Noir-vember: Leave Her To Heaven (1945)

I love Gene Tierney. I love Gene Tierney so much that there's a chance I start every review of any Gene Tierney movie by stating my love for her. It doesn't make it any less true though. I've seen a fair few Gene Tierney movies, but there have been some blind spots that I should have seen long before now. Thankfully, I have friends to remind me of the many movies that I should make a priority, and last week I was told that I should definitely fit Leave Her To Heaven into my viewing schedule.

Tierney plays the beautiful and captivating Ellen Berent, a woman who captures the heart of a writer named Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde). Things move along quickly, a bit too quickly for the ex-fiance of Ellen, Russell Quinton (Vincent Price), and it's not long until the happy couple are living in wedded bliss. Well, there's the happy couple and Danny (Darryl Hickman), the polio-crippled younger brother of Richard. Ellen doesn't like to share though, and that isn't necessarily a good thing for a healthy relationship. It's also not a good thing for those who may take up some of the time and attention of her husband.

Based on a novel by Ben Ames Williams, Leave Her To Heaven is a good enough story that it would have been a great film in many different forms. It's directed well by John M. Stahl, who shows the right amount of confidence in the screenplay and his stars, and the writing from Jo Swerling does well to move viewers from a fairly standard opening act to the wild and heightened melodrama of the finale. 

Nobody really puts a foot wrong in front of the camera, although Hickman has to lean into the vulnerable and innocent "patient" persona as he tests the patience of Tierney's character. Speaking of Tierney, she conveys her willpower and steely resolve so well that it's easy to imagine her carrying the whole movie on her own. She essentially plays someone who is truly monstrous, but the edges are softened slightly by the fact that she's, well, Gene Tierney. She's ably supported by Wilde (even if he has to be a bit of a damn squib), a delightful Jeanne Crain, and a suave Price. There are a few other people populating this tale, but that central quartet is the reason for it being such a memorable and enjoyable experience. 

While I wouldn't place this alongside the absolute best Tierney films you could watch, that's only due to other specific titles setting a very high bar indeed. This would definitely be jostling with a few others just below the very best though, and it's certainly something you come away from with no questions about why it is so highly thought of. The runtime may be a bit longer than most noirs from this era, it's 110 minutes, and the bright colours may seem incompatible with the growing darkness of the plot, but don't let either of those things put you off. This is a classic. I'd love to spend much more time picking out specific highlights, but that would ruin the experience for anyone else yet to get around to it.

9/10

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Whirlpool (1950)

If you ever find yourself in the world of film noir then you should be wary of doctors/therapists who take an interest in you while you are not an official patient on their books. You should also be wary of José Ferrer. I knew that Whirlpool would be a film in which Gene Tierney found herself in trouble when she ended up in conversation with a therapist played by José Ferrer.

Tierney plays Ann Sutton, a woman who is married to one Dr. William Sutton (Richard Conte). Although all appears well on the surface, Ann has at least one big problem. She’s a kleptomaniac, which viewers are shown in the very first scenes of the movie. While in trouble with store detectives and management, Ann ends up spared further embarrassment by David Korvo (Ferrer). Korvo recognises the ailment, and offers to help Ann with his hypnotherapy. Before you know it there’s a dead body, Ann as a main suspect, and Korvo evading suspicion with what seems to be a cast-iron alibi. 

Based on an original work by Guy Endore, Whirlpool is your typical bit of hokum that uses hypnosis as a central plot point for some twists and tension. The script, written by Ben Hecht (prolific and brilliant) and Andrew Solt (less prolific, but with a couple of greats in his catalogue of work), is easier to digest thanks to the perfectly-judged tone and the performances of the leads.

Director Otto Preminger may have a number of superior films to his credit (including at least one featuring one of the cast members featured here), but that doesn’t make this unworthy of your time. It’s wonderfully entertaining throughout, and some of the conversations are both beautifully written and impeccably delivered.

