Audience Hoots It Up at "New York Confidential"

[Randy Fuller]

My wife and I attended the screening of "New York Confidential" tonight at the Egyptian. We were very troubled that the audience laughed at some extremely inappropriate moments during the film. Sure everybody had a chuckle at some of the lighter moments, but people were laughing at the violent scenes, too. It was as if they thought it was a midnight screening of "Rocky Horror Picture Show."

It figured that a full house, which turned out to see a 1955 noir which hadn't been viewed since shortly after its release, would be somewhat reverent. The misplaced laughs and hoots came as a complete surprise and shock to us. It's too bad they ruined the event. Does anyone know how to behave in public anymore?

One of the actresses who appeared in the movie was present in the audience, as was Richard Conte's son. I wonder what they thought of the crowd's reaction?

[David]

This is one of the reasons why I don't bother to attend screenings of classic noirs (anymore). Back in the 90s, I dragged
a girlfriend into Manhattan to see a double feature of two of my all-time faves - 'Detour' and 'D.O.A.' - and the
experience was an uneasy blend of joy and pain. I'm not in denial - I know that these films can be viewed as 'camp',
but I don't need to suffer through the titters and guffaws of those with decidedly less respect for these gems than I have.

[Richard]

Maybe it was all the slang dialog. Some noirs of the period are spoken in almost an artificial language. What sounded gritty and witty a half century ago breaks the fourth wall today.

Usually, the crowd that frequents the Egyptian consists of film buffs and film makers who know what to expect from old movies. But every once in a while a broader audience is in the majority.

I haven't been there lately, but inappropriate behavior is widespread now. More and more people think that going to the movies is the same as sitting in their living room where they can say and do whatever they want. Inappropriate behavior is also spoiling live theater. Security cameras captured an incident on Broadway. Stars Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman were shown on the news waiting for a patron to finish talking on a cell phone during the middle of a live performance, twice during the same show. You'd think the second time the patron would have got the message, but no, he went right on talking as if he expected the live actors to pause until he was finished. The situation has become so widespread that theater managers must take responsibility for announcing at the outset of every screening that there is no talking or socializing during a movie.

I did share in a chuckle of appreciation, however, when Tarzan placed Cheetah on the boardwalk and said "This time you stay home!" before paddling upriver to track down the bad guys at a recent repertory screening of TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE.

I could not believe the reaction to ROBOT MONSTER and CATWOMEN ON THE MOON at the World 3-D Expos. How could people sit there and watch these atrocious, inept, and boring films in worshipful silence? i wouldn't dream of hooting because it would be disrespectful to everybody else, but the films are so bad I can't stand to watch them. Ineptitude at the movies depresses me. I mean really depresses me. Plus, I'd always been taught that boring an audience was unforgivable, the ultimate disgrace, and I'm not easily bored (almost everything interests me). The second time, I figured out how to overcome the boredom. I brought a Walkman radio and earphones in to the theater with me. That way I could listen to the news while watching the films. I could enjoy and at times appreciate the stereoscopic cinematography more when I didn't have to listen to the soundtrack. It helped.


Richard

[Hard-Boiled-Rick]

Symptoms of a culture in decline? Or a culture undergoing radical change?

Civility died when Grace Kelly passed away.

[Steve-O]

Think it's bad in Cali? Try seeing one in NY City with a bunch of snobs. Even at The Prowler which Eddie stood up and introduced was meet by some with sighs and chuckles. Don't even get me started about In a Lonely Place when this guy a few seats next to me was even mocking the scene when Gloria Grahame was crying at the end. Did he not know he was seeing a movie made in the 40s/1950s?

[Steve-O]

Christa Faust -- one of the hippest noir writers out there -- made a similar observation about the NY Confidential crowd.


Note to hipsters: These movies are NOT comedies. Is it really necessary to laugh and/or snort derisively at every other line? This is the Film Noir Festival, not Mystery Science Theater. Your pretentious irony, like a lady’s huge feathered hat, is blocking my view of the screen.

Read her blog entry here (http://faustfatale.livejournal.com/236553.html).

[Mark]

I don't attend movie theaters anymore period. Between 20 minutes of awful trailers and ads, laughter, talking, up and down to feed faces, cell phones ringing, and constant lit screens of people texting, there isn't five enjoyable minutes anymore. I watch at home by myself, with the lights doused, and it's wonderful every single time. Just my .02 cents.

