By Film Noir Blonde and Mike Wilmington
The Noir File is FNB’s guide to classic film noir, neo-noir and pre-noir from the schedule of Turner Classic Movies (TCM), which broadcasts them uncut and uninterrupted. The times are Eastern Standard and (Pacific Standard).
Pick of the Week
Joan Crawford Film Noir Day (Thursday, Jan. 23)
Crawford was a muse for photographer George Hurrell.
Joan Crawford – she of the huge dark burning eyes, limber legs and mighty shoulder pads – was a Queen of Film Noir, as well as a dancing daughter, a headstrong hottie and a Grande Dame of the movies. She had an unusually long career, during which she remained remarkably popular.
Crawford started in the silent era as one of the last great flappers and continued as a reigning lady of the MGM and then the Warner lot, making classic film noirs and neo noirs like “Mildred Pierce” (her 1945 “Best Actress” Oscar winner), “Flamingo Road,” “Sudden Fear” and “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” She worked all the way up to the ’70s when one of her last directors, on a TV episode of Rod Serling’s “Night Gallery,” was a young up-and-comer named Steven Spielberg.
Right to the end, when she looked at men (and sometimes women) with her cool, appraising stare, her dark eyes could drill into them. Through it all – with her flawless screen beauty and sexy presence – she memorably played women in love, women besieged, women at war, women in business, women dancing, women in peril, women who held their own in dark days and light. TCM has devoted Thursdays in January to Joan Crawford, highlighting some of the finest, darkest hours and best film noirs of a superstar who excelled in all-American allure and ultimate glamour.
Joan Crawford won a Best Actress Oscar for “Mildred Pierce” from 1945.
(1945, Michael Curtiz). 8 p.m. (5 p.m.) Thursday, Jan. 23. With Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Ann Blyth and Zachary Scott.
“Flamingo Road” (1949, Michael Curtiz). 12:15 a.m. (9:15 p.m.). With Crawford, Zachary Scott and Sydney Greenstreet.
“The Damned Don’t Cry” (1950, Vincent Sherman.). 2 a.m. (11 p.m.). With Crawford, David Brian and Steve Cochran.
“Possessed” (1947, Curtis Bernhardt). 3:45 a.m. (12:45 a.m.). With Crawford, Van Heflin and Raymond Massey.
Another Joan Crawford portrait shot by George Hurrell.
Bonus Crawford Noir on Friday, Jan. 24:
“Autumn Leaves” (1956, Robert Aldrich). 4:15 p.m. (1:15 p.m.). With Crawford, Cliff Robertson and Vera Miles.
Wednesday, Jan. 22
10:45 a.m. (7:45 a.m.): “Scarlet Street” (1945, Fritz Lang). With Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea Reviewed in FNB on Nov. 24, 2011.
4 p.m. (1 p.m.). “Clash by Night” (1952, Fritz Lang). With Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan and Marilyn Monroe.
6 p.m. (3 p.m.): “The Wrong Man” (1956, Alfred Hitchcock). With Henry Fonda, Miles and Anthony Quayle. Reviewed in FNB on Nov. 17, 2012.
Saturday, Jan. 25
6 p.m. (3 p.m.): “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967, Arthur Penn). With Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons. Reviewed in FNB on Feb, 4, 2013.
Sunday, Jan. 26
3:30 a.m. (12:30 a.m.): “Strangers on a Train” (1951, Alfred Hitchcock). With Farley Granger, Robert Walker and Ruth Roman. Reviewed in FNB on April 40, 2011.
Tuesday, Jan. 28
10 p.m. (7 p.m.): “Get Carter” (1971, Mike Hodges). Controversial in its day, now generally regarded as one of the greatest neo-noirs and one of the all-time best British thrillers, this bleak and violent suspense movie, set in Newcastle, stars Michael Caine as a brutal assassin who, while on the trail of his brother’s killers, turns up one bizarre or menacing suspect after another.
Caine’s deadpan hit man Carter is one of his most memorable characterizations. The excellent supporting cast includes Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland and, in a rare acting role, the much-admired British playwright John Osborne (“Look Back in Anger”). From the novel by Ted Lewis. The 2000 American remake, starring Sylvester Stallone, with a cameo for Caine, is atrocious.
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