The Third Man

This week I watched:

The Third Man (1949).

Holly Martens (Joseph Cotten), an out of work author of western novels, arrives in bombed out Vienna on the invitation of his childhood friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). Harry has offered him a job, but upon arrival, Martens learns that Lime is dead, having been hit by a car. At the funeral, he meets Harry's girlfriend Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli) and becomes smitten by her. He also runs into the British military police as Vienna is split into four zones administered by the British, the US, the French and the Soviets respectively. The police really wants him to go home, but shocked and saddened by his friends death, Martens starts to ask questions and soon discovers that the story of the accident varies depending on who's describing it. He meets some of Harry's shady friends and things start to take a very sinister turn. He discovers that some saw a third man at the scene of the accident and he becomes obsessed with finding him.

The Third Man was directed by Sir Carol Reed with a young Guy Hamilton as assistant director. Some rumors claimed that Orson Welles shadow directed the movie, but that has been debunked.

The plot and the setting in The Third Man are both good. Finding out what happened to a dead friend is hardly new but it works well especially when married to the paranoid setting of post war Vienna. The movie is rife with people looking suspicious and furtive. Since the black market was not just prevalent but a necessity for the survival of so many, it makes sense that no one wants to answer questions about anything, especially not when asked by a stranger who is also a foreigner. This heightens the sense of paranoia enormously.

The cinematography is amazing, absolutely first class. Some scenes were shot in a studio, but the majority was shot on location in the actual ruined Vienna. Reed used a lot of Dutch angles which when combined with the suspicious atmosphere mentioned above really pushes the fear and uncertainty to new levels. For me, this is the main star of the movie.

Speaking of stars, the actors range from solid to great. Being a thriller/noir from '49 it is natural that the method of acting feels a bit alien to a modern viewer, but once your brain adjusts you can really sit back and enjoy yourself.

The one big issue for me is the music. For the absolute majority of the movie your ears are assailed by jaunty zither music. Nothing bad by itself but the melody is too circus-y meaning that it works well for the few comedic scenes but clashes horribly when the tension surges. A man running for his life should not be accompanied by a happy tune. Audiences back then might have thought it appropriate, but I did not like it.

So, do I recommend this movie? Absolutely! It is a bit slow, but from beginning to end it was a joy to watch. The Third Man is of course a product of its time, but what a product! If you like or can at least stomach black and white movies, do yourself a solid and watch The Third Man.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Nobody

Yesterday I tripped over a movie called:

Nobody (2007).

Not to be confused with the Bob Odenkirk movie called Nobody from 2021, this is a small, I guess indie movie, written and directed by Shawn Linden and starring Costas Mandylor and Ed O'Ross, amongst others.

Now, this will be pretty spoiler heavy or I can't do more than tell you that I watched it. That's okay though, since Nobody is a movie that is all about the experience rather than the plot, which is pretty confusing to follow.

Nobody is a Neo-Noir movie set in some kind of mid 20^th century city. No location is ever given, all we know is that there is an empty city, a lake and it's winter.

Our main character is Mortemain (Mandylor), a hitman dressed in black, complete with wide brimmed hat, a long coat with a broad fur collar and occasionally black shoe polish on his face. In the opening scene, he holds a gun to the head of local gangster boss Rolo Toles (O´Ross) and takes a package from him. Later, while making a call to his employer from a phone booth, he notices a man in a similar coat and hat stalking him. A running gun fight takes place and while Mortemain escapes, he is wounded. He goes to a ratty hotel to get a room, but to his surprise he already has a room. Later on, he returns to the boat where the terrified Toles is hiding with his men and to his shock overhears himself having the same conversation with Toles that he did earlier. Soon he follows himself to the same phone-booth and the same gunfight ensues.

Nobody is a loop movie. Or a movie about hell. Maybe some kind of dimension movie or... I don't know. As I said, the movie is very confusing, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is that Nobody is incredibly stylish and atmospheric. I had to pause the movie early on to check that the director wasn't Alex Proyas, who made The Crow (1994), Dark City (1998) and I, Robot (2004). Clearly the director is Shawn Linden, but Nobody looks like a cross between Dark City and Miller's Crossing (1990).

Frankly I can't remember whether the movie has any music or not, so never mind that. I don't remember because the plot is so convoluted, even though it makes sense in a way and because scene after scene, shot after shot are so nice. Dark paintings come to life was a thought that bounced through my brain while watching.

