With Robert Armstrong in Decoy (1946)
Behind the wheel in Highway 301 (1950)
Edward Norris (March 10, 1911 - December 18, 2002)
With Robert Armstrong in Decoy (1946)
Behind the wheel in Highway 301 (1950)
Raoul Walsh (March 11, 1887 – December 31, 1980)
Raoul Walsh is one of the men who invented movies. Being a progenitor of the gangster film, Walsh informed what later evolved into film noir. And yeah, he directed a few of those, too. Anything but a minor figure, perhaps he belongs on his own thread.
Last edited by Surly; 03-11-2012 at 06:49 PM.
gotta love that photo of Walsh.
Paul Fix (March 13, 1901--October 14, 1983)
Paul Fix (right) with Roy Roberts in Touch of Evil (1948)
Character actor Paul Fix is probably best known for playing Marshal Micah Torrance on The Rifleman. Specializing in Westerns, Fix had a long and prolific career in film and on television, from the silent era through the 1970s.
Last edited by Surly; 03-07-2013 at 10:52 AM.
Kent Smith (March 19, 1907 – April 23, 1985)
With Simone Simon in Cat People
Kent Smith had a long career on stage, film and television, but is probably best remembered for Cat People and its sequel, Curse of the Cat People. Other notable film include The Spiral Staircase,The Fountainhead, Nora Prentiss, as well as a starring role in the noirish This Side of the Law(1950).
Last edited by Surly; 03-17-2013 at 01:11 PM.
Louis Hayward (19 March 1909 – 21 February 1985)
House by the River
Hayward was often cast in period costumers and swashbucklers, but also lent his brand of debonair to The Saint in several films, and starred as The Lone Wolf on television. He was in Repeat Performance (1947), Edgar G. Ulmer's Ruthless (1949) and was effectively menacing in Fritz Lang's House by the River (1950).
Patricia Morison (98)
Song of the Thin Man
Happy birthday to actress Patricia Morison, who turns 98 today. Some of her 1940s films are The Fallen Sparrow, Dressed to Kill, Danger Woman and Lady on a Train.
Wendell Corey (March 20, 1914 – November 8, 1968)
with Barbara Stanwyck in The File on Thelma Jordon
Wendell Corey was dependable in support and as a character actor. He had a long run of noir and near noir in the forties: Desert Fury, I Walk Alone, Sorry, Wrong Number, The Accused, Holiday Affair, The File on Thelma Jordon, The Furies. In the fifties: Hell's Half Acre, Rear Window, The Big Knife, The Killer is Loose.
With Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window
Karen Steele (March 20, 1931 – March 12, 1988)
It's too bad Karen Steele was born a bit late for noir--she would have led more than a few suckers to their doom. She worked mostly on television, but did star in two terrific Randolph Scott westerns directed by Budd Boetticher, Decision at Sundown and Ride Lonesome, as well as the director's gangster pic, The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond.
With Ray Danton in Legs Diamond.
And they call him "Legs"!
Last edited by Surly; 03-20-2012 at 10:49 AM.
Edgar Buchanan (March 20, 1903 – April 4, 1979)
One doesn't think "noir" with likable character actor Edgar Buchanan--he was a fixture in westerns--but he did appear in two notable films in the genre, both with Glenn Ford: Framed (1947), and Human Desire (1954).
Wendell Corey is so good in The File on Thelma JordanOriginally Posted by Surly
with Barbara Stanwyck in The File on Thelma Jordon
Wendell Corey was dependable in support and as a character actor. He had a long run of noir and near noir in the forties: Desert Fury, I Walk Alone, Sorry, Wrong Number, The Accused, Holiday Affair, The File on Thelma Jordon, The Furies. In the fifties: Hell's Half Acre, Rear Window, The Big Knife, The Killer is Loose.
With Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window
Virginia Grey (March 22, 1917 – July 31, 2004)
With Charles McGraw in The Threat
Virginia Grey starred in the noirs The Threat (1949) and Highway 301 (1950), and later appeared in Crime of Passion (1957) and The Naked Kiss (1964). Beyond noir, Grey was also in such enjoyable nonsense as Whistling in the Dark (1941), the entertaining comedy/mystery Grand Central Murder (1942), the early Anthony Mann mystery Strangers in the Night (1944), Douglas Sirk's superb soaper All That Heaven Allows (1955), No Name on the Bullet (1959), and many other films.
With Steve Cochran and Gaby André in Highway 301
Last edited by Surly; 03-24-2012 at 12:34 PM.
Karl Malden ( March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009)
With Neville Brand in Where the Sidewalk Ends
In a long film and television career, Karl Malden appeared in the noirs Kiss of Death (1947) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950), as well as a couple of obscure films for Elia Kazan, Boomerang (1947), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), and On the Waterfront (1954).
Last edited by Surly; 03-21-2013 at 01:26 PM.
Ross Martin (March 22, 1920 – July 3, 1981)
Actor Ross Martin was memorable as the creepy, sadistic, asthmatic Red Lynch in Experiment in Terror()1962). He is best known for playing Artemus Gordon in the western TV series The Wild Wild West, and Andamo on Mr. Lucky.
I always loved that still from Highway 301....
The one with a guy, two girls and a pile of cash? Yeah. That says it all.
Kenneth Tobey (March 23, 1917 – December 22, 2002)
In Angel face with Mona Freeman
While Kenneth Tobey will always be remembered for The Thing from Another World (1951) and other 1950s monster/sf films, the actor also appeared in several hard noir and soft boiled noirs, as well as some good non-noir crime films. He was in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950), Angel Face (1952), The Bigamist (1953), The Steel Cage (1954), Ring of Fear (1954), Down Three Dark Streets (1954), Cry Terror! (1958), Stark Fear (1962), and Marlowe (1969). Tobey also made early, uncredited appearances in He Walked by Night (1948), Illegal Entry (1949), The File on Thelma Jordon (1950, and The Company She Keeps (1951).
He was one of the stars of the TV series, Whirlybirds (1957-1960).
Nancy Kelly (March 25, 1921 – January 2, 1995)
Fly-by-Night (1942) with Richard Carlson
By the time noir rolled around in the 1940s, actress Nancy Kelly was relegated to B pictures such as Women in Bondage (1943), Double Exposure (1944), The Woman Who Came Back (1945) and Follow That Woman (1945). She was in Fly-by-Night (1942) with Richard Carlson, enjoyable early nonsense from Robert Siodmak. (Under our proposed noir rating system of hard to soft boiled, this would be "runny") Her most famous role is that of the mother of Patty McCormack, The Bad Seed (1956). She was the older sister of actor Jack Kelly.
In The Bad Seed
Jean Rogers (1916-1991)
With Donald Douglas in The Strange Mr. Gregory
Famous for playing Dale Arden in the Flash Gordon film serials, actress Jean Rogers also appeared in a few B mysteries and crime films. She was in the Red Skelton comedy/mystery Whistling in Brooklyn (1943), fell under a magician's spell in The Strange Mr. Gregory (1945), was framed for murder in Backlash (1947), and then slipped down the cast list for the Rebecca-styled psychological suspenser, The Second Woman (1950).
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
