I am a huge Gene Tierney fan, but I just watched this last night and was greatly disappointed. Maybe I'm comparing it to how great Laura was. It wasn't anything in particuliar, but simply that the movie didn't hold my interest, nothing great or memorable. There are far better film noir/crime movies that are better worth the time.
shareTrue - it's not one of the greats, but then again, there are plenty more movies out there that are far worse. Tierney may be the problem - she gave a pretty bland performance in this one.
shareYou really can't blame Tierney, as the role is underwritten and she plays the "Good Girl" and the part seemed to require that she be just as "Goody Goody" as her father, who is framed for the murder. A poor plot device, but a movie I've always enjoyed.
It's spelled "Definitely".
I thought this was a really good movie - a great noir in the traditional sense yet bringing more to the genre with such an antiheroic lead and well layered story. There were, however, weaker elements, and one of these was Gene Tierney who gave a bland performance as a bland character.
shareGene Tierney's bland performance throughout the film was offset by Dana Andrews when he broke out into a saucy little squirrel-like run on top of a rooftop, after escaping from a locked room that the gangsters were holding him in. You have to see this scene of him running to actually believe it. Its almost a work of physical comedy.
shareI quite liked this film. I was expecting a minor film noir and instead it was a lot better then some of the 'major' ones!
I noticed the weird run Andrews did too! Very bizarre.
Ben Hechts' script was above average too.
This is a great movie, ruthless and hard hitting. It's not supposed to be along the same lines of Laura (which is really more of a standard mystery than a film noir, since there's no real anti hero or femme fatale in it).
Where Laura is more Tierney's movie, this is Andrews' movie. I would imagine posters here would have the same problem with Night and the City, since Tierney doesn't do much in it either. And that movie is also awesome.
Gene Tierney's bland performance throughout the film was offset by Dana Andrews when he broke out into a saucy little squirrel-like run on top of a rooftop, after escaping from a locked room that the gangsters were holding him in. You have to see this scene of him running to actually believe it. Its almost a work of physical comedy.
Ha-ha. I noticed the funny run too. Almost a parody of a fag run. I think it might have been because A)his arm was supposed to be injured or B)the set might have been a lot smaller than it appeared on screen., so to run he would have to take half steps.
"Life's tough. It's even tougher if you're stupid." John Wayne
I noticed the funny run, too.
It was somewhere between scampering and mincing. I've never really seen anything like it.
"The night was sultry."
A fag run? Really. So rp69: I'm a fag. How do I run?
shareI have to admit, Dana Andrews' "saucy little squirrel-like run' totally cracked me up, too. Plus, his pants made a squeaky noise as he ran...that corduroy pants thing.
That being said, Andrews was, as always, terrific in that movie. But, having just finished watching WTSE for the first time, I'm still trying to decide if I liked it, or not.
I absolutely loved the way the movie looked, it was film noir at it's best...lots of dark shadows and rained-slicked streets. But, the ending was trite, and Tierney, for all her beauty, was incredibly bland.
I guess I'll now watch the movie again with the commentary, and give it some more thought.
-AnaElisa
PS I surely am happy to have found this board. It's so much fun to come here and read comments after having watched a film.
Thinking andrews being 'understated' and a 'subtle' actor is silly. You're confusing not being able to act very well with subtlety!
Just look at Night of the Demon and see how awful he is. Niall Macguinness completely steals the film from him.
Andrews has only been brilliant in that Fritz Lang film where he turns out to of really done the murder at the end. And that's only because Lang recognised his lack of expression and thought he'd make a good baddie!
He's no ed norton is he?!
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I've since seen him in 'Laura' and he's admittedly quite good in that.
I think 'best years' is on tv this week!
I thought it was really good When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...
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Her voice is so lush but this was another film that I didn't like her hairstyle.
shareI agree, detest the short 50's hairstyles, made the female actress look so matronly. My Mom said it was so chic to cut off your long 40's outdated hairdos in late 40's/early 50's and of course my Dad said they looked like babes w/the short do's!
shareof course my Dad said they looked like babes w/the short do's!
I read a non-fiction account about the Duke & Duchess of Windsor. By the 1950's, she was a middle-aged woman. The book commented that the '50's fashions and hairstyles were difficult for women if a certain age to pull off.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne
Noir,
Great handle, btw.
Ftr I am not saying this from personal experience, other than watching films from the period, but the short hairstyle you refer to was not totally ubiquitous and in any event had primacy only in the early fifties. When you consider the models, style icons and famous film stars of the decade, it actually had a great deal of variety. Google images for an early fifties top model like Jean Pachett, or the somewhat later Suzy Parker (who also did some films btw). And of course Marilyn Monroe, whose look was extremely influential, had mostly shoulder length hair. Not to mention in Europe the very influential Brigitte Bardot.
Not to digress here but my own theory is that the whole look of women that came to be changed to a more natural look was also encouraged by the seminal look of the female lead, Harriet Andersson, in Ingmar Bergman's Summer with Monika, from 1953. That film was hugely influential with especially French new wave directors, and it was in that environment where Bardot had already not only made her name in France but also in the US (having appeared in a film with Kirk Douglas called Act of Love, also in 1953). Add Bardot's long hair, her increasingly less apparent use of makeup, and Andersson's virtually makeup free look, and the world's women began to adopt a very different look that arguably predominates to the present day (your obvious outliers and freaks like Lada Gaga notwithstanding to the contrary).
All I can tell you is that I was born in the early '50's and from photos and memory, all of the women in our family and neighborhood had short hair. Certainly there were those who were different.
Plus, I was really commenting on the girlish vibe of those times that was not complimentary for women over 40. It is a lot easier now for older women to adapt fashions for an age-appropriate look.
Back then, I'll bet few women exercised, at least overtly, to firm upper arm. The Duchess of Windsor always kept her weight down.
And, many died of heart disease and lung cancer due to the lifestyle and state of health care of the time.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne
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I am a huge Gene Tierney fan, but I just watched this last night and was greatly disappointed. Maybe I'm comparing it to how great Laura was. It wasn't anything in particuliar, but simply that the movie didn't hold my interest, nothing great or memorable.
I think that the story is really strong.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne
I am generally a Dana Andrews fan. He was great in one of my favorite forties films, that of course being the excellent Best Years of Our Lives. I remember the first time seeing it how believable he made the low grade torment of the returning war vet, with a touch of hero in him (referring to his promotions and some references), dealt with the mundane and even insulting.
And specifically concerning the Gene Tierney - Laura angle, he was very good in that film, too. No surprise his was a successful performance here.
Gene Tierney's role was somewhat confusing, for I think unfair reasons. Having seen Laura before this one, it is a bit off putting that her character is so different here. but I think Tierney plays the part as written, and probably also as directed. Those who know her career are aware she later had real problems in it due to some mental health issues. But she was still very effective here. Very good performance, I think.
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