There is a total of fourteen actors in this movie and they are all fine, but it is the interaction between Mandylor and O'Ross that matters and it is really good. The cold blooded Mortemain contrasts nicely with the snarling, screaming Toles. Mortemain tries to figure out what is going on and how to break the loop, while in between rants and threats, Toles frantically prays for the night to be over as he can't take much more.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes. Nobody isn't rated very highly which is a shame, but I think people are turned off because of the weird plot. I enjoyed it a great deal, and if you enjoy movies like Dark City and Miller's Crossing with the same sort of mystery as in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, then have at it, you should have a good time. If you want to turn off the brain and relax, choose another movie.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

Key Largo

I stepped back into the black and white world of classic Noir and watched:

Key Largo (1948).

Directed by the prolific John Huston who also directed The Maltese Falcon and starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore and Claire Trevor this is a simple premise and a superb study in tension at the same time.

Frank McCloud (Bogart) a retired army major travels down to the Florida Keys to visit James Temple, the father of a good friend, George, who died at Monte Cassino during WWII. There he also meets George's widow Nora (Bacall). They run a hotel which is currently closed as it is the off season. Despite that fact, a small group of shady people are staying there, ostensibly to do some deep sea fishing. Every synopsis of the movie informs us that this group are gangsters, led by the vicious but charismatic Johnny Rocco (Robinson), so no spoiler warning needed. With a brutal hurricane hurtling towards the Keys, tensions rise to an almost intolerable level.

Key Largo is listed amongst the classic noir films, but is not a regular noir. If Rocco and his gang weren't in it, it would be hard to call it noir. There are no private detectives, no mysteries to solve, no mcguffin to retrieve etc. This however doesn't mean it isn't good. Key Largo is in fact excellent.

The cinematography and sound are good. Huston knew what he was doing, and there is a scene that took me by complete surprise technically speaking. First class for 1948, and still laudable in this day and age.

However, it is the actors that make the film. Bogart is unusually vulnerable but with hidden strengths and a deep sadness, Bacall is poised and classy but still manages to portray both fear and hopelessness and then swing it over to hope and joy with style. The legendary Lionel Barrymore who by the way is the great uncle to Drew Barrymore, does a standout job. Confined to a wheel chair due to crippling arthritis (both for real and in character), he still manages to be a strong presence in every scene he is in, but it is Edward G. Robinson who steals the show. He is amazing as the cruel gangster boss Rocco. If you have ever seen a gangster parody, maybe Bugs Bunny, maybe someone else, that goes “Nyaa, we're going to rob the bank, see. Nyaaa, they'll never take me alive, see?” That is Robinson being parodied. As Rocco he doesn't chew the scenery but he takes over every scene he is in, and as the principle danger to the other characters, that makes sense.

The final character I want to mention is Gaye Dawn (Trevor). She won an academy award as the alcoholic former lounge singer and love interest to Rocco. They had a thing back in the day before he was exiled and now that he is back so is she. However, he is disgusted by her drinking and is consistently spiteful and cruel towards her. Claire Trevor did an amazing job portraying Gaye.

So do I recommend this movie? Absolutely! Key Largo grabs you and will not let go until it is all over. The tension is almost too think to cut at times without ever getting melodramatic. I would even go so far as to call it a masterpiece in its simplicity. I guess you might have to be in the right mood for it, but I urge any cinema fan to give this a go if you haven't seen it already, just be aware that the neckties of the 40's were horrendous. Almost as wide as they were long, I'm grateful that fashion has changed.

That is that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great and safe week!

The Big Sleep

I took my second step into film noir a couple of days ago. I watched another Humphrey Bogart movie, this time:

The Big Sleep (1946).

Directed by Howard Hawks and also starring Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely and Martha Vickers amongst others, The Big Sleep is an archetype for the noir genre, just as much if not more than The Maltese Falcon. Both were instrumental in cementing certain tropes since both were based on novels by some of the biggest names in the detective fiction of the time.

In The Big Sleep, Bogart plays private eye, Philip Marlowe (as opposed to Sam Spade in the Falcon). He is hired by a retired general Sternwood to handle a blackmail case. In the process he meets the generals two daughters, the beautiful but impossible Carmen and her dangerous older sister Vivian (Bacall). The case leads in several directions at once, with murders, beatings, shoot outs and romance. As usual, I won't spoil anything further, but this is not a dull movie by any means.

The actors are great, especially Bogart and Bacall. Bogart was drinking heavily at the time and the studio had to cap his intake to one beer at lunch. Still, he produces quality acting throughout. Marlowe is cheeky, cocky and calm as a cucumber. At least most of the time.

Bacall is elegant and seductive throughout. Even when in mortal peril she keeps it together, but not without subtle hints that Vivian really is scared.

