To Have and Have Not (1944)

To Have and Have Not (1944) is a Hemingway adaptation Howard Hawks Humphrey Bogart Lauren Bacall romaticn war adventure noir classic romance Hoagy Carmihcael historic appearance American expatriate French resistance volatile and memorably quotable 40s freelancing fisherman classic of the silver screen whistling and Casablance Part Two "was you ever bit by a dead bee" hot chemistry deriviate to the point of strange mini classic of the era, with Sheldon Leonard, Walter Surovy, Marcel Dalio, Walter Sande, Dan Seymour, and Paul Marion.

I'll Be Seeing You (1944)

The Joseph Cotten season drifts on like a welcome breeze, bringing pleasure to all who linger in its shade and now it carries us to yet another film illuminated by his steady, elegant presence, oh his oeuvre, it containeth gems.

I'll Be Seeing You (1944) is a returning veteran PTSD Christmas romance and recovery lost souls and trauma themed prisoner of love during wartime date rape drama of past secrets and emotional struggle, voiceover, and prison movie of a kind, starring Ginger Rogers and Joseph Cotten, as well as Shirlet Temple, directed it is said by both William Dieterle and George Cukor, and produced to the high emotional standards of David O. Selznick, and while not in sense nor measure nor capacity nor style at all a film noir, is a film which does feature a manslaughter or murder and clings close to themes of PTSD and past secrets, most darkly and commonly explored by film noir at this moment, and so with Joseph Cotten commanding an excellent performance, and Ginger Rogers excellently exploring violence against women and rape culture, is clearly an honorary film noir.

The Halfway House (1944)

The magic of the cinematic British dreamer's war against the World War is best expressed and exposed in today's contribution to the Classic Film Noir Basil Dearden Season.

The Halfway House (1944) is a Basil Dearden magical and psychological fantasy comic war-time time-travelling redemption and reverie and realisation ensemble mystery poetic haunted pub drama of ghosts and idylls and pasts hidden and difficult relationships and grief, and wartime spirit tested in the most inventive and spiritual manner, set in an Arcadian wartime Welsh countryside, and starring Glynis Johns, Tom Walls, Françoise Rosay, as well as the resplendent and pastorally beneficent dominion of Cambria.

The Uninvited (1944)

The Ray Milland Season Advances at a Crawl

The Uninvited (1944) is a supernatural clifftop haunted house, Cornish clifftop haunted house paranoid woman writer as hero portraits in noir gothic horror ghost chiller love and romance drama with a dog shot by Lewis Allen and starring Ray Milland, Gail Russell, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp, Alan Napier, and Cornelia Otis Skinner.

Few films of the 1940s reach the uncanny stillness and dignified unease as well as the fantastic silliness and dignified quease of The Uninvited (1944). 

Cry of the Werewolf (1944)

Cry of the Werewolf (1944) is a she-wolf werewolf cry of the Alsatian forties Romany-defacing uberwald supernatural proto horror lady lycanthrope darkened corridors-style thriller from the golden era of the classic film noir period of the silver screen, and although no noir to speak of, the crossover themes, designs and elements of the forties horror style and canon is so film noir adjacent that someone must appeal to the strain of horror to full understand the high standards of the film noir of the day, and it stars Nina Foch and Fritz Leiber, and was directed by Henry Levin.

Everything that we are seeing on these silver sets is a product of the formation of cinema, and the sets are the full epic of the era, hand built for thrills and lighting.

Bluebeard (1944)

Bluebeard (1944) is a historical woman-killer misogynist murder mystery artist and psychopath film noir from the Producers Releasing Corporation directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring John Carradine.

Edgar G. Ulmer's Bluebeard (1944) exists as an eerie artefact of Poverty Row filmmaking, elevated by its German Expressionist cinematography and the morbid charisma of John Carradine. The film, produced by the minuscule PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation), manages to overcome the material limitations of its budget through a meticulously cultivated atmosphere of gloom and psychological torment. 

Experiment Perilous (1944)

Experiment Perilous (1944) is a historical melodrama lousy husband suspicious couple insane jealousy film noir tale of  shattered glass, gushing water and floundering fish noir, yes aquarium film noir, and a crazy virtual prisoner drama of noirish proportions.

Tis indeed a film noir which is of those high-class nightmares wrapped in velvet, but make no mistake—it’s got a black heart beating under all that lush, shadow-soaked atmosphere. It’s a tale of gaslight and doom, where dames aren’t sure if they’re crazy or just trapped, and every smooth-talking gent’s got a trick up his sleeve.

The story kicks off when square-jawed psychiatrist Dr. Huntington Bailey (George Brent) stumbles into a real honey of a mess. A train ride and a chance meeting lead him straight into the twisted world of rich and refined Nick Bederaux (Paul Lukas), a husband with a mind like a steel trap and a grip on his wife, Allida (Hedy Lamarr), so tight it’s choking the life outta her. She’s a knockout with trouble in her eyes, and Bailey starts wondering if she’s really losing her marbles—or if her charming hubby is playing a slow, deadly game.

