Gene Tierney in Whirlpool

Originally uploaded by rattlingdjs

This is a lovely, moody Film Noir featuring one of my favorite Film Noir/Melo actresses. Richard Conte plays her rich and kindly (though somehow smothering and sexist in the style of the day), husband. And Jose Ferrer is her smarmy "therapist." Gowns by Oleg Cassini, her husband. I love the opening scene in the department store. The director, Otto Preminger, creates a clean, spare look especially in the beginning of the film. Playing someone who is mentally unstable foreshadows Gene Tierney's own struggles with bipolar disorder and shock treatments. It is said that she had an affair with Jack Kennedy...my that fellow did get around. This is an absorbing film with great Noir performances, cinematography, fashionable sets and costumes, and some good plot twists and turns. Just another reason to love Noir!

I Wake Up Screaming

Well here we are at last...I Wake up Screaming (alternate title Hot Spot) with Victor Mature, Carole Landis and Betty Grable, not to mention the wonderful Laird Cregar (who died young, sadly), and everyone's favorite smarmy villian Elisha Cook, Jr. This black and white proto-noir is one of my favorites because of the chiariscuro lighting, the story, the direction by H. Bruce Humberstone, and cinematography by Edward Cronjager. It was made in 1941 and is definitely a visual delight. The opening interrogation scene takes you right into the story and the very odd swimming pool scene feels like a strange dream...night club scenes are witty and amusing, with funny bits by minor characters that remind me great of the great comedic antics of the two men traveling together in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes. Betty Grable may seem an unusual choice as a feminist icon who takes charge at just the right moments--it's before we saw her as the famous pinup girl in high heels. It's hard to explain the mesmerizing quality of this film....you've just gotta watch it!