Film Forno

Young Nick Ray

I just got the 10 film set Film Noir Volume 4. the first film I watched was Nick Ray’s They Live By Night. This was Ray’s first film and it’s a very impressive debut to say the least. I have been wanting to see this movie for years! i couldn’t ever find a copy of it so when I saw it as part of this collection I grabbed it. I was not disappointed. This movie is excellent. The acting is great especially the scenes between Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell. Their innocence and emotional transparency is moving, beautiful.

Young Farley

I recently watched a giallo starring Farley Granger called Amuck. It also starred the lovely Barbara Bouchet. A cool movie and interesting to compare to They Live By Night if only to see Farley as an innocent on the run in the rural south versus a decadent rich semi aristocrat in Venice.
A friend of mine took a film course Nick Ray taught at SUNY Purchase in the mid 70’s. He said on the first day of class Ray shows up with sunglasses so black they looked like they were spray painted, his hair was shocking white, as white as the snow he was chopping on the desktop and shovelling up his nose. “From now on this class will meet at midnight!” Ray barked, and they did meet at midnight from then on, making a class film with Ray directing.

Young Cathy O’Donnell

They Live By Night does bear comparison with Citizen Kane. Both were made at RKO, both were by first time directors and Night was produced by John Houseman who had been Welles producing partner at the Mercury Theater. There is a sense of experimentation in them both, a refreshing breaking of rules, unconventional angles, fresh ideas. Greg Toland asked to shoot Kane. He knew Welles had never made a film, he also knew Welles was a super talent uninhibited, full of crazy ideas, and Toland knew with his skill he could realize them. We have that dynamic of an unorthodox talented newcomer here in this film. Years later around the time of 55 Days at Peking Ray saw Bunuel’s Nazarin. He was blown away, excited by the film. He arranged for it to be distributed in the US. Ray asked Bunuel how much the film had cost. Bunuel replied” 50,000 dollars.” Ray responded” I wish I could make a film like that, with that freedom.” Bunuel said” Why don’t you do it. Make a film for $50,000.” Horrified Ray answered ” I can’t do that! Everybody would think I was washed up!”
The rest of the cast is excellent as well. Great character actors, great faces. Jay C. Flippen, the frog faced tough guy who started in vaudeville was never better. Howard Da Silva plays a one eyed psycho and is thoroughly despicable.

Flippen & DaSilva

She made a deal with the Devil, I mean the F.B.I.

Helen Craig, a tough broad that will do anything to get her husband out of jail,is as traitorous as a rabid rattlesnake. Great!
The filmmaking is top notch, the locations, the sets, all superb. The attention to detail is so real, so alive, it’s like they got real tools from a working garage for the gas station and the diner feels greasy and neon lit in a truly unique but real way.

The magic of Neon
I must comment on the fact that one of the two credited art directors is Albert S. D’Agostino. I am a huge fan of his work and I’m planning on posting about him soon. Also we share similar last names. He was the head of the art department at RKO, my favorite studio.And this is the earliest use of a helicopter shot I can think of, very cool.

Ultra Romantic Imagery

There are some beautiful shots and wonderful lighting effects, a close two shot of Farley and Cathy in the flickering firelight, shots through windows with neon signs, the creepy shot of Farley leaving the pseudo justice of the peace’s office, heavy with tragic foreboding.

Heavy with Tragic Foreboding

But one shot that really stood out to me is the final shot of the film. It’s a Close Up of Cathy, she’s framed in a doorway, highlights in her hair, her face suffused with a soft light, slowly the light on her face fades out, this was done on the set with a dimmer for as her features get darker and darker the highlights in her hair stay the same, a beautiful in camera effect. I believe the script says something like “she is swallowed by darkness.”

She is swallowed by darkness

I saw another film from this set at the Film Noir Festival at the American Cinematech 2 years back, Crime Wave, an excellent noir by Andre de Toth. I’ll write about that one soon. But so far it’s thumbs up for this collection. Check it out!

Made it Ma! Top of The World! I mean A+D Museum!