Mark

[David]

I don't attend movie theaters anymore period. Between 20 minutes of awful trailers and ads, laughter, talking, up and down to feed faces, cell phones ringing, and constant lit screens of people texting, there isn't five enjoyable minutes anymore. I watch at home by myself, with the lights doused, and it's wonderful every single time. Just my .02 cents.

Mark

Make that 4 cents, buddy. I occasionally miss the large screen, but for the most part there's no place like home.

[Surly]

There was similar unwelcome laughter at Noir City Chicago last year.

I still prefer to see films projected on the screen, as you are engulfed by a film in a way that is not possible at home. But that immersion is ruined by intrusive laughter. I recall in horror a screening of Murnau's Sunrise when some cretin started howling (in an otherwise silent theater) at the melodramatic moment in the boat, as if the stylized acting was suddenly a surprise. This was at the Film Center of the Art Institute of Chicago, where complaining to the manager has results. But in commercial theaters there is nothing gained by complaining. I once alerted the management that someone had actually physically threatened a father with his family after being "sshhed" by the father for swearing. They had an ineffectual teenage usher walk down the aisle.

[eubiecat]

Sometimes an audience can actually make a movie a more special experience. I fondly recall a 1992 screening of the '51 Cary Grant film, PEOPLE WILL TALK, in the Bay area, where the movie's oddball homo-erotic subtext hit everyone present. The response wasn't to hoot in derision--it was a shared "how'd they ever get away with this in a 1951 movie?"

Sadly, most non-festival screenings of classic movies do bring out the yobboes and schmedricks--even here in serious moviephilic Seattle. One must suffer fools gladly to enjoy the rare pleasure of seeing these movies writ large...

And don't get me started on the horrors of seeing mainstream new movies with an audience...

[Bob]

Many of the comments on this thread share my own frustrations with the public movie going experience. I rarely go to the multiplex any more. As we get older, our patience wares thin with all the BS around us. It’s not just the “kids” with their constant giggling and candy wrappers making the noise, but quite often it’s elderly people who think that they are home sitting on their sofas – just constant chatter, but they are usually receptive to a “shhhhh.”
I have fond memories of attending Noir City in San Francisco. Yes, the audience laughs and chuckles at some of the lines, but that is part of the shared communal experience of watching a film in a theater. It's a movie not a symphony concert. Most everyone at reparatory screenings have a similar mindset and know what to expect on the screen, so the response to NY Confidential in LA is surprising to hear. They have to stop letting people coming off the tour buses into the theater :-)

[khaley]

There must have been something in the popcorn. I was there that night and agree that a good part of the audience acted like a bunch of immature oddballs. But it was not the whole audience. And I’ve been four other nights to the festival and the audiences have been fine.

In fact, the Cry Danger audience was fantastic. A great film made better by enjoying it with an audience. And I really get a kick out of hearing strangers strike up conversation between the films and the buzz in the lobby before and after the shows. I bet that didn’t happen at Clash of the Titan over at the multiplex.

I’m looking forward to the last weekend.

[mkronenberg]

This has been an interesting thread. Ten years ago, while living in Washington, DC, I went to an outdoor presentation of the silent classic NOSFERATU with the National Symphony playing along live to the film. I was disgusted and disappointed as the audience hooted and guffawed through the entire movie. Never forgot that and it still makes me shudder.

[noirguru]

I like to see films on the big screen but sometimes it's not worth it! New York Confidential will be coming out on dvd at the end of June,that's when I'll see it!

[Richard]

I remember sitting through 45 minutes of THE HORSE WHISPERER with the house lights turned on. The audience was full, and nobody complained. Finally, when I realized the lights weren't going to dim and nobody was going to complain, I informed the management that the house lights hadn't been dimmed when the film started. The manager, who was very young and no idea how to operate a theater, came in to check and shrugged it off and said "Some auditoriums are brighter than others." I complained to the head office and got my money back, eventually, but I do not understand an audience that just sits there passively and watches a dim picture under bright lights as if that were the normal way to watch a movie. Another time I sat through 20 minutes of Woody Allen's MATCH POINT with the heads cut off at the top and sneaking up on the bottom of the frame. Again, nobody complained until I went out and asked the management to adjust the framing. This took 15 minutes to walk through a huge megaplex, to negotiate with the snack bar girl to get the manager's time, and then to walk back again. Again, I got a refund because I missed 15 minutes after watching 20 minutes with the heads cut off. I didn't understand that audience, either.

I don't know which is worse, audiences that behave inappropriately, or audiences that are dead from the neck up.


