ASK EDDIE - December 30 2021
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- FNF prez Eddie Muller responds to film noir fan questions fielded by the Foundation's Director of Communications Anne Hockens. In this edition, we begin with NOIR CITY festival news and Eddie gives his long take on the new NIGHTMARE ALLEY. Then we discuss the noir credentials of THE LAST OF SHELIA, GORK PARK and espionage films in general, SUNSET BOULEVARD and other “Hollywood is Hell” films, and early Giallo, as well as the connection between Raymond Chandler and Ian Fleming. We finish up by revisiting the question of smoking in film noir. On the cat front, Emily takes her sister Charlotte’s place and sleeps through most of the episode.
Our next episode will stream on Thursday, January 13, 7:00 pm PT on our Facebook page and will be on CZcams on Friday, January 14.
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This week’s questions:
1. Hi Eddie. Will you be returning to the Redford theater in Detroit?
Greg
2. I place the 1973 movie THE LAST OF SHEILA, written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins, and directed by Herbert Ross, with such "sophisticated noirs" as LAURA, THE UNSUSPECTED, and ROPE. Is THE LAST OF SHEILA noir or not?
Doug, Silver Spring, MD
3. A couple of requests for Eddie’s opinion of the new NIGHTMARE ALLEY.
4. Since you are both big proponents of Cornell Woolrich, will you please suggest a few of his novels and short stories that I could read? --Craig
5. As a big fan of Raymond Chandler's books and movies, was excited to recently come across some recordings of Chandler being interviewed by Ian. It was thrilling to hear Chandler's voice. He was quite witty and probably a little drunk. Surprise! Have you ever heard these recordings?
John, Laytonsville, MD
6. Here’s a noir or not: Gorky Park from 1983.
Tyler
7. Sunset Boulevard is considered to be film noir...I do not agree. It is really a story of how the Hollywood machinery grinds and splits how stars every decade or so when that actor is no longer profitable to a studio or industry. It is closer to The Bad and The Beautiful than say, Double Indemnity. So, Eddie how does Sunset Boulevard qualify as a true film noir?
Loren from Chicago
8. Two questions from Doug in Silver Springs
(a) When Billy Wilder made SUNSET BOULEVARD, he created a subgenre of noir I call "Hollywood as Hell." My personal favorite of this subgenre is Richard Mulligan's INSIDE DAISY CLOVER. Do you consider INSIDE DAISY CLOVER to be noir?
(b) The James Bond films may not be noir, but what about the 1960s films based on Len Deighton's books, starring Michael Caine as Harry Palmer, like FUNERAL IN BERLIN? Would either of you consider those to be noir?
9. Were there any Italian films of the 40s and 50s that you would consider Noir, and do you see any stylistic parallels between Neo Noir and Giallo?
Liz
10. Will 1965’s The money trap be available on DVD/Blu-ray anytime soon?
Greg
11. Lance Comfort a relatively neglected British film director arguably helmed more Noir films than anyone anywhere! I have viewed 12 films that I contend are Noir Perhaps his greatest achievement is the Georges Simenon based film TEMPTATION HARBOUR 1947. Any thoughts on how we can resolve this? It does in fact exist in a mint version with BFI.
Joe from Niagara Falls Canada
12. I am half a Londoner & since my mother died in 1997 have been obsessed with collecting film noirs from the UK. Over the years I've also become a nut about subtitles. Why is it so hard to find English subtitled Blu-rays of British film noirs?
Arlene
13. Do you think Julie (1956) is a good name for a movie?
Dan
14. How does Eddie verify the pronunciation of actors, directors, writers, etc. for the films he introduces at Noir City and on Noir Alley, especially now that he is showing more movies not in English?
Michael, Post Falls, Idaho
15. Two questions from John Weber in Tampa
(a) What's the biggest lost Film Noir you'd love to find that is currently lost? Your own Holy Grail?
(b) When was the last time you caught a Noir somewhere be it TV or showing up on TCM that you had never seen before but really rocked your Noir World?
16. Body Heat ended up having a pretty big impact on me, mostly because I disagreed with the premise that Matty gets away free and clear. My consumption of true crime may also be influencing my opinion of Matty, as real-life sociopaths tend to overestimate their own competence and make mistakes like Matty did. Let me know what you think.
Andrew Hawkins
17. In a prior episode, you were asked about the prevalence of smoking in film noir. In response you said simply that smoking in these films was an addiction akin to addiction to digital devices today. For me smoking in noirs and other films can be a meaningful, integral element of a scene. What is your reactions to these observations.
Dick, San Francisco - Krátké a kreslené filmy
Yes,Andrew is obsessed with 'Body Heat' !
One of your best episodes!
Love tuning in.
Keep them coming.
Please.
The problem with most captions is that what you're reading is not the film script but what somebody who recently listened to the dialog thought they heard. Often you can get “unintelligibles” or wacky phonetics when there's an unfamiliar word, proper name or dialect. I've seen cases when a wrong word completely changes the meaning of a critical bit of dialog. I'm not hearing impaired but I do make occasional use of captions, both with discs and streaming, and it's rare that I don't encounter at least some errors, particularly with streaming.
56:00 Midnight Lace is also a fairly good noir with Doris Day.
34:00 Four ways out is indeed by Pietro Germi. The original title is La Citta si difende.
Thanks, Anne, for admitting that you turn on subtitles for English films. You are not alone. And thank you, Eddie, for being intelligent and modest enough to ask for help in pronouncing foreign words. Something that many podcasters don't do: there's a prominent one who mangles names of even American film stars (example: "Joel Mc-CRAY-yah").
Loved watching.....as I always do ! Not only very entertaining but always wonderfully informative too ! Kudos & thanks (as always) to Eddie and Anne ! I hope you both have a wonderfully Happy & Joyous New Year ! And of course I wish the same for all my fellow noir fans out there !! :-)
Great episode! Loved it! As a side note, Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder gives a really deep dive on Giallo films.
40:00 Burt Kennedy did direct The Money Trap. Full marks!!!👍
I don't have a problem with subtitled films. Once I'm into the movie, I'm not even aware I'm reading. However, sometimes I'm just not in the mood to read a movie. That's usually when I want "comfort viewing." Something easy, like a romcom or mocom (moron comedy). Something I won't mind falling asleep to.
37:00 The term giallo was derived from the yellow colour of the crime paperbacks published in Italy.
The Possessed (1965) is a noirish giallo imho.
January?
Perhaps they know something we don't?
Don’t even think of becoming a “sound-bite” guy. Let the editor pull out teasers, please don’t abbreviate yourself! Thanks for the tip on the sound article, I’ve been wondering the same, esp. after sitting through previews. It seems the sound palette is down to a small crayon box for a post literate boom and smash culture, and not nearly as attentive to spoken content as before. Yeah for closed captions. (It’s not my hearing either, that’s a facility I’ve still got left.)
January 30 ?🤔
Thank goodness closed caption is common, and has an On/Off control. Subtitles do require focus and attention, and we’re kinda sadly short on that these days!