Deadly is the Female, Doomed is the Underdog

Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell as Bowie Bowers and Keechie in "They Live by Night" (1949) directed by Nicholas Ray

'They Live by Night' pioneered a sub-genre labeled “love on the run” in later films like 'Gun Crazy', 'Bonnie and Clyde',
'Badlands', and Robert Altman’s 1974 remake of 'They Live By Night': 'Thieves Like Us'.

After much commercial success in the 1950s with such great films as 'Rebel Without a Cause' (James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Dennis Hopper) and 'Johnny Guitar' (Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge), Nicholas Ray increasingly became shut out of Hollywood in the late 1960s and 1970s due to his widely-panned sense of experimentation in such films as 'The Savage Innocents' and his Jesus of Nazareth biopic 'King of Kings', along with an immense addiction to drugs and alcohol that left him hospitalized after collapsing on set of '55 Days at Peking', Ray didn’t reemerge back into film until the mid-1970s with a small student driven art film.
That film, which would be his last before he succumbed to lung cancer in 1979, was 'We Can’t Go Home Again'. 'We Can’t Go Home Again' will be screening it’s newly restored version released by Oscilloscope at the New York Film Festival on October 2nd".
Source: www.soundonsight.org


Peggy Cummins as Annie Laurie Starr and John Dall as Barton Tare in "Gun Crazy" (1950) directed by Joseph H. Lewis

"All noir heroes have unhealthy compulsions and a nose for trouble, but none are as victimized by their impulses as John Dall in 1949's spectacularly lurid B-movie 'Gun Crazy'. Dall is cinema's most impassioned gun fetishist; his need to possess (and suggestively fondle) the weapon runs against his gentle nature, which forbids him from ever using it for its intended purpose.
This makes him easy prey for Peggy Cummins, an expert marksman and out-of-control bad girl who seduces him in a memorable sideshow shooting contest that's unseemly in its implied eroticism. The film's original title, 'Deadly Is The Female', could apply to any number of code-flouting noirs, but Cummins deserves the title:
Her lusty cries for action are a clarion call that Dall can't resist, even though he knows they'll lead him to damnation".


"It's fight night at Paradise City, the low-rent, small-town sweatbox in Robert Wise's underappreciated 1949 palooka gem 'The Set-Up', one of five sterling noirs collected from Warner Brothers' vault for a box set labeled Film Noir Classic Collection.
Still filling out the undercard at 35, well past a prime that wasn't so great to begin with, boxer Robert Ryan has had his latest bout scheduled after the Main Draw, when punch-drunk fans are likely to walk out or stick around just to boo.
Pit against a young comer more than 10 years his junior, Ryan is such an underdog that his own manager not only agrees to throw the fight, but doesn't bother to tell his fighter about the fix. If Ryan gets knocked out, he's the loser everyone expects. If he wins, he's an even bigger loser.

Though 'The Set-Up' may not be considered a noir by the strictest definition, Ryan's dilemma typifies the existential malaise unifying the genre, more so even than the single-source black-and-white lighting effects, the hard-bitten narration, the femme fatale, or other obvious signifiers.

In a postwar America where cynicism and disillusionment carry the day, small-timers like Ryan try to assert themselves as men, but they're rendered impotent by situations that prey on their weaknesses and rob them of leverage. The heroes in all five of the set's Warner noirs are turned into suckers, yanked around by desires and schemes that are doomed to bite them in the tail". Source: www.avclub.com

"Bob [Ryan] didn't want to be seen as a sentimental man, which he was" -'Requiem for a Heavyweight' playwright director Arvin Brown

"Although 'The Set-Up' had received substantial critical praise in America, its relegation to budget status lessened its general public recognition. Wise recalled having a conversation with director Billy Wilder concerning the irony in 'The Set-Up's reception in Europa and in the United States. "If 'The Set-Up' had been made in France or Italy and had come over here", Wilder told Wise "it would have been acclaimed to the heavens by the critics".