ONWY screened as part of the 2007 New Filmmakers Series on Thursday August 16th. The screening took place at the Architecture and Design Museum of Los Angeles and was a rousing success despite some technical malfunctions.

The Screening Room

The space was packed and the air conditioning was off due to construction but even though it was broiling in there no one left! They all stayed till the end of the film! One viewer told me he has a major cigarette addiction, he runs outside to grab a smoke every 20 minutes or so, yet he was so wrapped up in the story that he forgot to go out and smoke. That was music to my ears, a sign that the mechanisms of the film are working properly. We want to thank the brave souls that baked for 91 minutes and didn’t flee the theater. We want to thank New Filmmakers LA for choosing our film to launch the series. They are dedicated talented people that love film! Our next scheduled screening is in Estes Park Colorado on Sept. 15 as part of the Estes Park Film Festival. We will be screening a 35mm print at the oldest theater west of the Mississippi! If any of you Film Forno Fans are near there please come on down to check it out. For more information about our screening go to: http://estespark.bside.com/?_view=_filmdetails&filmId=30075584
P.S. Estes Park is home to the Stanley Hotel, made famous in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.

Redrum!

I saw this film when it was first released around 1978 or so, I believe it was at Film Forum in New York City. I heard how this Philipino guy just begged, borrowed and did whatever was needed to make it. Werner Herzog gave him some old film stock he had laying around. ( I think Wim Wenders did the same thing for Jim Jarmusch on his chef d’oeuvre Stranger Than Paradise) Francis Coppola released Perfumed Nightmare through his short lived but admirable Zoetrope Films.

Baby, You Can Drive My Jeepney

The film is told from the point of view of Kidlat Tahimik, a young Philippino cat that drives a jeepney and worships all things American. Especially Rockets , American Space Penises that represent Progress, Power, The Future and specifically Werner Von Braun, the godfather of the USA space race, snatched from Nazi Germany at the end of WWII and chockful of experience from his V2 launches at Peenemunde. Kidlat even forms a Werner Von Braun fan club!

1st Meeting of The Werner Von Braun Fan Club

But as the film progresses Kidlat grows disillusioned with “progress”, his innocent voice over expresses his doubts and finally he disbands the Fan Club. The film is shot on many different film stocks, Super 8, 16mm, color reversal, whatever Kidlat could get his hands on and it adds a stylistic edge that works for this project. It’s like the jeepney that he drives, these are made from left over jeeps from WWII and the ingenious mechanics transform them into fantastic creations and keep them running with baling wire, chewing gum, anything at hand. Here creativity is used instead of money, to me a sign of a good film, actually a good anything! There’s a circumcision scene that’s hard to watch ( In the Phillipines it’s performed at puberty in a ritualized fashion out in the jungle.)

That’s gotta hurt!

Kidlat Tahimik is Tagalog for “Quiet Lightning” and that’s what this film is. A guy from out of nowhere creates a film from almost nothing and it rocks the World Cinema Scene.

Roman Polanski’s short film Le Gros et le maigre (The Fat and The Lean) is a masterpiece. The filmmaking is superb but it is Polanski’s acting that amazes the spectator. He gives an incredible physical performance worthy of comparison with Keaton or Chaplin, brilliant physical comedy with an Eastern European twist.

Young Man With A Goat

The story is simple yet powerful, a social comment on the inequities of life. Descended from the ancient dramatists it shows the servant being capable, creative, full of life while the master is a fat slob that does nothing except expertly control the servant.

Krzysztof Komeda, looking like a Polish James Dean

The music is by the genius composer Krzysztof Komeda, ace Polanski collaborator. Komeda studied to be a medical doctor but his love of jazz and his success with Polanski allowed him to be what he wanted to be, a composer. Check out the music from The Fearless Vampire Killers or Cul-De-Sac, super genius, unique stuff! His life was tragically cut short by a bizarre accident. Komeda and a fellow Pole artist were drunk and walking in the Hollywood Hills, Komeda tripped and fell, injuring himself. His drunken friend picked him up to carry him and dropped him on his head. He lingered in a hospital bed for a few months, never regaining consciousness.

