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)
Tag: Film Noir
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
J.J. McGonigle (The Come-On)
Created by Whitman Chambers(1896-1968) He's not the star of this rarely seen B-flick, but Jesse White (TV's Maytag repairman for over thirty years) as smarmy, corrupt private eye J.J. McGONIGLE is definitely worth checking out in The Come-On, a twisty/turny 1956 film noir from second string studio Allied Artists. Anne Baxter plays the hottie here; … Continue reading J.J. McGonigle (The Come-On)
My Scrapbook: Original Pressbook for Manhandled
My Scrapbook Original Pressbook for Manhandled (1949, Paramount Pictures) If you're not familiar with the 1949 film noir Manhandled, it's about time you checked it out. The 1949 film noir is no lost classic, despite a decent cast (Dorothy Lamour, Sterling Hayden, etc.), but Dan Duryea, as private detective Karl Benson, is an absolute joy to … Continue reading My Scrapbook: Original Pressbook for Manhandled
Karl Benson (Manhandled)
Created by L.S. Goldsmith “You’re not talking to a cluck Charlie. You’re talking to a guy who knows all the angles.” Dan Duryea plays gum-popping KARL BENSON, a crooked ex-cop reduced to doing repo jobs, divorce frame-ups and assorted other sordid sidelines in Lewis Foster's preposterous but entertaining 1949 noir, Manhandled. The flick does have … Continue reading Karl Benson (Manhandled)
Albert Arnett (Born to Kill)
Created by James Gunn Pseudonym of John Darcy Cannon (1920-66) "It's quite all right, Mrs. Brent. I am a man of integrity, but I'm always willing to listen to an interesting offer." -- Arnett maskes his pitch to Helen in Born to Kill The 1947 noir classic Born to Kill from RKO is not a … Continue reading Albert Arnett (Born to Kill)
Brendan Frye (Brick)
Created by Rian Johnson "The ape blows or I clam." Much like The Big Lebowski, Rian Johnson's Brick (2005) is a P.I. film that has everything you'd want in a P.I. film -- except a P.I. And like the Coen Brother's Dude, Brick's BRENDAN FRYE (in an amazing performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a loose cannon, … Continue reading Brendan Frye (Brick)
Mel Samson (Too Late)
Created by Dennis Huack "I need to change my life." -- Mel Samson MEL SAMSON is the hapless L.A. private eye centrepiece in Too Late, a twisted little bit of cinematic chess perpetrated by writer/director Dennis Hauck that plays with all your favourite P.I. and noir tropes (circa 2016) in all-new ways, thanks to a … Continue reading Mel Samson (Too Late)
Harry Moseby (Night Moves)
Created by Alan Sharp "Ain't it funny how the night moves/When you just don't seem to have that much to lose? Ain't it funny how the night moves/With autumn closing in?" -- "Night Moves" by Bob Seger* One of the great private eye flicks of all time, Night Moves (1975, Warner Brothers) is too often … Continue reading Harry Moseby (Night Moves)
Tim “T.M.” Slade
Created by Raoul Whitfield "Sure." -- Slade's reply to almost everything. In High Tide, a rarely seen but highly recommended little 1947 B noir from Monogram, Lee Tracy plays gruff, crusading Los Angeles tabloid newspaper editor Hugh Fresney and Don Castle plays TIM "T.M." SLADE, a former reporter who's become a private eye. When Fresney, … Continue reading Tim “T.M.” Slade