"The figures that Robert Ryan creates with such authority are all, in different ways, isolated; if their aloofnes is not due to some violent obsession, it conceals something else: the secret of failure, or personal unhappiness, or extreme discontent. It is this persisting inner quality of restlesness, of disturbance, that gives him his individuality". -Coronet magazine (article, 1963)

-from "Robert Ryan: A Biography and Critical Filmography" by Franklin Jarlett (1997)

Joan Bennett and Robert Ryan as Peggy and Scott in "The Woman on the Beach" (1947) directed by Jean Renoir

"The Woman on the Beach" is still a remarkable film, the only true noir that Renoir ever made, and one of the most economical and relentless examinations of a marriage in collapse ever filmed, along with Jean-Luc Godard’s 1963 masterpiece 'Le Mépris' (Contempt).

As Tod Butler, Bickford gives the most nuanced performance of his career, at once tender and yet dangerous,
while Robert Ryan brings an intensity to the role of Scott Burnett that is both haunting and achingly realistic.

Dan Duryea and Joan Bennett as Johnny Prince and Kitty March in "Scarlet Street" (1945) directed by Fritz Lang

Joan Bennett’s foredoomed femme fatale is essentially a reprise of her role in 'Scarlet Street', but in Woman on the Beach, she seems more tragic and human than in Lang’s much colder moral universe". Source: www.noiroftheweek.com

Where are the new Jakes and Leos?

Where did all our new Leos, Tobeys, and Jakes go?

If you were wondering why the industry had so many hopes pinned on Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson, or why there was so much buzz on Alex Pettyfer prior to the underperforming I Am Number Four, here's the answer: We're in the middle of a pretty brutal young actor drought.

When it comes to famous names, you've got one unequivocal superstar in 25-year-old Shia LaBeouf, who toplined Transformers but can also open movies like Disturbia, Eagle Eye, and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, but after that, there's a real drop-off in the 25-and-under set.

There's Michael Cera and Zac Efron, who are arguably on the wane and a little niche-y to begin with. You've got Daniel Radcliffe, but who knows? And while there are several critically acclaimed, 110-pound actors out there like Ezra Miller, Logan Lerman, and Anton Yelchin, your mom has never heard of them — even the ones who've already had the chance to star in $100 million movies.

Compare their résumés with the boys who came before them, and things look even more dire. Before he turned 25, Leonardo DiCaprio was an Oscar nominee who'd starred in the then-biggest movie in the world, Titanic, as well as projects like Romeo + Juliet, The Basketball Diaries, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, This Boy's Life, and Celebrity.
Tobey Maguire hadn't yet played Spider-Man prior to his 25th birthday, but he had already shot movies like The Ice Storm, The Cider House Rules, Deconstructing Harry, Pleasantville, and Wonder Boys.

And before Jake Gyllenhaal blew out the candles on his 25th birthday cake, he'd acted in Donnie Darko, October Sky, Jarhead, Proof, The Good Girl, and Brokeback Mountain — the latter of which would earn him an Oscar nomination.

In fact, Gyllenhaal's Oscar nod for the 2005 film was the last time a 25-and-under actor found himself nominated. Curious about how many young actresses have gotten nominations since then? Ten.

Part of the issue is that TV used to be the place where your LaBeoufs, your Goslings, and your Gordon-Levitts would hone their chops as child actors, but now that Disney and Nickelodeon are searching for the next Hannah Montana, there are fewer breakout roles for teenage guys. But we suspect the problem goes even deeper than that, and it's the one we discovered when Australians and Brits started stealing all the big superhero and action movie roles: American boys simply aren't that interested in acting anymore. It's why Gary Ross had to go abroad to fill one of the two male leads in The Hunger Games, and it's why the initial casting short list for those roles was so much less impressive than the heavyweight Oscar nominees like Lawrence and Steinfeld who vied to play Katniss. Source: nymag.com

Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn", Marilyn Monroe's noir roles in her early career

Michelle Williams and Jake Gyllenhaal attending the premiere of "My Week With Marilyn" at New York Film Festival on 9th October, 2011

"My Week with Marilyn" (2011) Theatrical Trailer starring Michelle Williams and Eddie Redmayne

Set in England in 1956, My Week with Marilyn chronicles the true story of Colin Clark, an assistant to the director and star of The Prince and the Showgirl, Sir Laurence Olivier, and third Assistant Director on the set of the film. The film is based upon his experiences with the cast and crew on set, but namely the one glorious week he spent alone with Marilyn Monroe who, at the time, had just recently married playwright Arthur Miller.
Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe, Sir Laurence Olivier and a true story, this movie was screaming Oscar potential before it even had a cast selected. I wouldn’t be surprised if this gets nominated for best picture but it is Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branah’s performances that will garner surefire nominations for their spot on portrayals of the Hollywood legends. Both of them were rightfully emotional, wonderfully clever and spot on with their comedic timing. The best parts of the film usually involved the constant struggle between Olivier and Marilyn due to their very different acting styles and level of experience.
Since we see everything through the eyes of Colin Clark, played with a charismatic fragility by Eddie Redmayne, we are able to understand how complex Marilyn’s life was and how, because of his desire to protect her and tell her the truth, we are able to see the real distraught and insecure person she was, the girl who grew up in other peoples’ homes and is now constantly under the looking glass.
It is this new found insight, for me at least, that makes this film so special and how we are able to learn about the various layers to her personality and overall persona. It may not offer anything new to those that are familiar with Monroe, but Williams was able to portray her lack of confidence and torn personality with ease, especially when we see her relationship with Colin blossom.
It was shot in the same locations that The Prince and the Showgirl used back in the 60s and even identically mimicked scenes from the film which allowed Williams to not only sing like Marilyn, but also act like her when on a set. You could see Williams playing a role within a role within a role which was quite fascinating to experience. Source: moviebuzzers.com

"Michelle Williams is so good as the title character in Simon Curtis‘ My Week with Marilyn that watching the film is like watching Some Like it Hot for the first time — or whichever film it was that made you fall in love with Marilyn Monroe at first sight. It’s like falling in love with the icon all over again, and at the end, you have to remind yourself that you were watching somebody else. It would be superb if this film — an absolute crowd-pleaser — makes a commercial splash, because Williams, so often appearing brilliantly in little-seen projects (Wendy and Lucy, Blue Valentine, Meek’s Cutoff), deserves a much bigger audience.
The film could have been a wreck without the correct Marilyn, and I’m not sure Williams could have done anything more with the role. After a string of unflattering indie dramas, she somehow manages to exude the quintessential appeal of one of the medium’s most decorated icons. And the film finds its engine through that coaxing characterization". Source: thefilmstage.com

Marilyn Monroe on the set of "Niagara" (1953) directed by Henry Hathaway

Marilyn Monrose plays Rose Loomis in "Niagara"

Hathaway's Techni-colored noir provided the perfect star vehicle for curvy sexpot Marilyn Monroe, who was compared to the famous falls in one of the film's taglines: "A raging torrent of emotion that even nature can't control!"

At a cabin near the famed vacation spot, tension quickly developed between unstable, shell-shocked WWII veteran George Loomis (Joseph Cotten), married to a beautiful and voluptuous younger blonde named Rose (Marilyn Monroe). She was a sinfully-wayward, unhappily married woman and trashy femme fatale.
Rose ignited the screen when she sang the song "Kiss" in a tight-fitting, low-cut pinkish-red dress. She was cheating on her husband and plotting his death with secret young lover Ted Patrick (Richard Allan) to collect on George's life insurance policy.