Richard

[Fast Eddie]

This is a chronic. But as the producer of these events, and being a man with a mission to ensure their survival, tolerance of these idiots is necessary. Their money is as green as anyone's else's. It's a crapshoot, but in my 12 years producing these shows I can attest that the fabulous nights (like CRY DANGER on April 2 at the Egyptian) far outnumber the nights when the hipsters sully the spirit. Also, I do not subscribe to the notion that noir should be viewed in silent awe. If the filmmakers were at one of these screenings and didn't hear the gasps, laughs, and cheers they were going for, they'd think they failed. Frankly, if only 1/3 of the audience last night was engaged in hipper-than-thou chortling, that's pretty good, considering that by my estimate (based on 50+ years of study) approximately 70% of the American population are morons.

[Raven]

Guess we could all resort to the method I used of handling a mouthy patron when viewing Revenge of the Creature as a 10 year old. After putting up with his ongoing “spoilers” for half an hour (he was apparently sitting thru at least his second viewing) I gave him a quick belt in the chops.

He immediately jumps from his seat in the front row (didn’t we all sit in the front row back then) and returns with the usher in tow.

Once the situation is explained to this paragon of authority the usher boots the noisy offender out of the theater and gives me a pat on the back!

Talk about sweet justice!

[Steve-O]

I do get your point Eddie. But it's a real slap in the face when people come in an act like they're too good to see a movie I'm thrilled to be watching. It's like they're commenting on my taste and the opinion of all classic movie fans.

At Noir City this year the audience laughed (Dick Powell wearing that hat while driving Liz's love boat) and enjoyed the movies at the same time. I never felt like they were looking down at them. I think there is a difference. But yeah to your point. We need to always have those seats FILLED. That's the only way to keep noir alive is people watching them... period.

Raven, I bet you never kicked a cat though.

[Ned]

I've just about given up on going to Film Forum in NY for films. Yes, they get a great calendar of pictures - but the crowd has really changed over the years. It is with great discomfort that I have several times sat watching a film I cherish only to struggle to hear & understand the dialogue while some "self appointed film critic" near me roars with laughter @ all the wrong times. Yes, we each have our own sense of humor but it has now become OK to show how elitist you are by mocking dialogue & making absurd comments (out loud) during the films. Would they be just as entertained to sit home & watch the film having their childish comments fall on deaf ears?

The "self appointed hipness" we see in NY is not only shallow & programmed - it is rude & in extremely bad taste. Often times I'll settle for an OK film chain copy either in silence or sharing the film with someone who is respectful & quiet during the showing, These days, a quiet polite crowd @ Film Forum is a rare occasion.

Ned

[David]

I've just about given up on going to Film Forum in NY for films. Yes, they get a great calendar of pictures - but the crowd has really changed over the years. It is with great discomfort that I have several times sat watching a film I cherish only to struggle to hear & understand the dialogue while some "self appointed film critic" near me roars with laughter @ all the wrong times. Yes, we each have our own sense of humor but it has now become OK to show how elitist you are by mocking dialogue & making absurd comments (out loud) during the films. Would they be just as entertained to sit home & watch the film having their childish comments fall on deaf ears?

The "self appointed hipness" we see in NY is not only shallow & programmed - it is rude & in extremely bad taste. Often times I'll settle for an OK film chain copy either in silence or sharing the film with someone who is respectful & quiet during the showing, These days, a quiet polite crowd @ Film Forum is a rare occasion.

Ned

So true, Ned - and while I'm exited to be seeing 'Stranger On The Thid Floor' there next week, I'm
semi-dreading the experience. I can actually predict when the jackasses will snicker..

[David]

I've just about given up on going to Film Forum in NY for films. Yes, they get a great calendar of pictures - but the crowd has really changed over the years. It is with great discomfort that I have several times sat watching a film I cherish only to struggle to hear & understand the dialogue while some "self appointed film critic" near me roars with laughter @ all the wrong times. Yes, we each have our own sense of humor but it has now become OK to show how elitist you are by mocking dialogue & making absurd comments (out loud) during the films. Would they be just as entertained to sit home & watch the film having their childish comments fall on deaf ears?

The "self appointed hipness" we see in NY is not only shallow & programmed - it is rude & in extremely bad taste. Often times I'll settle for an OK film chain copy either in silence or sharing the film with someone who is respectful & quiet during the showing, These days, a quiet polite crowd @ Film Forum is a rare occasion.

Ned

So true, Ned - and while I'm exited to be seeing 'Stranger On The Third Floor' there next week, I'm
semi-dreading the experience. I can actually predict when the jackasses will be snickering..

