Here Come the Girls. I had it on VHS for a while and I used to watch it pretty frequently. But at this point, I haven’t seen it for 15 years. |
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Other than that, it's a fairly unmemorable crime caper.