If I ever see Tierney give a performance that I don’t love them I advise people to check that I am still alive. She is one of my favourite stars of yesteryear, and this is another winning turn from her, moving between moments of confidence and moments of paralyzing neuroses and fear. Ferrer is an absolute charmer for most of the runtime, nice enough to make you think he is a villain while also nice enough to make you think he might just be nice. His line delivery, especially during his first extended conversation with Tierney, is like music to my ears, and I periodically chastise myself when I remember that I haven’t seen enough of his movie performances from this period. Conte plays his part as expected, Charles Bickford is perfectly fine as the sympathetic, slightly bemused, individual investigating the murder, and Barbara O’Neil does well enough as a woman who may be pivotal to revealing the murderous face being hidden behind a mask of civility.

It’s a bit silly, and maybe a bit too lightweight for those wanting their noir more gritty and dark, but Whirlpool is also just great entertainment. It’s a star vehicle, and anyone who appreciates the talents of the leads will find plenty to enjoy here. I know I did.

7/10

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Noir-vember: Laura (1944)

Considering the many classic film noirs I have covered in my blog, I was surprised to realise that I had never praised Laura here. Given my love for it, I then decided that it was the best choice for the start of 2019's Noir-vember season here.

The radiantly beautiful Gene Tierney (and yes, I do always have to use numerous complimentary adjectives when describing one of my all-time favourite leading ladies) plays the titular female in a movie that begins with the discovery of her corpse and then moves on through numerous twists and turns until the killer is revealed. We get to know a lot about Laura through numerous flashbacks, prompted by the sassy investigating detective (Mark McPherson, played by Dana Andrews), including how she came to be friends with the acerbic newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), how messy things were getting with her fiancé Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price).

This is a murder-mystery noir movie that shows just how damaging love can be, even when it's disguised as a pure and innocent love for someone that people claim to care deeply for. Everything covered by that great driving force is here; passion, jealousy, pride, happiness and unhappiness, self-doubt and much more. Although a number of different names were credited, and uncredited, with writing the script, a lot of the credit must go to the writer of the source material, Vera Caspary, and director Otto Preminger.

Preminger has the double bonus of being able to match great material with a great cast to produce a memorable little movie. Tierney is peerless (I have seen about half a dozen of her movies now, and that opinion has not wavered), Andrews is cool and slightly hard-boiled, if not nearly as tough as he could have been, Webb is like a male Bette Davis, and battles with Price over who can deliver their dialogue best. The latter is a great mixture of awkwardness, guile and confidence. It may be odd to watch Price as a younger man, clean-shaven and not as menacing as he would be in so many of his horror movie roles, but viewers can get a lot of enjoyment from the way he cannot so much as get a drink of water without looking inordinately guilty.

I think it would be easy for many people to class this as a "rainy afternoon" movie, but if that's the case then all I can say is that I hope the weather stays bad, at least long enough for others to catch up with it. And then you can join the ranks of so many other people who have fallen in love with Gene Tierney. Because to know her is to love her, which is probably why she works so well in the main role here.

9/10

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Noir November: Night And The City (1950)

The great thing about the classic film noirs, from my limited experience, is that so few of them seem to be awful. They were movies that could really make the most of their resources, and often had numerous character actors giving some of their best performances. I'm not naive enough to think that every one is a winner, but the hit ratio seems to be a lot higher than other types of movies from this era. And many remain near-perfect viewing experiences. Night And The City is one of the greats.

Richard Widmark stars as Harry Fabian, one of the classic schmucks of film noir. Fabian is a small-time hustler with dreams of the big time. He has a lovely woman in his life (Gene Tierney), who puts up with more than most women would, and he has a network of people who could end up helping him out, if only he'd put his energies to better use. But he knows better, of course, and soon comes up with a scheme to make himself the biggest name in the local wrestling scene. Not by becoming a wrestler, you understand, but by poaching some big names to draw in crowds. He'll put on the best shows, once he sorts out the initial capital investment, which he hopes he can acquire from either Helen (Googie Withers) or her husband, Philip (Francis L. Sullivan). Whoever helps him is going to be upsetting someone else.

