Podcasts about past investigating film noir

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Best podcasts about past investigating film noir

Latest podcast episodes about past investigating film noir

PostDoctoral
S2:E13 Shannon Clute - Marketing and Innovation

PostDoctoral

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2021 43:45


Oh, the places you'll go, Humanists!Follow the many career adventures of Shannon Clute, humanities PhD-turned-marketing-guru-turned-higher-ed-innovator, and learn how one prolific and enjoyable side project changed his track forever.Because: why live only one career life when you can live nine?Enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Shannon Clute is Director of The Hatchery, Emory Center for Innovation.  His career has been evenly divided between academia and industry, and in both sectors he has worked at the crossroads of innovation, brand strategy, media, and instructional design to launch numerous scalable edutainment initiatives that aim to drive broad engagement while serving a greater good. In 2005, he and Dr. Richard Edwards launched Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir—the first film analysis podcast and among the first academic podcasts—which went on to be featured on iTunes, broadcast on Australian Radio National, and downloaded over 1,500,000 times.  He also created a series of four innovative multimedia edutainment courses at Turner Classic, which enrolled over 70,000 learners and drove more than 300M organic Twitter impressions.Most recently, he served as Sr. Director, Brand and Communications for the Division of Alumni Affairs and Development at Cornell University.  Previously, he held several positions with Turner Classic Movies, including: Director, Business Development and Strategy, where he was tasked with building a cross-functional and collaborative culture of innovation to foster creativity and entrepreneurship in response to market disruption; Director, Marketing and Editorial, where he was tapped to build the marketing vertical and lead integrated marketing strategy, planning and campaigns.  Before his time in industry, Dr. Clute was Assistant Professor at Saint Mary's College of California, and Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky, where he taught courses in French and Italian language and literature.Clute holds a BA in Italian from the University of Colorado Boulder, and MA and PhD degrees in Romance Studies from Cornell University

Trending In Education
Innovation, Customer Discovery, and Hard-Boiled Podcasting with Dr Shannon Clute

Trending In Education

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2020 40:24


Dr. Shannon Clute joins Mike to share his broad and varied experiences in education, innovation, marketing, and digital media. He begins by telling the story of his early experiments with podcasting and other new media to innovate in higher education where Shannon was a Professor of French Literature. In the early 2000s, he launched an enormously successful podcast called Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir that began as an innovative project for his students but rapidly grew in broader appeal. From this experience, Shannon began to understand the value of pursuing your passion projects and being flexible and opportunistic in your career choices. From there, he transitions to a marketing role at Turner Classic Movies before ultimately returning to academia now leading The Hatchery, The Center for Innovation at Emory University. In a wide-ranging conversation, Shannon reinforces the critical importance of knowing your customers and shifting from push to pull dynamics when it comes to program development and innovation. It's a fascinating conversation and we look forward to staying in touch with Shannon as he grows and evolves the program through great design thinking and product discovery. We hope you enjoy. Thanks again for listening.

Too Many Podcasts!
Whooooo are this week's guests? Why, Amanda and Dave from "The Owlish Folk", of course!

Too Many Podcasts!

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2019 36:34


Welcome back to the Sherpa Sheet! A little background on this week's episode. I had initially been scheduled to interview just Dave Roberts for this show, because Amanda Greenwood wasn't sure if she could make it. I had a feeling it would be fun with one or two of them. Luckily, she was able to make it. At first, there was no audio for our interview, but once we got it working, BOOM! Dave and Amanda just got the ball rolling before we even started recording. This was actual conversation: Dave: Jim, I have to warn you, I'm not wearing any trousers. Amanda: Me, neither. In fact, I'm wearing my husband's underwear. Dave: So am I! Now, I don't know about you, but when you start off like that, I know it's going to be a fun interview. I found it interesting how they found lives and careers for themselves in South Korea. As for me, I get a little nervous if I have to drive into the next county. You can tell throughout the interview, and their podcast, what good friends they are, and they were up to whatever the interview had in store for them. They're the type of people that you could go out to lunch with and come back with as old friends. They certainly were at home at the Sherpa Chalet...with (or without) pants .Plus: Yo! Sup!: The Podcast! Chessboxing-.the Sport of Kings (and Rooks)? Amanda's FitBit gauges the show! An (almost) K-Pop duet with Dave! And, if you are "literally overwhelmed with a case of the Mondays during a 7th inning stretch" these Owls will be looking for you! (I'll be hiding in the Chalet, as a home tonsorial artist.) Amanda & Dave's Information: Podcast-The Owlish Folk; Website: www.wix.com/theowlishfolk email: theowlishfolk@gmail.com, Social Media: #theowlishfolf (Facebook, Instagram,Twitter Dave's fave podcasts: Script2Screen; You Are Not So Smart Amanda's faves: Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir; Frank Delaney re: Joyce Sherpa Suggestions: The Owlish Folk; The Allusionist; A Way With Words; Lexicon Valley Animalogy That's it for this week's edition...#VivaLaSherpalution! And enter the contest, ok? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jim-the-podcast-sherpa/message

