I started this a couple of years ago and was really into the over-the-top screenplay and single-location shooting. This time, despite seeing it projected on film (damn it'd been too long), the histrionics started grating on my nerves after awhile, though I still think Aldrich does a commendable job with his condensed space (to echo my comments on Road House, it's no Ray but...). Rod Steiger's exchanges with Palance stand out from a lot of great actors working with kind of a baffling script, perhaps because those two feel like they're in on a joke no one else fully grasps. Not bad all in all if a bit tiresome.
Amidst a lot of nice pondering about the nature of age and money what makes this movie stand out as something special is the chemistry between Garfield and Fitzgerald, who have to be one of my favorite pairings in noir. Their scene at the mission transcends the emotionality of Hollywood genre conventions. Cool to see Brennan in a noir aside from To Have and Have Not, even if it's the same role he plays in every Western he's in. The finale I guess takes place in old oil-derrick-ridden Venice Beach; if not it's either another part of LA that's not there anymore or one I'm not familiar with (like the inside of a sound studio?). Other than the location and photography the ending's not too impressive; George Coulouris' villain never feels like much of a threat and it turns out he's not.
_NRFPT_01.jpg)
Undoubtedly the high point thus far of my most recent session of noir spelunking. Aside from some banging desert locales and no less than three even more banging femme fatales we have a very odd character performed very oddly by Robert Young and the darkest string of coincidences this side of Detour. Capped off by an ending I totally didn't see coming despite seeing The Big Knife earlier that day. Young's character I think is supposed to be a likable rogue, but he's so conniving and Young's performance so taciturn he often comes off as more of a sociopath, lending an element of ambiguity to Young's voiceover testimony. And yet many of his actions seem to come from genuine moral instinct. Ditto for much of his supporting cast. It could come off as sloppy writing but everyone involved plays it so convincingly it ends up being one of my favorite merry-go-rounds of flawed but lovable noir characters.
Just one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in a while. Pitch-perfect pacing and a palpable sense of place.
No comments:
Post a Comment