A one and A two!

The co-star of The Fat and The Lean is Andre Katelbach, in Cul-De-Sac Jack MacGowran and Lionel Stander are waiting for orders from their mysterious boss, never seen only vaguely heard over a primitive telephone. His name is also Katelbach.

Katelbach!

Enemy soldiers forget War when confronted with The Saragossa Manuscript

Calling all DeadHeads! This was Jerry Garcia’s favorite movie! As a matter of fact he and Martin Scorcese paid for it’s restoration! I saw it at a revival theater a few years back and it is very cool.

What’s for Dessert?

The Saragossa Manuscript was originally a strange, mystical book written in 1847 by Jan Potocki. it’s full of occult symbolism, picaresque adventures, plots within plots within plots and was reportedly a favorite among Surrealists. (Luis Bunuel cites it in his autobiography, My Last Sigh). The film version was made in 1965 by Wojciech Has.

Didn’t we meet in a haunted cave?

I think it’s very difficult to pull off the story within a story trick, but this film manages to do it over and over again. A character meets another, the new man begins telling a story, within that story a new character appears and he begins a story, then somehow we’re whisked back to our original character either in bed with two beautiful haunting princesses or waking up next to a hanging corpse! It’s out there!

Zbyszek Cybulski is Alphonse

Great production value, stunning Black and White Cinematography by Mieczyslaw Jahoda (before Polish DP’s were all the rage). An excellent score by the master of atonal serious horror movie music Krzysztof Penderecki. You should check out this movie, it’s like a mystery wrapped in an enigma shrouded in Illusion and hidden behind a gravestone at Midnight. There is something about it that’s difficult to put into words, mystical I guess, it comes from the Book but somehow through all the years and various translations it is distilled into the movie in a rare and alchemical way.

So scoop yourself some Cherry Garcia ice cream, load the bong with Panama Red and take a magic carpet ride deep into the brain of Captain Trips.

Read Me!

Once Upon A Time in Japan there was a sub genre of movies that came to be known as Pinky Violence. Back in the Late 60’s, early 70’s people in Japan weren’t flocking to the theaters so filmmakers upped the ante with nudity, violence, killer chick gangs , rampant crime,etc.

Reiko Ike fights bare breasted

The first installment Sex and Fury was a huge hit, packing them in like gangbusters so within no time flat they started rolling on this epic Female Yakuza Tale. It starred the same bare breasted , samurai sword swinging kick ass chick, Reiko Ike.

Super Cool Overhead shot on a street set in the studio

These films were made for a strictly theatrical release in Japan, they didn’t come to the States for quite some time. They had pretty good production value and were obviously made by talented people, the aesthetics are high caliber.

Red Sky at Night, Yakuza’s Delight

The music is way out there too, bizarre instrumentation, finger cymbals, wah wah guitar, analogue synth. Very Groovy! There’s also a killer nun- “When I Pray, I Kill!”

Praying Mantis

The story is insane , drug smuggling up the hoochie coo , revenge for Yakuza finger chopping gambling debts, wacko to say the least. Our heroine seduces the toadlike sweating pig of a Boss, just to lull him into a sense of complacency, I hope she was well paid.

Are the Krugerrands in my Swiss Bank account? You may proceed.

Excellent Erotic Imagery

Then there’s a battle royal with an army of naked sword swinging chicks taking on the Yakuza gang.

Attack those chauvinist Pigs!

There’s another brand of Pinky Violence that deals with Tough Girl Gang Leaders, I’ve seen a few of them and they’re good too. These films are very well made, a lot of fun to watch and they give a kind of insider view to 1970’s Japanese culture. I recommend them.
P.S. Kimberly over at Cinebeats has just done a super cool piece on Pinky Violence, her blog is killer, check it out! http://www.cinebeats.com/

Today I’m writing about a great , but not that well known director, Robert Siodmak. I am posting a scan of a sort of self interview he did for Sight and Sound magazine from 1959. Siodmak to me is above all else, a master of cinematic atmosphere. His films always convey that elusive feeling of place, not just a physical place but a psychological place. Something that makes your skin crawl , or causes you to feel a little sweaty , suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and it isn’t from the action taking place on the screen , it’s something that oozes out of the background and gets under your skin. Check it out for yourself.

