FNF prez Eddie Muller responds to film noir fan questions fielded by the Foundation's Director of Communications Anne Hockens. In this episode, we discuss Gloria Grahame’s best noir performances, “The Wrong Man”, anti-communist film noirs, Howard Hughes, and more. Anne answers a viewer’s question, “Which Columbo villain do you most wish would have gotten away with it?” We wind up with a discussion of the noir series ”Sugar” and “Ripley” as well as Patricia Highsmith. On the cat front, Emily and Charlotte are background players.
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This week’s questions:
1. What do you think is Gloria Grahame's best performance in a noir? I think the finalists are “In a Lonely Place” (1950), “Sudden Fear” (1952, poor title), and “The Big Heat” (1953). You might have others.—Bernie
2. Will TMC air “Angels with Dirty Faces”? Also, in the ending where Rocky is executed, do you think he acted or was he really hysterical?—Vincent
3. I recently watched the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Wrong Man" on Noir Alley TCM and was slightly perplexed, there was no murder in the movie, doesn't the definition of Film Noir hold that there must be a murder in the movie which gives the film higher life and death stakes and consequences? And what other films are considered Noir films that don't have a murder in them?—Greg, Lake Charles, Louisiana
4. The 1951 noir film “I Was a Communist for the FBI”, based on a series of articles in the Saturday Evening Post written by the real-life undercover protagonist played by Frank Lovejoy in the movie, is a straight-out propaganda piece. Since, as Eddie says in his book Dark City, “…every studio was making one…,” was this Hollywood’s gesture toward appeasing HUAC which had attacked so many actors, writers and directors? What are some of the other similar anti-Communist noirs from the same period?—Michael, Post Falls, Idaho
5. Last night, we watched “His Kind of Woman” with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. It was a wild ride. We looked up Eddie’s 2019 intro to the film and the after-film comments which filled in a lot of gaps and was so interesting. It occurred to me that Howard Hughes was the Elon Musk of his time. Rich, micromanages businesses, causes extra money to be spent, with the outcome dubious. Hughes was vindictive, such as blacklisting women who rejected him, like Jane Greer. The parallels can go on and on. Thoughts?—Joan
6. I became a fan of Jane Russell after seeing her in the two film noirs she did with Robert Mitchum, “His Kind of Woman” and “Macao”. I finally got to see “The Las Vegas Story”, her third film. A side story common to “Woman” and “Las Vegas” involves a young couple who get into trouble and are then helped by the protagonist. In both movies, the young bride thanks the protagonist by kissing him on the lips, with the consent of her groom and in front of Russell’s character. For both movies the scenes avoid being too cringey and yet seemed awkward for their inclusion. Was it just a movie cliché of the time period to make the protagonist seem more heroic and attractive to a younger woman? I know that Howard Hughes produced all three movies and was notorious for his meddling and I wondered if he had a hand in it. What are your thoughts? Are you aware of any interesting behind the scenes trivia for these movies you can share? —Jon & Margy , Claremont, CA
7. In 1948 Joseph L Mankiewicz directed “Escape” with Rex Harrison and Peggy Cummins. As I understand it Mankiewicz saw this film as a stepping stone on his way to become a real auteur, which he achieved with “Letter to Three Wives” the following year. I guess this explains why “Escape” has been so overlooked, or do you have any other explanation? But he saw the film he directed before “Escape”, “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”, the same way, and that film is often considered one of the best films to have come out of the Hollywood studio system and is loved by many fans of classic Hollywood films. Both “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” and “Letter to Three Wives” have been released on DVD in some editions, but not “Escape”. All other noirs or noirish films by Mankiewicz were released on DVD around 2005-2006 in the Fox Film Noir series, but not “Escape”. Is it the same old story with the rights to the book that has stopped this, in this case the heirs to James Galsworthy?—Janne, Stockholm
8. Noir or not: “That Darn Cat!” (1966)—David
9. I have a Columbo question for Anne: which Columbo villain do you most wish would have gotten away with it? (I got Johnny Cash just ahead of Trish Van Devere)—Joe from San Francisco
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