[Steve-O]

So true, Ned - and while I'm exited to be seeing 'Stranger On The Thid Floor' there next week, I'm
semi-dreading the experience. I can actually predict when the jackasses will snicker..
We should fly Raven out next week...

[Surly]

This has been an interesting thread. Ten years ago, while living in Washington, DC, I went to an outdoor presentation of the silent classic NOSFERATU with the National Symphony playing along live to the film. I was disgusted and disappointed as the audience hooted and guffawed through the entire movie. Never forgot that and it still makes me shudder.

This reminds me of the time I saw Josef von Sternberg's silent The Last Command with an original new score performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. As I recall, it was introduced and conducted by the score's composer. Noting that the audience would find the film melodramatic by the standards of the day, he asked the audience to try to view the film in historical context . They laughed all the way through it anyway.

[Bob]

This subject can be a never ending thread.

Richard -

I guess I've been lucky. Any problem with the sound, image, or the house lights has been generally quickly attended to since usually I have been among a handful that have gone to the lobby to complain. A couple of times I have seen the print start to burn up on the screen. Not too much you can do there to complain, just patience.

Raven -
Being a non violent guy, I've never punched another talky patron, but when I was about 11 I landed a perfectly placed sloppy Sugar Daddy on the crew cut head of the creep in front of me. Except being called a name by him, he buttoned up.

Eddie -"approximately 70% of the American population are morons. "
You are being slightly too conservative, and/ or, too forgiving.

[Raven]

Steve,

Book me on the next flight out. Oh, and just for good measure, I'll bring along a good supply of Sugar Daddys in my carry on bag.

[buzz in seattle]

I was at the screening of NY Confidential and also noticed the inappropriate laughter was more tha normal. It was mainly coming from a young, pretentious hipster crowd. They did seem to adapt to the film and and settle in by the second half. The Egyptian often has new prints of the films shown, and is a terrific theatre to watch classic noir (as well as other genres) if you can get over the location, parking, etc. The crowd at NY Confidential was the exception rather than the rule; usually it's a smart crowd.

Personally, I find these incidents to be fairly rare at the noir festivals. Usually watching these movies in the theatre enhances the experience vs watching it at home--and the audience is a part of the improvement. Noir City in San Francisco is the best example. What is more fun than watching "Night Editor" in a packed Castro Theatre? Likewise, the first times I saw "Gun Crazy" and "Nightmare Alley" was at the Festival of Film Noir at The Egyptian, and those were a couple of the best movie-going experiences of my life.

My .02 is that the festivals with the "older" crowds--such as Arthur Lyons Palm Springs Film Noir Festival and the Seattle Art Museum Film Noir Festival--are the most difficult as far as the audience is concerned. Especially at these two festivals, some people talk out loud constantly during the movie. Unfortunately the Palm Springs festival--which is one of the best for format and programming--is probably the worst in this respect. If you've ever been to this festival you have probably seen or heard me--I'm the guy telling people close to me to shut up (after shhh'ing them 2-3 times).

[Steve-O]

I'm sure this won't be the last thought on the topic.

Last night I went to the Film Forum to see two great little Scottish films: Local Hero (Burt Lancaster makes me feel good about getting older) and Gregory's Girl. The guy in front of us was visibly annoyed that the couple beside him was laughing throughout Gregory's Girl. The film's a sweet and light comedy! I hope we never get to the point where we take film noir too seriously and not enjoy the light touches. Tonight it's another double feature... Strangers on the Third Floor and While the City Sleeps! I expect to hear big laughs when Vincent Price starts chipping golf balls wearing those shorts and outrageous socks.

[Adam Lounsbery]

I saw Kurosawa's "Hidden Fortress" at Film Forum a few years ago, and there was a middle-aged father with his young son right behind me. Every time Toshiro Mifune would strut onscreen or ... do anything, really, he would laugh appreciatively and say "He is so cool!" at full volume. He seemed to be doing it so his son would feel as enthusiastic as he was feeling, but besides the fact that it's a terrible way to build heat, it was annoying the hell out of me. After the fourth or fifth time, I turned around and said, "Could you please keep it down?" and he looked as if I'd told him to stop enjoying his filet mignon.

I love crowd reactions most of the time -- laughter, sharp intakes of breath, etc. -- but conversation drives me nuts. For all the complaining people do about "kids these days," I find rude people of all ages. The elderly patrons at both "Memento" and "21 Grams," for instance, sure did have a lot of questions for one another about the plot.