Watch the magnificent Criss Cross starring Siodmak stalwart Burt Lancaster and Lily Munster Yvonne De Carlo and super slimy Dan Duryea. A great movie!

Would you believe Lily Munster! A young Yvonne DeCarlo

Dan “scumbag” Duryea & B. Lancaster

The excellent armoured car robbery from Criss Cross, a study in efficiency and creepiness.Also one of our favorite noir locations, Angel’s Flight is prominently featured.

I tried to find this location from Criss Cross, then I realized it was Bunker Hill. It had been destroyed.

Albert Dekker plays Dr. Cyclops , only not in this film

Lazy Eye poster boy Jack Elam is here, he’s one of the gunslingers laying for Charles Bronson at the begining of Once Upon A Time In The West.

He started in the movies as an accountant

Strother Martin , the Southern Gothic slimy wierdo who had a failure to communicate with Paul Newman shows up here.

Strother, Baby

Great Los Angeles 1950’s locations ( I think this movie was one of the reasons I wanted to move here ), It even features Angel’s Flight , the super cool little funicular railway that went up Bunker Hill! This groovy trolley is in several excellent noirs , like Criss Cross for example.

A sure sign of a cool LA noir

This movie was shot by B-movie maven Robert Aldritch in 3 weeks! Due in no small part to the excellent screenplay by the legendary A.I. Bezzerides ( there’s a documentary about A. I. out , check it out).

Buzz Bezzerides at 90
The movie’s MacGuffin is a mysterious box that emits a blinding light and Banshee scream when opened, a direct antecedent to the briefcase in Pulp Fiction.

Aldrich directs Gaby Rodgers

Kiss Me Deadly, the chicks are hot, the gansters grotesque, the hero’s handsome, the cars Cool, and the locations are outstanding. So please, if you haven’t seen it, rent or buy or borrow a copy and check it out. Then stroll down to your nearest dive bar, drop a quater in the jukebox , play a Sinatra tune , order a whiskey and think about Velma.

Atom Age Pandora

Is this the end of Mike Hammer?

Great, grungy locations, nihilistic, vicious characters, ultra-violence, groovy 60’s ambience, stellar Michael Caine performance, all add up to make Get Carter probably The seminal English gangster flick of all time. There are just so many great things in this movie I don’t know where to begin. But I’ll try. OK let’s start with Michael Caine, never before or since has he been this ruthless, hot-headed, just plain tough. He’s on a quest, who killed his brother and why. So this hard core criminal has a moral imperative, maybe for the first time in his life, his head busting talents are fueled by something other than a paycheck. This is brilliantly expressed by Caine, if you watch the trailer you’ll see a scene where Caine/Carter is interrogating a guy and the guy falls to his knees, then just as Caine/Carter stabs him , cut. In the film Caine stabs the guy over and over as he speaks, punctuating each word with a stab! Like “Don’t” stab “You” stab “Lie” stab “To” stab “Me” stab etc. Brutal, but in the context of the film, perfect!

This could very well be Caine’s greatest role and a lot of credit must go to the director Mike Hodges.

Mike Hodges, A Man With A Movie Camera

I had lunch with Mike a few years back. We were discussing restoring Mike’s film “A Prayer For The Dying“. It seems the film had been recut by the producer without Mike’s input. Mike had delivered a finished film, scored, mixed, done and then back in the U.S.A. they tore it apart. This had not sat well with Mike and he burned with desire to put the film back in it’s original form. I wanted to help. We spent a whole day going from one cavernous film vault to another searching for elements, unfortunately we couldn’t find what we needed. The final chapter has not been written on this project though, there is still some hope that it may one day be resurrected. Mike is a great guy and a super talent, he discovered Clive Owen and cast him in his wonderful “Croupier“. But I think it safe to say “Get Carter” is his masterpiece.

