Memorial Day and Noir

[Movie Memories]

With the observance of Memorial Day here in the U.S. it reminded me of just how many film's noir had to do with returning veteran's, the cold war, or World War II in general.

The pre and post war influence on noir is very strong and I started to try and think of some of the titles that had to do with these experiences and emotions.

Off the top of my head, I could only come up with the following list. All may not be considered by everyone as noir, but are pretty close.

The Fallen Sparrow
Dead Reckoning
Macao
Crossfire
The Blue Dahlia
Act of Violence
Key Largo
Pickup on South Street (Cold War)
Side Street
The House on 92nd Street

Add any that you might think of; there has to be 10-15 more.

[cigar joe]

Thieves' Highway
Somewhere in the Night
Backfire
High Wall
The Crooked Way

Neo Noirs

The Manchurian Candidate
Anatomy of a Murder

[Steve-O]

Excellent idea for a thread. It's interesting that there's some noir that feature guys with problems getting back into society after WWII, but there are also quite a few where the vets return and are just fine. But it's a running theme that vets had it hard and, yeah, were bitter and broken. See Richard Erdman in Cry Danger for example.

Although the film noir during the classic era couldn't criticize the war (WWII) directly I think they often make a statement that "war is hell" and it does a hell of a thing to the mind. Something to think about when you see an old faded yellow ribbon magnet on a car (we "support our troops" but is anyone asking our leaders to stop sending them to war? Hell no. That'd be a sign of weakness. Let them loose a limb and I'll put a ribbon on my car.) America has almost forgotten we're at war... and our soldiers, sailors (and I was one back in the first Gulf War), airmen and Marines are coming back to a tough time.

Seeing John Garfield bumming it town to town looking for work at the beginning of The Postman Always Rings Twice always gives me a chill. There are a lot of homeless vets looking for work and a place to hang their hat (although none are lucky enough to run into Lana Turner. Then again, even that didn't work out too well!)

[Nighthawk]

A couple more films that deal with WWII vets, both of which use amnesia as a plot device:

The Clay Pigeon (1949)
The Crooked Way (1949)

Also: Steve-O, I think you're right on in your comments. My grandpa, who is still alive and will turn 92 this year, is a WWII vet who fought for 33 straight months in the Pacific. The Ghost Mountain Boys (http://www.amazon.com/The-Ghost-Moun...8178960&sr=1-3) is about his division. Although he got malaria five times, he managed to come home without any other physical problems, go to college on the GI bill, and become a successful engineer. However, I'm sure a lot of his fellow soldiers weren't so fortunate. He says that war was hell back then (and I'm sure it hasn't changed) -- the guys who were fighting on both sides would have much rather been at home with their families, like the politicians who weren't on the front lines but were instead making the decisions (from the comfort and safety provided by America's physical isolation from Europe and Japan) about where and when the soldiers would fight. I know this isn't really a space to get political (and I'm glad we generally avoid politics on this board), but I would just like to quickly say that I would like to see two things happen much sooner than later -- 1. The U.S. bring our troops home, and 2. Provide them with much better means to re-acclimate into society.

[Steve-O]

a couple more.

The Hitch-Hiker featured two army buddies now civilians on a road trip.

and The Killer is Loose and The Sniper we shouldn't forget either -- although the killers in both seem to have problems unrelated to serving. They're just unhinged for other reasons. Act of Violence, The Killer is Loose and Cry Danger have a lot in common actually, but TKIL is the weakest of the three.

[Surly]

He walked by Night features a disturbed veteran.

And there's another batch of films set in post-war Europe where soldiers have scores to settle, get involved in black market intrigue, etc. I'm thinking of films like Cornered and Berlin Express. Even Fuller's Verboten! from as late as 1959. The Third Man doesn't have an American G.I., but covers some of the same "unfinished business" territory.


Robert Ryan and Merle Oberon in Berlin Express

[waltermcwilliams]

As I often say, I am no scholar of noir, just a big fan. However, I am a vet, and I see in many of the noir male protagonists classic signs of PTSD. I always think this is intentional on the part of noir writers.

