Noir City City Chicago 2010 Continues

[Night Editor]

Daniel Kelly reports from the front seats on Day 2:

"Today, I returned to the Music Box Theater to revisit two familiar films, "Nightmare Alley" and "Gun Crazy." In addition to both movies having lengthy sequences set on the carnival circuit, the films also have other points of commonality: both movies received some initial critical praise, but failed to meet their producers' expectations at the box office; in subsequent years, however, both movies were rediscovered by critics and the public and gained greater respect as genuine "cult classics."

Alan K. Rode played the role of the accomplished raconteur as he regaled the audience with production and cast notes for the films before holding a question and answer session with the audience members. With reference to "Gun Crazy," I am still somewhat amazed that Peggy Cummins never managed to achieve full fledged stardom in Hollywood. She appeared in a number of prestige pictures made with "A" budgets, but never fully prospered while under contract to Fox studios. Perhaps the decision to remove Cummins from the title role in "Forever Amber," which was to be her American debut film, in favor of Linda Darnell, deprived her of her first and last best chance to become a household name. Soon after her appearance in "Gun Crazy," Cummins returned to home to Great Britain and thereafter worked in English films exclusively. Cinematic fame and success proved equally elusive for John Dall. For Cummins and Dall, "Gun Crazy" proved to be the pinnacle of their Hollywood careers.

The Blacklist curtailed the careers of many of the supporting players in "Gun Crazy," including Virginia Farmer, Nedrick Young, and Morris Carnovsky. Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo's contributions to the script were concealed by the use of a writer serving as a front. According to Alan K. Rode, Millard Kaufman admitted that he had not contributed anything to the screenplay that Trumbo co-wrote with MacKinlay Kantor and that he had never even watched the completed film until decades later. The King brothers, who produced the film, further exploited Trumbo, who was facing a prison term for contempt of Congress, by paying a flat fee of $3,500.00 for his services on the script.

As Rode noted, both "Gun Crazy" and "Nightmare Alley" are not films that are likely to be threatened by a lack of archival preservation efforts. The two films have remained popular and are in great demand for film festivals and retrospectives. The longterm unavailability of "Nightmare Alley" on videotape or DVD only served to heighten interest in the film.

I had forgotten how much of "Nightmare Alley" was set in Chicago. The audience laughed aloud when Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power) referred to the money to be made by swindling the gullible among "lakeshore and Lake Forest mob." Previously, I had written about the number of scenes which were set in the former Sherman House hotel, which was recreated on Hollywood soundstage. The movie also made ample use of second unit or stock footage of important streets in the Chicago Loop and theater district. Much of this footage was utilized by means of rear screen projection while the characters used taxis to traverse the city.

"Nightmare Alley" is one of the bleakest entries in the film noir canon and the author of the original novel, William Lindsay Gresham, inhabited a world as dark and desolate as anything in the life or literature of Cornell Woolrich. Gresham's life was marred by alcoholism and multiple suicide attempts. His first wife, the poet Joy Davidman, eventually fled from her abusive husband and, later, married C. S. Lewis. Suffering from blindness and cancer, Gresham finally succeeded in taking his own life in 1962.

Two of the performers in "Nightmare Alley" saw their own careers suffer due to their offscreen personal battles with the bottle, namely, Ian Keith and Helen Walker. Keith, who was too fond of the night life, was a former leading man on Broadway who specialized in historical costume dramas in Hollywood. While he was in his cups, he was reduced to accepting supporting roles and bit parts in "B" films. While Keith somehow managed to work more or less regularly by never refusing a job, he oftentimes found himself appearing opposite the Bowery Boys or hamming it up in the "Dick Tracy" series or some cheap and utterly forgettable horror films from PRC. "Nightmare Alley" represented one of those occasions when Keith was assigned a supporting role in an "A" picture. The beautiful Helen Walker's career tailspin began after she was involved in a major automobile accident. In addition to suffering her own serious injuries, one of Walker's passengers was killed and allegations were made that the actress had been driving while intoxicated. She worked sporadically after 1950, but by the time of her death in 1968, at the age of forty-seven, Walker had not been employed as an actress in over seven years.

As I watched the films in the theater, I was struck by the number of recognizable character actors in both films, including many uncredited performers, such as George Chandler, Roy Roberts, Ray Teal and so many more. Upon returning home, I eagerly began paging through Rode's biography of Charles McGraw, another great character actor.

