Film Noir

Double Indemnity

March 20, 2015

Nobody knew they were making films noir when the genre started in the 40s — it wasn’t until much later when the French dubbed this new run of American films that had a darker bent with snappy dialogue, lots of shadows and femme fatales film noir. Billy Wilder was setting out to make a crime thriller; he didn’t realize at the time that his film “Double Indemnity” would be considered the first real film noir. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we begin our Film Noir series with Wilder’s brilliant film from 1944.

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The Night of the Hunter

August 2, 2013

Charles Laughton is most known for his larger than life performances in films from the 30s through the 60s, but he did have one chance to direct which came in the form of 1955’s The Night of the Hunter, a film he also co-wrote with James Agee based on the novel by Davis Grubb. Unfortunately for him, the film was a huge flop. Luckily for us, this quirky anomaly of a film has not only survived but has thrived — it is now critically praised and generally considered to be a classic film.

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The Killing

July 5, 2013

Stanley Kubrick’s 3rd film, “The Killing,” was a box office bomb due to a poor release plan from United Artists and virtually no marketing. Luckily, the film was critically praised and has grown in stature since its release in 1956. It’s a film noir about a race track heist gone wrong with the fantastic Sterling Hayden leading the charge, and the last film in our Heist series. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we finish this series with Kubrick’s early classic.

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The Asphalt Jungle

February 8, 2013

When people list off caper films, it’s a long list that comes to mind – Ocean’s Eleven, Rififi, The Killing, The Ladykillers, Kelly’s Heroes, The Italian Job, The Usual Suspects, even more recently Inception – but the film that really kicked it all off was 1950s masterpiece, The Asphalt Jungle. John Huston co-adapted W. R. Burnett’s novel and turned it into one of his greatest directorial achievements, a story of a group of criminals working hard to pull off the perfect heist only to have everything fall apart in the end.

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The Maltese Falcon

January 18, 2013

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, this week join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we talk about one of the most unforgettable films in the history of cinema, “The Maltese Falcon.” As a part of our periodic and ongoing John Huston series, this is a film we’ve looked forward to talking about for a great long while.

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