Double Indemnity (1944)

Double Indemnity (1944) is the super-famous mutha-of-all-noir stylish insurance fraud double murder classic film noir thriller that stands central to all commentary, criticism, focus and definition of the great noir style of the 1940s, and the production which is usually cited as the best example of the medium, the finest of all noirs, the apogee of the instance of the style, and the exemplification and blueprint were it needed of all the thousands of brimming wonders of production that made up the hugely powerful film noir movement.

The frightening and exciting weakness of sex was never better shown than in the encounters between Fred MacMurray and a to-begin-with naked Barbara Stanwyck, whom as equals it seems, concoct a murder for the existential fact of morality take over and trip them both up.

The Whistler (1944)

The Whistler (1944) is a murder-suicide hitman noir and the first of the The Whistler film noir film serial series, and is directed by William Castle and stars Richard Dix.

If there were ever a serial with a film noir theme or a film noir touch and style, and one of course from the Golden Age of movie serial adventures, it was The Whistler.

The Whistler is great because we never see The Whistler themselves, but we see their shadow, which is a most film noir manner of appearance, and this character, invisible and present, does speak to the noir losers and saps that are the heroes of these films, always and with one exception played by Richard Dix. 

Lifeboat (1944)

Lifeboat (1944) is an Alfred Hitchcock John Steinbeck wartime drama-of-limited-setting Nazi paranoia romance with occasional noir reminiscent moments and qualities, although largely a stand alone and unique tension and romance drama of amputation and elegance, class-clashes and peril.

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock,  ce filme la the awesome and always enjoyable and atmospheric Lifeboat is a gripping American survival film based on a story by John Steinbeck. Set entirely on a lifeboat adrift in the Atlantic during World War II, the movie explores the complexities of human nature under extreme circumstances.

The film opens with the aftermath of a naval battle: a British ship and a German U-boat have sunk each other. Eight survivors from different backgrounds find themselves crammed into a lifeboat. Among them is Willi, a German U-boat crewman who is pulled aboard. 

Dead Man's Eyes (1944)

Dead Man's Eyes (1944) is a horror thriller artist-goes-blind murder love triangle film noir from the Inner Sanctum series of the 1940s, starring Lon Chaney Jr and Jean Parker.

Fairly silly and not universally enjoyed, Dead Man's Eyes (1944) is a basic production to say the least, and is fairly static in terms of its acting and direction, and so quite easy to see why it is not so widely enjoyed as other films noir might still be.

Indeed, for a love triangle picture it is even hard to imagine any of the characters having any true feeling for each other, but then in a cinematic landscape where nothing makes total sense, then nothing particularly matters either.

The Conspirators (1944)

The Conspirators (1944) is an espionage and resistance romance and adventure film noir made by Jean Negulesco, and starring Hedy Lamarr and Paul Henreid.

Despite its wartime time and the complexities of wartime spying and resistance and the very real and sometimes unreal presence of the Nazis, the set-up of this wartime noir is classicly typical of the style - - a man and a woman, both of whom are fleeing from their pasts, accidentally meet and he falls for her - - big time.

A chance meeting, indicative of the noirish fate of many a wartime film noir protagonist. He in particular feels that the past can never harm them, and urges his new love to forget it.

Guest In The House (1944)

Guest in the House (1944) is a psychological film noir melodrama in which a young manipulative woman moves in with her fiancé's family and turns a happy household against itself.

Guest in the House — which was later re-released under the salacious, demeaning and slightly orgiastic title of Satan in Skirts — was directed by John Brahm and stars Anne Baxter and Ralph Bellamy, with support from Marie McDonald 

In this sensual and somewhat slow-burning domestic film noir fable, the character of Evelyn Heath (Anne Baxter) arrives in the home of the extended family of her smitten fiancé, Dan Proctor (played by Scott McKay) somewhere on the New England coast, hoping for a recuperative summer.

The scenery is reminiscent of many a woman's picture of the era, with high cliffs and crashing waves, the first being suggestive of suicide, and the later suggestive of emotional turmoil.

Laura (1944)

Laura (1944) is a classic murder mystery web of love film noir drama of meagre and unhealthy male obsession directed by Otto Preminger, starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb and Vincent Price.

The premise of the story is that three men are fixated on the one woman, Laura Hunt, and as the story starts we visit one of those men — Waldo Lydecker, played by Clifton Webb — in the company of another of them, the young cop Mark McPherson, played by Dana Andrews.

The classic film noir flashback structure allows for a multitude of mystery and nonstandard storytelling, much of this confused by the fact that Waldo Lydecker is a brittle and caustic storyteller in himself — he is a famous columnist and aside from the power that he wields — typing his sometimes vitriolic and career-ending columns for his bathtub — he is in fact a weaver of tales himself and as such should not be trusted.

Gaslight (1944)

Gaslight (1944) is an historical psychological and ever topical film noir drama by George Cukor, starring Ingrid Bergman, and based on a play by writer Patrick Hamilton.

While an engaging and massively popular item of historical drama, Gaslight (1944) is probably most remarkable as a cultural point of reference for the denominalisation of its title — to become the term 'gaslighting' — an aspect of psychological abuse generally within couples such as this — an abusive and controlling male.