Chicago author and historian Richard C. Lindberg was in attendance today. Last year, Lindberg helped to introduce "Call Northside 777" and provided background information on the actual miscarriage of justice in the criminal courts and the newspaper expose' series which inspired the production of the motion picture."

[Night Editor]

Daniel Kelly on Day 3...

"Today, Noir City featured two character studies of deeply flawed individuals who made all of the wrong moves and both ended up paying the price. One ended up in police custody, the other face down in the gutter.

One of the best things about this year's festival is another opportunity to watch films that I have never seen before. In my case, five of ten festival film selections were entirely new to me. It is also a treat to be able to watch some of my favorite films in a 35mm format on a full sized theater screen as opposed to a television set. The programmers for Noir City do a fairly good job in choosing outstanding titles that are not available for rental or purchase and which seldom air on television or cable stations.

I have read and heard about "He Ran All The Way" for many years, but today was my first look at John Garfield's final screen appearance. Similarly, I had never seen Mickey Rooney in "Drive a Crooked Road."

My initial reaction to both movies was that it was an exceedingly rare thing to see Shelley Winter and Mickey Rooney playing quiet, somewhat subdued characters. Both performers usually seem to play over the top characters who are quite loud. For my money, Winters began pumping up the volume in her later years after she became established while Rooney was always given to overacting. In fairness to Rooney, he was capable of toning it down, of course, but it seemed as if casting directors seldom gave him too many opportunities to do so. It was also good to see familiar actors like Norman Lloyd, Wallace Ford and Kevin McCarthy in supporting roles.

"Drive a Crooked Road" invited obvious comparisons to "Quicksand" (I have not seen Rooney in "The Big Wheel" which also has race car sequences). The characters of Eddie Shannon and Dan Brady are quite different, however, in terms of their temperaments. Shannon is a forlorn and lonely man who is set up by a woman while Brady's overconfidence in Irving Pichel's "Quicksand" proves to be a contributing factor in his undoing. Yes, there are femme fatales in both films, but in "Drive a Crooked Road" Shannon is enticed and tempted to participate in a crime while Brady actively pursues a woman that he would have been wiser to avoid. One man courted trouble, the other had the misfortune of having trouble find him. "Drive a Crooked Road" is a neat and trim little feature without a wasted frame.

"He Ran All The Way" was an independent production distributed by United Artists. I was left wondering if Garfield and his associates had to go this route because none of the major studios were willing to back them due to the proceedings before the House Unamerican Activities Committee. After the picture wrapped, Garfield never worked again. He died within eleven months of his final film's release date.

In any event, it was a marvelous performance in which Garfield's character (Nick Robey) continually undermines his position due to his sudden and violent mood swings and his unwillingness to trust people. His own bad choices result in his complete undoing. With a mother as awful as Gladys George, who I best remember for her imitation of Texas Guinan in "The Roaring Twenties," it is easy to see why Garfield turned to a life of crime. "He Ran All The Way" also benefitted from having some major talents under contract, including composer Franz Waxman and cinematographer James Wong Howe.

A digression, is Pabst Blue Ribbon the preferred beer of the golden age of noir? Did Pabst have an early product placement agreement in Tinseltown? It is Gladys' beer of choice. It seems to me that whenever an actual label is seen for beer as opposed to a fake brand name, it is usually Pabst.

Alan K. Rode completed his hosting duties following the afternoon matinee and Foster Hirsch arrived to serve as the Master of Ceremonies for the remainder of the festival program. One of the nicest things about the festival is the opportunity to speak with such talented authors.

I have several chapters to go, but I am quite enjoying Rode's biography of Charles McGraw. I was also able to tell Hirsch how much I liked his book "The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir," which I purchased at last year's Noir City. I complimented Hirsch on his amazing attention to detail. When one considers at the time he was writing this seminal book on the genre, he was working without the benefit of a video cassette player or a remote control device with pause, still, fast forward or rewind buttons. Writing about so many movies solely from memory was no small feat. Hirsch had to actually arrange private screenings of the movies in various projection rooms, sometimes visiting the Library of Congress to do so. Hirsch told me that my observations about his writing process were correct. It is also interesting to note that at the time that he was shopping his book proposal to potential publishers, he had to argue as to why there would be a potential audience for such a book. Things have improved markedly for noirheads in the intervening years."