The plot is good, but a bit too complicated. There were times when I lost track a bit, since the cast is pretty big and names are tossed about at a rapid-fire pace. Everything is explained in the end, but I did have to read a synopsis to make sure I understood it correctly. There are layers within layers and the storytelling could have been a little bit smoother. It is by no means a deal breaker, just an observation.

 

Fun fact: When Marlowe meets both daughters, both comment on his lack of height, like this;

Carmen Sternwood: You're not very tall, are you?

Philip Marlowe: Well, I, uh, I tried to be.

And

Vivian: So you're a private detective? I didn't know they existed, except in books, or else they were greasy little men snooping around hotel corridors. My, you're a mess, aren't you?

Philip Marlowe: I'm not very tall either. Next time I'll come on stilts, wear a white tie and carry a tennis racket.

Vivian: I doubt if even that would help.

This was because Bogart wore platform shoes to make him noticeably taller than the ladies and they couldn't help poke a little fun at it.

Another fun fact is that Marlowe comments several times that Vivian is shaking. She brushes it off every time with excuses like “I'm not used to being kidnapped”. In truth, Bogart and Bacall were having an affair and her nerves were worn thin not knowing whether he would leave his wife for her, making her shake in real life. In the end they did, and they stayed married until his death in 1957. Bacall carried on and passed in 2014.

Final fun fact. The Warner Bros. executives were so impressed with Bacall that even though this was only her fourth movie, they increased her salary from $350/week to $1000/week. How often does something like that happen?

So do I recommend this movie? Absolutely! It is a quintessential film noir as well as a great detective/mystery in general. As with The Maltese Falcon, you should absolutely watch it unless black and white really annoys you.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

An unusual black bird

 I decided to venture into a movie genre I'm not terribly familiar with, the film noir genre.

I haven't seen very many film noir, so as I tend to do, I consulted a couple of top list. However I found myself a bit annoyed by them and quickly realized that I subconsciously wanted the list to place The Maltese Falcon at the top. So I ditched the lists and just sat down to enjoy this classic.

The Maltese Falcon (1941) is not the first film version of the novel by Dashiell Hammet, but it is the best known. It was the directorial debut by the now legendary John Huston and stars Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and others.

The first five minutes were a bit of a shock to me. I genuinely wondered what I was getting myself into, but this lasted only until my brain adjusted. The Maltese Falcon is not the oldest movie I have seen, I believe Nosferatu (1922) holds that distinction, but the way films were made back in the 40's is rather different that how they were made later on. Everything is a stage, there are no natural scenes, and it shows. It feels more stiff and formal, more like a play than a movie, but once I acclimatized to it I started to enjoy myself.

The Maltese Falcon is in pretty much every way the archetype of the noir genre. The private detective (Bogart), the damsel in distress with skeletons in her closet (Astor), the shady dealer (Lorre), the tough cops, desperate gunman etc, it is all here, and it is done well.

It is hard to know when a movie is too old to spoil. At what point are you released from the responsibility to keep silent? I don't know, but I'm not going to spoil the plot, I'll only say that there is an incredibly valuable statue, the falcon, and that everyone wants it. Trouble and tribulations follow. This is very much a case of the journey being more important than the destination, not that the destination isn't important. The acting is superb once you get a hang of the style. Like on a stage, there is a tendency towards over acting, but it's just the style of the time. The movie does a lot of close-ups on the faces which places a demand on the actors to perform with expressions and they deliver, but the real gold comes from the cinematography.

The camera work is truly excellent. Huston created an incredible tension is scene after scene with very little to work with. Between the acting and Huston's technique, you get some truly suspenseful scenes, that any modern movie would be hard pressed to equal let alone surpass.

The dialogue is amazing. Rapid fire wit in scene after scene that puts many comedies to shame and this is far from a comedy to begin with.

Praise aside, The Falcon has some problems. All I could find in the way of continuity is a continuity clerk, not a whole department to keep track of things. Example: when Bogart punches out Lorre, Lorre's tie changes between from when the punch starts and he passes out. Small things like that are littered around. What really stood out to me was the opening scrawl. It explains that "In 1539, the Knight Templars of Malta, paid tribute to Charles V of Spain, by sending him a Golden Falcon..." The leaders of the Knights Templar were arrested in 1307 and the order was disbanded in 1312... It is possible they were thinking of another order of knights or that they simply didn't give a damn. Either way, it is pretty silly.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, absolutely. Unless you are allergic to old black and white movies, you really should watch The Maltese Falcon if you haven't done so already. I had blast and I'm looking forward to getting to know the film noir genre better.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great and safe week!