Here is the trailer for Jacque Becker’s classic noir Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (Don’t Touch The Grisbi). Grisbi is french gangster slang for treasure and this movie is just that. Incredible locations, atmosphere, and cinematography, great performences, excellent direction all add up to a top notch french Film Noir.

Jean Gabin was past his prime, washed up, a has-been. Nobody gave him a second thought anymore, word on the street: He’s through! Becker brought him back big time! After this film he was back on top and coasted through his golden years a renascent star. Lino Ventura was a pro wrestler, he had been injured so he was managing wrestlers. Someone suggested him to Becker for the part of a gangster. Becker approacher Ventura, he hadn’t ever acted, he said “No Dice!”, Becker persisted and thus one of the greatest Cinema actors of all time was born! If you don’t believe me check out Melvilles L’ Armée des ombres (Army of Shadows).

Jesse’s Uncle

Not only that but I believe this was Jeanne Moreau’s first screen appearence. You can’t beat this pedigree with a stick!

Moreau in The Middle

You can’t lose, put both of these films in your Netflix cue. You’ll be picking your feet in Poughkipse with delight. The only caveat, Gabin is a pretty old guy, he’s cool but he’s gotta be 65 or so and all of these stunning young babes are throwing themselves at him. I mean if that’s how it really was in Paris circa 1954 then get me a time machine! Also my pal Guillaume has a cat named Grisbi, I asked him what does that mean? He told me about this film, one of his all time favorites. I had it on my Netflix cue for years and about 6 months ago they got it! So sit back, uncork a nice Chateau-Neuf-de- Pape (French gangster’s favorite Red), smear some pate on toast, hole up in your hideout, and have a picnic with Gabin, Moreau, Ventura et al.

Here’s the title sequence from Bullitt. It was done by, guess who, the amazing Pablo Ferro. Steve McQueen saw a Peter Yates film called The Great Train Robbery and hired Peter for this movie. McQueen knew Pablo’s work and hired him for the credits. It’s a super cool credit sequence. Check it out.

Peter Yates told me that when they shot the finale to the great car chase, where the bad guys crash into a gas station and get blown to Kingdom Come, they had 5 cameras shooting it. At the last minute they decided to put one more camera in a cement filled industrial drum in the station, in harm’s way. Well as usual with a big pyrotechnic rig something went wrong. A stunt driver was towing the bad guys car with a cable and was to release it just before the gas station. The car was supposed to hit the gas pumps and a pyro guy was to hit the button blowing everything sky high. The car was released a little prematurely, the pyro guy hit the button, everything went KA-BOOM, but you could clearly see the gas station exploding before the car hit the pumps, they cursed their luck, thinking of what a drag it would be to rebuild the station. The next day at dailies, lo and behold, the footage from the camera added at the last minute, the one in the cement filled drum looked great, you couldn’t tell everything blew up too soon and that is the shot used in the final movie!

Good Luck Trying to Remake This Chase

The great stunt driver Bill Hickman drove the Mopar chase car, he was a driver for James Dean’s race team and was driving the station wagon follow car when Dean was killed. Hickman also did the car chase in The French Connection, another classic. Bud Ekins did the motorcycle stunt in Bullitt, sliding on the highway, he also did the motorcycle jump in The Great Escape and drove the truck on the rope suspension bridge in Friedkin’s Sorcerer. Bud was a good friend of Steve McQueen’s.

McQueen at the wheel of his killer Mustang

Recently McQueen’s first wife re-released a book she wrote about him. In it she says (and I agree) “Steve was like a wild animal” his screen presence always reminded me of footage of an animal in the jungle. The actor who I think was most like a wild animal though, would have to be the great Bruce Lee. He’s like a Cheetah or a leopard when he strikes and I think this phenomenon has a lot to do with both actors undying popularity.

Lee driving a Shelby Cobra