The Noir Chronicles

It's the annual Film Noir festival at the Guild Cinema, always a cool, dark refuge from the heat of the dog days of summer. Here's a sampling:

THE DESPERATE HOURS (1955) (B) - The first half of a Humphrey Bogart double feature was this William Wyler treatise on class divisions in Eisenhower-era America, as Bogey leads a three-man gang who takes a nuclear family hostage in its neat suburban home, lying low after a robbery.

Too long by at least 20 minutes (it pushes the two-hour mark), this one nonetheless holds your attention with a crisp, modern look and a haggard late-era Bogey, finding some depth in the role of ring-leader Glenn Griffith bossing around his brother, Hal (Dewey Martin), and frumpy Sam (Robert Middleton) while terrorizing Dan Hilliard (Frederic March), wife Ellie (Martha Scott) and their two kids, cute teenage daughter Cindy (Mary Murphy) and Beav-like scamp Ralphie (Richard Eyer).

The film is essentially one big idiot plot -- Glenn and the boys are waiting for his moll to bring them some money to grease their escape, but there's no reason for them to tolerate her delays in arriving. Wyler (coming off "Roman Holiday") is always in control, attacking the creature comforts of '50s suburbia and the fragility of the "Father Knows Best" facade. Middleton, especially, brings a quiet menace, especially around Cindy, who is still testing out her newfound feminine powers.

Leave it to Bogart, though, in his penultimate performance, to keep it anchored and real.

CONFLICT (1945) (B) - Bogey covets his wife's sister, to the point of murdering his spouse in order to clear the way for the new romance. This is classic noir, with the leading man in the middle of a run of '40s hits between earlier fare like "Casablanca" and "The Maltese Falcon" and later roles in "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" and "The Big Sleep."

Here he is surrounded by statuesque Rose Hobart as his wife Kathryn and smoldering Alexis Smith as the lingering sister, Evelyn. Also on hand is the great Sydney Greenstreet, the conscience of the film who seems to pop up at convenient times.

Architect Richard Mason (Bogart) milks a leg injury to lull Kathryn into a false sense of security. He ambushes her on a winding road and conveniently covers up the crash site. Free to pursue Evelyn, he comes across as a creep, but he's got a shot.

But suspicions grow, Bogie begins to lose his cool, and the clues begin to slowly add up. Hollywood code won't let him get away with it, but it's fun watching him twist while the heat closes in.

SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (1960) (B) - We caught only half of the Francois Truffaut double feature. We wished it had been the other half ("The Bride Wore Black").

This is the epitome of French drollery, with the suave Charles Aznavour portraying Charlie Kohler, a former piano prodigy toiling in obscurity in a dive bar, where he gets caught up in the nefarious doings of gangsters, involving his young brother. Lovely Lena (Marie Dubois) is a waitress who is attracted to Charlie, who is haunted by the death of his wife. Other beautiful women come and go, including Nicole Berger and Michele Mercier.

Rough-and-tumble alternates with quintessential New Wave larks. The black-and-white cinematography is arresting. But the story drags and meanders. Aznavour is slight and brooding, and he can carry a story. At a brisk 81 minutes, this is more of a curiosity than a classic.

THE FILE ON THELMA JORDON (1950) (C+) - Barbara Stanwyck is a legend of noir. But even she can't save this sloppy potboiler about a scheming woman and a philandering assistant district attorney who get caught up in each other's troubled lives.

Director Robert Siodmak ("Criss Cross" and "The Killers" from last year's fest) just can't wrangle this incoherent story, and his leading man doesn't do him any favors. Thelma (Stanwyck) gets mixed up with an assistant prosecutor, Cleve Marshall (Wendell Corey), who is vulnerable while he drinks away thoughts of his wife and family at home (and his meddling father-in-law). Thelma lures him into a scheme involving Thelma's designs on the estate of her ailing aunt.

This one is more confusing than intriguing, and there never seems to be anything of significance on the line. The middle drags, and Siodmak doesn't need a full 100 minutes to unravel this plot, as convoluted as it gets. Corey is a big dud as a leading man, and the compelling Stanwyck has little to work with. She is stuck with a weak story and a lame co-star.

(You can find this one online, here on YouTube.)

BONUS TRACK
Bobby LaPointe with "Framboise," a diversion in "Shoot the Piano Player":