Fox Noir Collection

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AfterTheRain
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:42 pm

#251 Post by AfterTheRain » Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:15 am

htdm wrote:Were the other two noir titles available there, too?
Yeah, Moontide (1942) and Road House (1948).

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

#252 Post by HerrSchreck » Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:44 am

RoadHouse is an absolute blast... nice to see Widmark in this period in a more restrained character portrayal, despite the fact that he lets loose at the end with all the Udo signatures... wacko giggle, snide sneer, etc. The film itself is a refreshing variation on these dark melodramas that Fox was pumping out in this period-- some use the term "Log Cabin Noir" which I'm not sure is appropriate, but at least describes what a bit of a departure the film is from the urban scenarios they specialized in at this time.

And Lupino's musical pefromances are amazing curiosities, considering that she couldnt really "sing", yet there she is, truly singing (and making it work). One of her songs actually went to the top of the pop charts at the time! And her part is a dream part for any actress in any time period.

I havent gotten to Moontide yet, but Boomerang, which I hadnt seen, was decent at best. Glad I own it, but is a flawed narrative composition.

Props55
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:55 am

#253 Post by Props55 » Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:11 pm

"Log Cabin Noir"? What a concept! Yet it works for me. YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, GUN CRAZY, HIGH SIERRA, STORM WARNING and the last half of ON DANGEROUS GROUND all take place for the most part in remote rural locations and some literally in or around log cabins. I must not be as well read on my noir as I thought.

Yes ROAD HOUSE is a real corker! As you say Schrecko it's both a departure from and reprise of the best of Udo in Widmark's performance. Lupino is marvelous as the hardest of hardboiled dames whether cracking wise, crooning bitter or leaving burning butts on the bar and piano. Had no idea one of her covers made the Hit Parade. Wilde is good too as I recall, no longer the naive sap of LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN but well on the way to his bitter cop in THE BIG COMBO. All this plus Celeste Holm! True confessions time: I think Holm is adorable. A member posted a lurid mash note to June Allyson (sp?) some time back. Perhaps we should start a thread on "good girls we'd like to get the goodies from". I will always regret that I was unaware that she was married to Wesley Addy when I worked with him about 15 years ago. Wonder if they're still around?

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

#254 Post by HerrSchreck » Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:44 pm

Props55 wrote:" Perhaps we should start a thread on "good girls we'd like to get the goodies from".
Yvonne Romain. The things I woulda done to her... (sigh)

She's from Hammer films such as Curse of the Werewolf (the voiceless prisoner with tits spilling out everywhere, and unable to scream (The perfect woman furchrissakes) when wolfbum ravages her.

Image

Props55
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:55 am

#255 Post by Props55 » Fri Sep 05, 2008 4:03 pm

Holy Fecal Matter, HerrSchreck! Are you trying to give me a cardiac? Never seen that photo of Yvonne before. Coincidentally I just watched the DEVIL DOLL dvd last night, a favorite since seeing it on "Dialing For Dollars" one weekday afternoon in the hazy days of the late '60s. Hammer Glamour ...YES! Also in NIGHT CREATURES and CIRCUS OF HORRORS. (and wasn't she once married to composer/lyricist Leslie Bricusse (sp?)

OUTER LIMITS CONTROL VOICE (vo):

"We are now returning control of this thread to the administrators and Fox Film Noir."

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

#256 Post by HerrSchreck » Fri Sep 05, 2008 4:10 pm

That's a great dvd from Image (and a fantastic film, maybe Gordon's best... and a ferociously unforgettable lead performance from one of the founders of Janus Films.. Bryant Haliday). And I think I saw that broadcast too, when I was a very little lad. A great memorable broadcast for me, just like the great early 70's broadcast of Horror Hotel (more properly known as The City of the Dead.. another great disc, this time from VCI).

Ah, 50's-60's British Horror and their bodacious chicks with hair piled high.

Oh and uh, Film Noir too. From Fox, er, on dvd.

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starmanof51
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 3:28 am
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#257 Post by starmanof51 » Fri Sep 05, 2008 4:54 pm

Props55 wrote:Perhaps we should start a thread on "good girls we'd like to get the goodies from
HerrSchreck wrote:Oh and uh, Film Noir too. From Fox, er, on dvd.
Maybe some softhearted admin will split this off and let us go to town, but I have fears they may be too highminded for this.