Based on a novel by Gerald Kersh, Night And The City is both a painful character study and also, as the title suggests, a look at how the world can be a very different place for those who don't stick to the 9-5 daytime hours that so many others aim for. Director Jules Dassin keeps things balanced between bleak and mesmerising, helped in no small part by the great cast, and also the script by Jo Eisinger. Fabian is a central character who seems destined to fail from the opening scenes, yet he's someone that you can still root for when the odds start to really stack up against him. He's a hustler and a con artist, but he's often honest about it. Certainly more honest than some who end up resenting his ambition.

Widmark is superb in the central role, not exactly oozing charm but certainly putting a positive spin on his own failings until he starts to get more desperate. Tierney's role is a relatively small one, but she's as great as ever. And the sweetest person in the whole movie. Withers and Sullivan are both pretty fantastic, always turning things up a notch whenever they appear to continue the secret game of chess that they're playing against one another, and Herbert Lom is a credible threat as the powerful man that Fabian ends up butting heads with. The great performances don't stop there, however, and I need to also praise Hugh Marlowe, Stanislaus Zbyszko, Mike Mazurki, Charles Farrell, Ada Reeve and Ken Richmond. I think that covers all of the main players.

If you're new to film noir then there are many other classics that are easier to enjoy, films that make for more comfortable starting points, but this remains a real gem. Not just a look at one unsavoury character, it takes viewers on a journey into a world where the unsavoury characters hide and thrive. Fantastic stuff.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/Night-Criterion-Collection-Richard-Widmark/dp/B0006Z2NE0/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1415130541&sr=1-1&keywords=night+and+the+city

Where The Sidewalk Ends (1950)

Let's not dilly dally here, Where The Sidewalk Ends is quite simply a brilliant piece of work. It's a classic that feels as fresh today as it would have back in 1950, it's a gripping piece of entertainment and it's a film that seems to have influenced many that came along after it (anything with a flawed, quick-to-fight, cop at the centre of things, basically).

Dana Andrews stars as Mark Dixon, a detective known for his heavy-handed ways. Unfortunately, he goes a bit too far one night and accidentally kills a man. Desperate to cover up his crime, the detective creates a scenario that makes it look as if the suspect is still alive, and has fled from the long arm of the law. It's not long until he's tasked with investigating this disappearance, which allows him to meet the lovely Morgan Taylor (Gene Tierney), the wife of the dead man. When the body is found and a murderer is sought, Dixon tries to shift the blame on to a gangster named Tommy Scalise (Gary Merrill), but instead ends up getting Morgan's father (Tom Tully) in some hot water. As he tries to put things right, Dixon gets more and more tangled up in his own web.

Directed by Otto Preminger, this is unforgettable stuff. It's gritty, it's smart and it keeps everything, or at least the main character, tightly wound.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it much here, but I've certainly already told many people about my love for Gene Tierney and this film does nothing to change that. Andrews may be the main star, and absolutely brilliant he is too, but Tierney is easily believable as the kind of woman who would make a man try to change for the better. Merrill and Tully are both good, Bert Freed does well as a fellow lawman, and Karl Malden is the Lieutenant who wants the truth, as opposed to just a neat resolution.

Based on the novel by William L. Stuart, the script was worked on by a number of people as it made its way from page to screen, but the final result shows that the effort was worth it. This isn't necessarily a film that revolves around sizzling dialogue, but the script is a good one and the way that the story plays out is, well, it's nearly flawless, in my opinion.

What could so easily have been a movie that started to fall apart after one great idea, instead goes from strength to strength, thanks to the performances and the way that it manages to feel surprisingly plausible throughout. Essential viewing for film fans.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-The-Sidewalk-Ends-DVD/dp/B0001GNJFG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1385249216&sr=8-3&keywords=where+the+sidewalk+ends