[Harry Fabian]

I just got back home last night after a few days in the Chicago area. I was able to attend Day 1 and Day 3 of Noir City. I viewed the matinee showing of "Cry Danger" with Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming. The film was a FNF restoration project and looked great on the big screen. The Music Box is a much larger theater than the multiplexes of today, and sitting in the first half of rows was essential to get a good view in my opinion. The audience was a little smaller and a little older-it being only 5:15 on a Friday night. However, it was very knowledgeable and respectful-except for the guy who tried to provide his own noir "ambience" by smoking a cigarette during the entire show!

The second film feature was "The City That Never Sleeps", considered a highlight of the event due to its rarity and being shot in Chicago. As it is not on dvd and rarely shown, it was imperative that I see this film. The theater was jam-packed with a mixture of young, middle age, and older adults. Alan K. Rode kicked off the festivities for this film and was informative, entertaining, enthusiastic, and accessible. A scary moment occurred when the film broke about 20 minutes in. However, this only film print was quickly repaired and we enjoyed the show with no further technical difficulties. Alan K. Rode provided more info at the end and took some good questions. We stuck around for his intro to the second showing of "Cry Danger" then headed out. Was hoping to get a photograph of the neon sign of the Music Box, but it had just rained and with water dripping off the trees everywhere, I was unwilling to risk my camera.

Day Three was Sunday. I attended both matinees. The first film was "He Ran All the Way" with John Garfield. During this movie we ran into a problem with one of these younger "inappropriate laughers". He was laughing at EVERYTHING, and unlike some noirs, there is really not any light-hearted moments at all in this film. I was going to move, but he was so loud and attendance was kinda low for a nice Sunday afternoon, that it would have made little difference. So, I turned around and made eye contact. I told him that he needed to shut up. He was acted all surprised and said "What?", "Why?". I then used my eyes to convey very sternly the kind of trouble he was courting and again told him he needed to shut up. And largely he did. Enough for me to enjoy the film. It's a good thing too, because I do not know if the Music Box staff would have made him shut up. My wife is an attorney, so she could have sprung me if I needed to impose some manners on this guy. Fortunately, it did not come to that.

The second film Sunday was "Drive a Crooked Road"- Mickey Rooney noir! Another film not on dvd, it was a priority to see. Not your typical noir in that it is mostly set in the bright sun of California. But Mickey Rooney's character (Eddie Shannon) is established early on, and when the extremely sexy Dianne Foster shows an interest in him, it is really obvious that she wants SOMETHING from him-Eddie seems to sense this too, but all the attention from the pretty girl overpowers any concerns he might have. Eventualy we are let in on the scheme. This film could have ended not too badly for all involved save for one broken heart, but this is noir, after all. It's an interesting contrast to the "City That Never Sleeps" ending.

Alan K. Rode was the host again for both matinees providing interesting stories and trivia and ably answering lots of questions. He was completely unflappable during some minor glitches such as lights or microphones going out during his presentations-a true pro. He also talked to other fans in the lobby before, in between, and after.

I had to go to Michigan afterwards for family business so I was unable to attend any more films this year, but I am hoping for a Noir 3 and being able to see every film there. I live 4 hours away so I would need to plan a little vacation around it. Everything was very well-done there. My only complaint would be a lack of a program of any kind for the festival. I bought the glossy one from the San Francisco Festival, but it would be nice to have something specific for Chicago. Doesn't have to be fancy or glossy-just some info about the films playing. Makes for a nice souvenir.

There are still two days left in the festival, so if anyone is thinking of going, I highly recommend it. The Music Box is a beautiful theater and a great place to watch a film.

[Bob]

During this movie we ran into a problem with one of these younger "inappropriate laughers". He was laughing at EVERYTHING, and unlike some noirs, there is really not any light-hearted moments at all in this film. I was going to move, but he was so loud and attendance was kinda low for a nice Sunday afternoon, that it would have made little difference. So, I turned around and made eye contact. I told him that he needed to shut up. He was acted all surprised and said "What?", "Why?". I then used my eyes to convey very sternly the kind of trouble he was courting and again told him he needed to shut up. And largely he did. Enough for me to enjoy the film. It's a good thing too, because I do not know if the Music Box staff would have made him shut up.

If the Music Box staff let someone smoke through out an entire film, then they are certainly not going to do anything with a "laugher." I 'm surprised that someone in the the audience didn't lay a 2X4 upside the smoker's head. As for these hipsters who think everything is supposed to be for their post modern amusement, theaters should have an old fashioned wooden stock in the lobby for guys like that.

[Night Editor]

Daniel Kelly on Day Four...

"We have been enjoying an interesting film program in Chicago, which has included some genuine classics, cult favorites, as well as a few rarities. Tonight's two titles were quite good and featured some major talents and good supporting players as well.

Chicago theater patrons responded in kind. Tonight probably represented the second largest turnout of the festival. While the head count probably did not approach that of opening night, it was quite respectable for a week night. When one considers that a baseball game crowd added to the congestion in the immediate neighborhood at the same time, it was a good sized audience, indeed.

Before the first film of the night began, I had an opportunity to talk with Foster Hirsch and he was very enthusiastic about the remaining films in the festival series, especially "Sudden Fear" and tomorrow's showing of "Cry of the City." I suspect that Professor Hirsch's students enjoy his classroom film lectures immensely.

While we were talking together, our conversation turned to the first film of the evening "Don't Bother to Knock." This competent feature was directed by Roy Ward Baker (billed simply as "Roy Baker") and featured Richard Widmark, Anne Bancroft, Elisha Cook, Jr. and Marilyn Monroe. I mentioned to Hirsch how unsettling Monroe's performance felt to me in light of the history of mental illness in Norma Jean Baker's own family. Hirsch agreed and, during his introductory remarks to the audience, he stated how Anne Bancroft described how "harrowing" it was to see Monroe enacting her role of a mentally disturbed woman. It bordered upon cinema verite.

If you are unfamiliar with the movie, there are moments when you are left wondering is Monroe is simply acting or using unhappy memories from her own life to enhance her performance. The only similar sense of cinematic discomfort that I can recall occurred when I saw Lon Chaney, Jr., playing the part of a criminal defendant being quizzed by an alienist who was trying to determine whether or not he was sane enough to be tried for a capital offense. At one point, Chaney was asked a series of badgering questions about being beaten in an orphanage. It you are familiar with Chaney's biography, you would know, of course, that following his mother's attempted suicide and his parents' ugly contested divorce he was required to live in a California state home until his actor father could establish a sufficient income to support his son.

Foster Hirsch explained to the audience how this minor Fox production was an important stepping stone in Marilyn Monroe's career. The studio was testing the actress to see if she could carry off bigger assignments and Monroe passed the test. This picture marks one of the last times when Monroe appeared on film minus her trademarked studio extreme makeover. Her platinum blond look is completely absent here.

One of the societal changes that is included in "Don't Bother to Knock" that differs so much from the present day is the fact that once upon a time many people actually resided in hotels as their permanent abodes. When I was young, I used to associate hotels with holiday travel and vacation time. Since I have been watching too many Cornell Woolrich adaptations, hotels now seem somewhat more foreboding and sinister to me.

The main event was the showing of "Sudden Fear" which featured Joan Crawford, Jack Palance and Gloria Grahame. It is interesting to see how the film begins in the bright sunlight while the action is set on Broadway and during a romantic transcontinental railroad journey. As the scene shifts to San Francisco, things darken considerably. Hirsch observed that Crawford, who began her film career during the Silent Era, really managed to convey a wide range of emotions solely through her facial expressions.

Before the film started, Hirsch issued a stern threat to the audience. He said that if "Sudden Fear" did not receive a standing ovation after its conclusion then the entire film would be shown to the class again!

Afterwards, Hirsch noted that the audience seemed to appreciate the movie and did not treat the picture as so much "camp" from Joan Crawford. As he noted, there are moments of scripted comic relief in "Sudden Fear" and the audience responded with laughter when appropriate, but, by and large, the feature was treated with due respect.

I was somewhat amazed to learn from Hirsch's general remarks that New York City does not have an equivalent movie theater comparable to the Music Box. Chicago must be fortunate in this respect to have several theaters that sometimes show older films, foreign subjects or art house pictures. I take it that New York retrospectives tend to be held in academic or museum type settings.

Tomorrow, Chicago Noir City 2 concludes with two films by Robert Siodmak."

[Night Editor]

It's a wrap. Many thanks to Daniel Kelly for the reports, including this one on the final night...

"The Noir City festival week has flown by quickly and concluded with "Fly By Night" a minor effort from screenwriter Jay Dratler and director Robert Siodmak. Both men had bigger projects in their futures as the noir cycle reached its apex during the Forties. Dratler's writing credits would include "Laura," "The Dark Corner," "Call Northside 777," "Pitfall" and "Impact." As for Siodmak, he would go on to direct "The Phantom Lady," "The Killers," "Criss Cross," and so many others. One of Siodmak's best films "Cry of the City" was the main feature tonight.