[Movie Memories]

A great list of films and some insightful sentiment regarding war. I too am a veteran (the Vietnam war) and will always have a great deal of appreciation for all vet's as their sacrifice is taken for granted by much too large a part of our society. But, Nighthawk is correct; this is not really a space to get political.

Provide them with much better means to re-acclimate into society.

I would certainly agree with this 100%.

[Muscle Mike]

The granddaddy noir of the PTSD-suffering veteran: In a Lonely Place


Veterans as central figures:
The Chase (PTSD, with doc for treatment too)
Pitfall (nice contrast made in the film between the son's playmate's father who served in combat and the Powell character who did not)
House of Bamboo
Ride the Pink Horse
The Crimson Kimono (Korean War, with focus on race relations)

Isn't the serial killer in Without Warning a veteran?

[Hard-Boiled-Rick]

Some others that come to mind...
The Phenix City Story (Karlson - 1955)
House of Bamboo (Fuller - 1955)

Also, don't forget the anonymous American 'civilians' who serve overseas on the front lines and behind enemy lines. You never know who they are and what they do, but they serve as an invisible force of patriots.

[Steve-O]

The granddaddy noir of the PTSD-suffering veteran: In a Lonely Place

How could we forget that one! I did vaguely remember the war service stuff in Pitfall too but I couldn't remember exactally who served and who didn't so I didn't mention it.

I read some clap trap online yesterday about how noirs didn't really focus on disillusionment of returning vets and this list above clearly makes a case that it was a central theme.

And sorry I got a little political above. I broke my own rule there... but Memorial day gets me every year....

[Nighthawk]

I read some clap trap online yesterday about how noirs didn't really focus on disillusionment of returning vets and this list above clearly makes a case that it was a central theme.

Yeah, no kidding. I didn't realize until I read through everyone's posts just how many noirs deal with this exact issue.

Also, as I was reading through this list, I was reminded that the videogame L.A. Noire, set in 1947 Los Angeles, deals extensively (and in ways both explicit and implicit) with the challenges and problems vets faced after returning home from WWII.

[Surly]

While I know why such rules exist, I don't mind politics entering in to the discussion. It only points to how shadowy, pulpy noir dealt with real world issues that earned Academy Awards for The Best Years of Our Lives.

And add Welle's The Stranger to my "unfinished business" sub-category.

[Muscle Mike]

Lots of films involving the veteran indeed. This returns us to something I posted a while back on sodium pentathol. This drug was the main treatment for what we now call PTSD (then called battle fatigue or battle exhaustion). The drug gets used in flashback form in many noirs, and also serves as a drug used by the underworld to get information or just simply to drug/narcotize a character.

See Huston's Let There be Light (1946) for a nice demonstration of how the drug acts to relieve posttraumatic stress.

http://www.latimes.com/videogallery/...there-be-Light

[waltermcwilliams]

How could we forget that one! ...

To busy watching Gloria Grahame!

[Surly]

In Five AGAINST THE HOUSE, Brian Keith's plays the violence-prone character "Brick". Brick is a Korean War veteran, who, according to Wikipedia, "suffers from the effects of a dissociative psychotic episode due to an ongoing battle with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)."

[Surly]

Richard Arlen (who was born today in 1899) stars in Identity Unknown (Walter Colmes, 1945), a psychological drama about a WW2 vet with amnesia.



From Wikipedia: During World War II four American soldiers defend a farmhouse against a German assault. With the farmhouse overrun, the area is bombed with three of the soldiers killed and burned beyond recognition whilst the fourth survives but has lost his memory.

Upon his discharge from the Army, the soldier returns to America and visits the families of all four soldiers to see if he can discover his identity and past.

That's almost accurate. The guy isn't discharged: apparently he goes AWOL.

[Surly]

Richard Arlen in a clip from Identity Unknown: