Second Track

                       Made in 1962 this relatively obscure East German Noir reflects the internal tension which existed within the old GDR in relation to those with former Nazi political sympathy. Shot largely within a railyard using skewed angles and also influenced to a great degree by the likes of The Third Man in overall atmosphere and jangly soundtrack.

Buried in Blue

                         Sweet as mother's milk
                         And clear as the wind
                         Wrap the dead in a pleat of silk
                         Blue is the color to be buried in

                         The painting's complete
                         The brushstrokes dry
                         I hear a band playing
                         A bent note or two
                         I guess someone died
                         And just wants to be
                         Buried in blue

Buried in Blue
Harry Connick Jr/ Mclean
1990

Marlene

It seems fitting that as large parts of it's stylistic base originated from the same area of Europe as she did that Marlene Dietrich became an icon of Noir. Her German roots led to her ideal image as the cold femme even though she starred in very few actual Noirs.

Doomed Lovers

 

 

Badge of Evil

                      Cinema legend says when Welles was finally offered the chance to come up with material to undertake the 1958 Classic Noir he immediately asked the desk clerk at his hotel for the book he was reading which was Badge of Evil by Whit Masterton and the rest is history. It may be pure legend but sounds possible as it was Welles.

Point of No Return

                          I like intelligent women. When you go out, it shouldn't be a staring contest.

Frank Sinatra

Tabloid Noir

                                                     Call Northside 777
                                                   

                                                      Absence of Malice

                                                   Sweet Smell of Success

                                                      Ace in the Hole  

Talk Radio

Shock Corridor

Phenix City Story

More Hitch

Although some of Hitchcock's work bears only lightweight Noir undertones no-one can deny the stylish cinema that the likes of North by Northwest represents.

 

More Chandler

photo lynell george

                                  It got darker. I thought and thought and my mind moved with a kind of sluggish stealthiness as if it was being watched by bitter and sadistic eyes. I thought of dead eyes looking at a moonless sky, with black blood at the corners of the mouths beneath them.

Farewell My Lovely
Raymond Chandler
1940

Cogan's Trade

                                   First screen version of George Higgins' novel due for release in Sept and now featuring James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Sam Shephard as well as Brad Pitt as title character. The setting is switched from Boston to New Orleans and it has been retitled Killing Them Softly.

 

Leonard Freed

Rare Thompson

                                    It was about three in the morning at Mexican Joe's. A dingy lantern hanging from the unused electric chandelier cast an eerie light against the cobwebbed walls. Everything was quiet except for the snores of Joe who lay beneath the counter. I was eating hot tamales while i waited for my relief on the Mexican quarter beat.


The Car in the Mexican Quarter
Jim Thompson
1931


                              full story   www.oocities.org/soho/lofts/6437/story1.htm

Dutch

                                         Not mentioned as much on this blog as he should be. It took a number of years and various attempts to transfer Elmore Leonard with any reasonable degree of success up onto the big screen.

Jackie Brown

Cat Chaser