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Florinaldo
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:38 pm
Location: Canada

#258 Post by Florinaldo » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:01 pm

HerrSchreck wrote:Boomerang, which I hadnt seen, was decent at best. Glad I own it, but is a flawed narrative composition.
It's not as impressive as when I first saw it a long time ago. But I still like courtroom procedurals and this is a very original one, where the prosecutor goes against his assigned role. I agree that some parts of the film do not quite hang together with the rest (the courtroom suicide for example).

But the actors give it their all, with Lee J. Cobb managing not to chew the scenery as he would soon start to do in every role, and Kazan succeeding an efficient if restrained direction, with a constant eye to composition.

Oh, when I first read the words "Log Cabin Noir", I thought it was as a parallel to the gay faction of the Republican Party. But of course, searching for gay subtext in Noir is futile, as we all know... :wink:

filmnoir1
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 11:36 pm

Fox Noir Collection

#259 Post by filmnoir1 » Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:10 am

Having just finished watching Road House and Moontide last night I was struck by how much these two films feel more like films produced for the 1930s than the 1940s. There is a sheer electricity to them both that resembles the work Zanuck was doing in the early 1930s when he was working at Warner Brothers making social statement films and gangster stories.
Moontide is a fascinating look into the mindset of Zanuck who alaways was trying to defend the little guy and people whose lives were defined by either abject poverty or just poverty. However, in Moontide what comes across is that even though Bobo and his wife are poor, they are happy together because what little money that they have is shared between them to make a home in a place that was once grimy, and marred by perversion and corruption. Jean Gabin is excellent in this film. He captures the neer'do well spirit of his French poetic realism films like Pepe le Moko, Port of Shadows and La Jour se Leve adding to the rich texture of this film and its look at the seamier side of life in America. This is a film that like so many of these other noirs speaks against the idea of an American dream.
Road House is an exciting film with out standing performances from Cornel Wilde, Richard Widmark, and Ida Lupino. If it is a noir film it is not because of the subject matter, but for its look. The scenes when Johnny is shown watching Lily sing in the bar are beautifully photographed so that there is always the shadow of the beams of the roof obscuring his face. He looks as if he is trapped by the darkness, by the crowds and more importantly by his growing awareness that he does not hate this woman but in fact is falling in love with her. Wilde is extremely convincing as the tortured man who struggles with his love for this woman and his respect for his friend/partner Jefty, brillantly and sadistically played by Richard Widmark.
I hope Fox keeps releasing these films from their catalogue. However, I am a bit disappointed by the change in packaging and the loss of the spine numbers. Let's hope they eventually release Brasher Doubleloon soon.

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Antoine Doinel
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2006 1:22 pm
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#260 Post by Antoine Doinel » Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:15 am

starmanof51 wrote:
Props55 wrote:Perhaps we should start a thread on "good girls we'd like to get the goodies from
HerrSchreck wrote:Oh and uh, Film Noir too. From Fox, er, on dvd.
Maybe some softhearted admin will split this off and let us go to town, but I have fears they may be too highminded for this.
Perhaps the Bonerfest thread could be unlocked.

Haggai
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2008 9:31 am
Location: San Diego

#261 Post by Haggai » Tue Sep 09, 2008 9:47 pm

They used Ida's real voice in Road House. IMDB says that Peg La Centra dubbed her a year earlier in The Man I Love, where Ida had also played a singer.

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

#262 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Sep 10, 2008 2:35 pm

Oh absolutely it's Ida, Dave. One listen and there's no mistake. The commentary drew a listen from me to confirm this fascinating tidbit of the film, and there's quite a bit of discussion about her extremely er unique performance. Actually it works, kinda in a late-Billie Holiday sorta way. Pure exhausted female soul. And the film handles it very well-- "she does more without voice than anyone I've heard!"

filmnoir1
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 11:36 pm

Re: Fox Noir Collection

#263 Post by filmnoir1 » Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:36 pm

It is sad to say but I have it from a pretty good source at FOX that this line is now defunct. Furthermore, it appears that FOX will be scaling back its classic dvd releases following what Warner Bros. and other companies are doing. The halycon days of classic dvd availability are over.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: Fox Noir Collection

#264 Post by Finch » Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:41 pm

Sad but not unexpected - then again, it leaves the door open for CC and MoC to licence a few titles, and it wouldn't be unprecedented (MoC got Nightmare Alley a few years back, and wasn't Young Mr Lincoln originally a Fox title?).

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