"Marilyn Monroe's First Dramatic Role: Still pining for a dramatic role she could sink her teeth into, Marilyn got the opportunity she had been waiting for with the drama Don't Bother to Knock, which was released a few months before Monkey Business but made at roughly the same time.
Cast in the starring role as Nell, a psychotic babysitter who threatens to harm the innocent little girl left in her charge, Marilyn attempted to make use of her training and hard work to deliver a good performance -- and perhaps deliver herself from a succession of "dumb blonde" characters.

Richard Widmark costarred as a stranger whom Nell mistakes for her dead lover. Nell's confusion over past and present events pushes her over the edge and becomes the catalyst for her actions against the child.
Unfortunately, neither the scriptwriter nor the director provided Marilyn with much to work with in terms of understanding and developing the character of Nell. The script offered only the vaguest suggestion for the causes of Nell's mental imbalance and provided no credible account of the weaknesses in her personality that might have led to insanity. Roy Ward Baker, a competent but not outstanding director, offered Marilyn no key with which she might have unlocked the mysteries behind Nell. According to some of her later directors, Marilyn often needed that sort of insight in order to come to grips with her characters' motivations, and to play a role convincingly. She received no help of that kind during the shooting of Don't Bother to Knock.
Consequently, most of the reviews of her performance were brutal. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times, who had recognized Marilyn's potential in earlier films, summed up the tone of many reviews when he wrote, "All the equipment that Miss Monroe has to handle the job are a childishly blank expression and a provokingly feeble, hollow voice."

Richard Widmark and Marilyn Monroe play Jed Towers and Nell Forbes in "Don't bother to knock" (1952)

Dispelling these negative perceptions of Marilyn's performance in the film is this testimony to her skills by costar Anne Bancroft: "It was a remarkable experience. Because it was one of those very few times in all my experiences in Hollywood when I felt that give and take that can only happen when you are working with good actors. There was just this scene of one woman seeing another woman who was helpless and in pain, and [Marilyn] was helpless and in pain. It was so real, I responded. I really reacted to her. She moved me so that tears came into my eyes."
Don't Bother to Knock does have its share of melodrama, as in this scene, in which the babysitter threatens to brain her well-meaning uncle, played by Elisha Cook, Jr.

In addition to her dramatic role in Don't Bother to Knock, Marilyn starred in the "Statement in Full" episode of the NBC radio program Hollywood Star Playhouse in August 1952. She was cast as a scheming murderess, a character that foreshadowed her role as Rose Loomis in Niagara -- the film that would finally allow her to fulfill her hard-fought goal of being a genuine movie star". Source: entertainment.howstuffworks.com

Marilyn Monroe played the girlfriend of a crooked lawyer in The Asphalt Jungle (1950) directed by John Huston

"In the Asphalt Jungle, crime is as routine as an eight-hour swing shift on the packing line. Huston directs the proceedings with business-as-usual detachment, eschewing sensationalism at every turn.

Jean Hagen as Doll Conovan and Sterling Hayden as Dix Handley in "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950)

Emmerich, the slilppery solicitor, comes into the deal as the fence who will move the stolen gems. But he's far from the solvent sophisticate he purports to be. He's blown his savings on his sexy "niece" Angela (Marilyn Monroe), who allows "Uncle Lon" to reclaim some of his faded youth. When Emmerich can't call in a single marker to pay for the jewels, he's forced to concoct a swindle. "It's my whole way of life", he admits sadly.

"Why are you staring at me like that, Uncle Lon?" -Angela Phinlay (Marilyn Monroe) is a catalyst for robbery in "The Asphalt Jungle"

Richard Widmark always cited "Panic in the streets" (1950) as his personal favorite among his many films.
Once he'd established leading man credentials, he swung back and forth between the light and dark, bringing a shifty, ambiguous charm
to films such as "Don't bother to knock" (which featured Marilyn Monroe's best performance) and the previously-lauded "Pickup on South Street" (1953) directed by Samuel Fuller. ("Dark City: The lost World of Film Noir" by Eddie Muller)