To serve it its proper definition and coinage, gaslighting proper is a form of psychological abuse in which a person or group causes someone to question their own sanity, memories, or perception of reality. And this is, to quote the film's period poster: (the) strange drama of a captive sweetheart!

People who experience gaslighting will feel confused, anxious, or as though they cannot trust themselves, exactly as Ingrid Bergman portrays in this movie.

Address Unknown (1944)

Address Unknown (1944) is a straight-up and fresh slice of anti-Nazi noir.

Straighter than most, because the one thing that Address Unknown is not, is a propaganda picture.

What Address Unknown (1944) serves instead is a more realistic and even intimate discussion of anti-Semitic behaviour under the Third Reich.

While still spinning with high velocity paranoia around the evils of Nazis and their totalitarian hatreds.

And Hitler is singled out, as is his anti-Jewish society which is presented in a rarely un-blinkered and un-varnished way.

The real hero of the film is K.T. Stevens, who plays Griselle Eisenstein — otherwise and more helpfully known on the stage as Griselle Stone.

She is the power, and her character is the prime mover in forcing out the massive quantities of paranoia created by the new German state.

It is an immense performance, and for the 1940s, the subject is handled with aplomb, and with film noir artistry.

Christmas Holiday (1944)

The Christmas Holidays are the perfect time for film noir. Christmas stories are after all always about redemption ― while film noir deals directly with betrayal, failure, and loss.

There are a few film noirs set during the season, including Christmas Holiday, They Live By Night, and Mr. Soft Touch.

World War 2 is so important to the film noir style that emerged in that decade, because it wasn’t all about the great optimism and patriotism that applied to the drive for victory. There was of course also a dark, corrupt universe to describe, and it portrayed a cultural dark side, an underside to the image of goodness.

The whole Christmas genre in fact showed individuals who would come to value the importance of life, while film noir did the opposite. The forces of nature, whether they were attraction, compulsion or pure criminality, always exposed the underside.

Christmas Holiday (1944) has a compelling yet strange narrative structure. It is unusual in that it portrays a story told to an innocent at Christmas time. The hero of the film ― the young soldier who has just graduated from military school, is unceremoniously dumped by his sweetheart, and then by a further twist of fate finds himself stranded in New Orleans ― itself partially representative of America’s own American Nightmares.

The Suspect (1944)

In London in 1902, An unhappily married Charles Laughton falls for a delightfully prim Ella Raines.

The result ― is MURDER.

At least that is the conclusion of the police force, in The Suspect (1944), a faintly suspect film noir in its own right, and a movie which relies heavily on the talents of the two leads, Charles Laughton and Ella Raines.

It is in fact difficult to see what might be left to enjoy, were these two high quality talents were to be removed form The Suspect, and replaced with lesser mortals.

Charles Laughton was always a star, and enlivened any production he appeared in, even if it were as pedestrian as this one. And Ella Raines has her own star quality ― not just her grace and beauty, but communicative skills which shine across the decades, giving her a uniquely compelling quality ― unique because it is not based on either sex appeal, or some lurking maternal quality.

And that is unique, and perhaps something to be celebrated.

Rope of Sand (1944)

Rope of Sand is an action-adventure movie with film noir elements, featuring Burt Lancaster, who certainly was one of the film-noir kings of the 1940s.

Although it sometimes appears on lists of film noir titles, Rope of Sand isn’t urban, it isn’t psychological, it doesn’t feature much of those well-known shadowy cinematic elements, and its femme fatale turns on her heels fairly quickly, changing from a manipulative and greedy cheat, into a loving and caring amour, on the basis of a coup-de-foudre attack of love.

Corinne Calvet, who plays the femme fatale turned girl-next-door, Suzanne had an interesting, but rather unsatisfactory career. She made over thirty films, but the vast majority of people will have heard of none of them. 

And most actors who have worked for forty years in Hollywood will have been in at least one major production.

Corrine Calvet’s entrance in Rope of Sand is stunning, however. She vamps in and immediately attempts to abuse Claude Rains in the worst way possible ― tousling herself up after blagging her way into his hotel room, she announces that if he doesn’t give her money, she’ll say he raped her. 

When this doesn’t work, she reveals her true colours as a prostitute and then actually offers herself for money.

The Lodger (1944)

The 1944 film The Lodger, starring Merle Oberon, Laird Cregar and George Sanders, is a fine example of movie making splendour, ponderously piling suspicion upon suspicion in a brave attempt to create suspense.

The Lodger doesn't fail at all, however, and in spite of some ropey material at times, the three above mentioned leads act their socks off, and are watchable for every second of their screen time.

Less convincing are the cookie-cut Cockneys, the London bobbies in the fog and the behind-the-scenes antics at the music hall, up until the finale of course, which takes place in and around the eaves of a theatre.

It is an epic climax, and worth the wait, something of a classic even. Laird Cregar delivers so much in every scene, it is hard to keep your eyes off him. He is a little like Charles Laughton, an actor born to this, and able to win the viewer with the most subtle and considered acting.

Laird Cregar is indeed fantastic, and gives the performance of his short, short life. He would die in the year of this movie's release, 1944, and aged only 31.