For the sake of accuracy, Noir City was here for a full week, but, as stated previously, two days were given over to encore performances of certain films. Your correspondent did manage to take in all ten of the scheduled films over the course of five days.

"Cry of the City" was adapted from the novel "The Chair for Martin Rome" by Henry Helseth. Richard Murphy received the writer's credit for the screenplay, but the former Chicago newspaperman and ace Hollywood script doctor, Ben Hecht, was responsible for revising the script. Amazingly enough, "Cry of the City" was not included in the Fox Film Noir collection and it is not readily available in the USA. I was able to see when Gordon Gates secured a copy of a European release for me to look at. The fact that "Cry of the City" is available for purchase and rental in Spain, but not here is positively mystifying. While Robert Siodmak directed many top flight film noir features, "Cry of the City" may well be his most lyrical offering. It is absolutely brilliant.

Having seen "Manhattan Melodrama" during a special screening in July, I will admit that there are some similarities between the plots of both pictures, but I would not go as far as to concur with the suggestion that "Cry of the City" is a remake of the earlier gangster film that is best remembered as being the film that was playing during John Dillinger's final visit to the cinema. "Cry of the City" recycles many plot elements that have almost become cliches in crime melodramas. In the hands of a lesser directer, cast and crew, "Cry of the City" could have become an easily dismissed and forgettable film. The same could also have been true of D. W. Griffith's "The Way Down East" which was a drama that almost hearkened back to the proscenium arch era of stage plays. Both films managed to be the apogee of their particular archetypes. "Cry of the City" reworks many common plot devices that we have all watched a dozen times before, but it never feels stale. The audience was positively riveted during the screening that I attended.

The cast of the film was uniformly excellent. I was surprised when Foster Hirsch revealed that production notes indicated that Victor Mature, who played the cop, and Richard Conte, who played the criminal, were initially considered for playing their opposite numbers on screen! Conte was letter perfect as Martino Roma a/k/a Martin Rome, so much so that the script had to include repeated references to his criminality in order to appease the censors. Conte's portrayal of Rome is so charismatic that audiences almost wanted him to succeed. In a sense, much of the plot is about two first generation Italians who probably grew up together in an ethnic ghetto. While Victor Mature's character, Candella, became a police lieutenant, Rome opted to become a career criminal who chased after women and good times with stolen money. Rome has an undeniable seductive charm and usually manages to manipulate women into doing his bidding.

The supporting cast is excellent: Tito Vuolo plays the immigrant father (what else?), Walter Baldwin is a jail house trustee, Roland Winters, who succeeded Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan at Monogram Pictures, is a corrupt jail guard, Shelley Winters is one of the many names in Rome's encyclopedic black book, Konstantin Shayne is an unlicensed physician working in the shadows, Fred Clark is a police detective, Berry Kroeger is the most unethical shyster imaginable, and words cannot begin to describe Hope Emerson. Fifteen year old, Debra Paget made her screen debut as Rome's latest love interest.

Portions of "Cry of the City" were filmed on location in New York while other exteriors were photographed on the Fox backlot. The director of photography, Lloyd Ahern, did a remarkable job especially when one considers that he only worked on two noir themed pictures during his lengthy career. Lionel Newman's musical score recycles "City Scene" one of the all purpose musical themes used repeatedly in Fox films. Most of the movie, however, relies upon sound effects to convey the noises of motor traffic and the city rather than a blaring background musical score.

The audience for "Cry of the City" really seemed to appreciate the film. The projectionist had a very good 35mm print to screen which was a big plus. For a second straight night, there was a respectably large audience on hand. While the numbers would not necessarily compare to a noir festival crowd at the Castro Theater in San Francisco, it was still a good turn out.

All in all, it was a very good week in Chicago and a good time was had by all. Unless, of course, you were rooting for character actor Berry Kroeger, who got worked over in two of the ten films.

The show goes on as the Film Noir Foundation continues its good work. Lest you think that I am going to begin suffering withdrawal symptoms, "The Strange of Love of Martha Ivers" will be featured at a matinee the Portage Theater next week and "The Hollow Triumph" will be shown in September. The Music Box Theater will feature a weekend series of films directed by Jacques Tourneur and Edward Dmytryk's "Sniper" will be coming a few week later. I will manage."