Artists Inspired by Noir Noir is everywhere these days, used to flog everything from over-priced coffee and cheap lingerie to high-end make-up and mediocre crime films that mistake ill-fitting fedoras and second-hand cigarette smoke for style. But real fans know that noir is more than just a few visual effects and a cool marketing tool. … Continue reading Art for Art’s Sake
Tag: Film Noir
Brad Lang’s Ten Favourite Detective, Hard-boiled & Noir Films
A Little Slice of Hardboiled Heaven Freelance writer, web designer and film buff Brad Lang is a sometime-contributor to this site, the author of the Crockett private eye series and the man behind both Hardboiled Heaven and Classic Movies.org. Back when this site was in its infancy, he generously offered us this list of his … Continue reading Brad Lang’s Ten Favourite Detective, Hard-boiled & Noir Films
Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light
DOCUMENTARY (2006) The 2006 documentary Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light, from director and film historian Gary Leva, was originally tucked away on various DVD film noir collections from Warner Bros. (it's on Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 3, and still shows up occasionally as a "bonus feature"), but it's also available separately. It's billed as … Continue reading Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light
Gus Slavin (Loophole)
Created by Dwight V. Babcock and George Bricker This time out, he's GUS SLAVIN, an LA-based investigator for a bonding service, who's putting the screws on war hero turned nice guy bank teller Mike Donovan (Barry Sullivan, the star of the show, playing the classic noir bonehead/doofus to perfection). Gus is convinced Donovan had something … Continue reading Gus Slavin (Loophole)
Ned Beaumont (The Glass Key)
Created by Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) "I can stand anything I've got to stand." -- Ned Beaumont Unlike Dashiell Hammett's other novel-length protagonists, Sam Spade, The Continental Op and Nick Charles, NED BEAUMONT is not a private eye--not even a retired one. He's a political hanger-on and fixer, a cigar-smoking, hard-drinking gambler with a weakness … Continue reading Ned Beaumont (The Glass Key)
Joe Peters (Roadblock)
Created by Richard Landau (1914–93) and Geoffrey Homes Pseudonym of Daniel Mainwaring (1902-77) In Roadblock (1951), a nifty little noir full of robbery, murder, sexual obsession and a bunch of other neat stuff, JOE PETERS (Charles McGraw), a Los Angeles-based insurance investigaor who sounds like he gargles with old car parts, becomes involved with Diane … Continue reading Joe Peters (Roadblock)
Jeff “Red” Bailey (Out of the Past)
Created by Geoffrey Homes Pseudonym of Daniel Mainwaring (1902-77) "I was at the bottom of the barrel and I was scraping it." -- Jeff Bailey "RED" BAILEY (JEFF in the film) is the world-weary, sleepy-eyed private eye who just wants to forget, in the classic film noir Out of the Past (1947, RKO), based on … Continue reading Jeff “Red” Bailey (Out of the Past)
Leonard Shelby (Memento)
Created by Jonathan Nolan Adapted for the screen by Christopher Nolan ''I can't make new memories.'' Seen Memento yet? It's a truly mind-blowing film that should get as much exposure as possible. The main character, LEONARD SHELBY, is (or at least was) a P.I. (well, actually, an insurance investigator). But I think this qualifies him … Continue reading Leonard Shelby (Memento)
James Reardon (The Killers)
Created by Ernest Hemingway Adapted by Anthony Veiller It feels like some sort of cheat to credit Ernest Hemingway as the "creator" of hard-working tough guy insurance dick JAMES REARDON here, since Papa's snippet of a short story (originally published in 1927), didn't even have a detective--by any name--in it. It simply related the tale … Continue reading James Reardon (The Killers)
Looking for the Connections
Reconsidering Altman's "The Long Goodbye" I think Altman's rendition of The Long Goodbye gets a bad rap. Fans of Raymond Chandler's poetic novels and Bogart's iconic portrayal find Elliot Gould as a smart-ass, sleepy "Rip Van Marlowe" too much of a change in character. Gould's Philip Marlowe is a man who fell asleep in the … Continue reading Looking for the Connections