A title can make a film, and Night and the City is the perfect title for a film noir. It is a distillation of two of the most iconic elements of film noir, a genre that flourishes in the encroaching darkness and the unfeeling industrialism of cityscapes. Those four words conjure the immoral horrors of […]
Movies
Touch Of Noir: The Doomed Everyman Of Marcel Carné’s ‘Le Jour Se Lève’
In some regards, film noir was a genre that came full circle, from the darkly brooding French films that inspired American tales of ill-fated, morally corrupt characters and back again to the French who coined the very term “film noir” and celebrated its impact as a genre. Late 1930s French cinema saw an influx of […]
Touch Of Noir: Fritz Lang’s Seduction Of Vengeance In ‘The Big Heat’
The dangers that threaten everyday people and society differ from film noir to film noir, but what unifies them is their insidious nature. Fritz Lang’s The Big Heat (1953) is undeniably a film noir of the 1950s. Its protagonist, Det. Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford), lives the suburban American dream with a good job, a beautiful, […]
Touch Of Noir: The Hitchcockian Suspense Filled And Psychologically-Fueled Drama Of ‘The Wrong Man’
Throughout his career, Hitchcock returned again and again to stories of wrongfully accused men desperately trying to prove their innocence. From The Lodger to The 39 Steps and even Strangers on a Train, this theme is a specialty of Hitchcock’s. In The Wrong Man, Hitchcock would once again return to this theme, but what sets […]
‘Afternoon Delight’ Is A Great Character-Driven Movie (With A Hooker)
The biggest success of Afternoon Delight is its ability to connect with its audience; every viewer will be able to relate to the sweetly dysfunctional characters.