Kinotes
04 Blade Runner Films: Noir & Electronic Scores

Kinotes

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2017 86:16


In this episode, we’ll explore the music in BLADE RUNNER and in BLADE RUNNER 2049 through films noir as well as electronic movie music. We’ll talk sound design much more than usual as its so tightly integrated into the soundscapes of these films. Also related is a discussion on some of the social issues inherent in the music of the BLADE RUNNERs and noir, specifically race and gender politics. *SPOILERS* for most of the major plot points in BLADE RUNNER and BLADE RUNNER 2049. Show Notes: 0:00:00 - Introduction 0:01:22 - Blade Runner as Hybrid Genre Sci-fi Noir 0:04:30 - Film Noir Music: Intro / Classic Noir 0:09:22 - Jazz in Film: Race & Gender / The Crooner & Chanteuse 0:17:56 - Blade Runner: Memory & Nostalgia 0:20:00 - Noir: Trope of the Jazzy Solo Instrument 0:25:50 - Blade Runner / Chariots of Fire: Expressive & Emotional Electronics 0:28:29 - Electronic Film Music: Alien Sounds / Theremin 0:32:16 - Electronic Film Music: Forbidden Planet / Blurring of Music & Sound Design 0:33:34 - Vehicle Sounds: Blade Runner Films & Forbidden Planet 0:40:02 - Influence of Weather in Music & Film Scores 0:53:48 - Multiculturalism: Blade Runner & Films Noir 1:00:20 - Piano Symbolism in Blade Runner Films 1:04:07 - Reverb & Voice / Voiceover Narration 1:10:43 - 2019 vs. 2049: Stasis vs. Movement 1:19:20 - Outro / Sources / Social media / “Tears in Rain” Please subscribe, rate, review and/or leave a comment on iTunes. For other queries, email us at kinotes.podcast@gmail.com. We’re also on Twitter: @kinotespodcast and @nicknylen (my personal handle). All episodes are written and produced by Nick Nylen. Sources: Noir Music Books (all on Amazon): “Jazz Noir: Listening to Music from The Phantom Lady to The Last Seduction” by David Butler “Sired City: Sound and Source Music in Classic American Noir” by Robert Miklitsch “Music in the Shadows: Noir Musical Films” by Sheri Chinen Biesen “Jazz and Cocktails: Rethinking Race and the Sound of Film Noir” by Jans B. Wager “Film Music: A Neglected Art” by Roy M. Pendergast Other Noir Sources: Articles “Scoring Evil” by Brian Light and “On The Downbeat: Investigating the Special Relationship between Film Noir and Jazz” by Woody Haut from Noir City E-Magazine, Summer 2015 Issue. Available on the Film Noir Foundation’s website: www.noircity.com. Essay “Crossing Musical Borders: The Soundtrack to Touch of Evil” by Jill Leeper from the book “Soundtrack Available: Essays on Film and Pop Music” (available on Amazon). Essay “Notes on Film Noir” by Paul Shrader, published 1972 (http://intelligentagent.com/noir/Schrader.pdf) Podcasts (all on iTunes): “Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir” “Noir Talk”, two part series “Hollywood Nocturne: Classical Film Noir Scores” Electronic Music Books (all on Amazon): “Forbidden Planet: A Film Score Guide” by James Wierzbicki “Off The Planet: Music, Sound, and Science Fiction Cinema”, edited by Philip Hayward Blade Runner Specific Sources: Book “Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner” by Paul M. Sammon (available on Amazon) Book “Sound Design and Science Fiction” by Willian Whittington (available on Amazon) Video Essay “Listening to Blade Runner” by The Nerdwriter (https://youtu.be/4T_sSSka9pA) Essay “The Music in Blade Runner” by Andrew Stiller from Book “Retrofitting Blade Runner: Issues in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” (available on Amazon)

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Noircast Special 4: TCM Presents Into the Darkness: Investigating Film Noir

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2015 80:32


Miguel Rodriquez of Monster Island Resort  and Will McKinley of Cinematically Insane interview Clute and Edwards on the topic of TCM Presents Into the Darkness: Investigating Film Noir, a free multimedia online course presented by Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and Ball State University.  This course is the latest collaboration by the creators of the Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir podcast series and will benefit from the promotional and social media support of TCM, where Clute now serves as head of Marketing and Editorial, and the innovative multimedia course materials created by Ball State University, where Edwards is Executive Director of iLearn Research.  The course is free and open to the public, will run in conjunction with the two-month “Summer of Darkness” festival on TCM, featuring 24 hours of film noir every Friday in June and July, 2015.

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Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 49: Bande à part (with Dr. Jeffrey Peters)

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2009 36:36


In this episode, guest investigator Jeffrey Peters (Associate Professor of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of Kentucky), leads a panel of five undergraduate students from his Honors Program course "French Film Noir" in a discussion of Jean-Luc Godard's 1964 BAND OF OUTSIDERS (Bande à part), starring Anna Karina, Sami Frey, and Claude Brasseur. Jeff is a specialist in early modern French literature and culture, poetics and rhetoric, and film studies, and former chair of the Division of French and Italian at UK. He is joined by Honor students Bethany Futrell, Jesseca Johnson, Ryan Palmer, Nick Purol, and Daniel Robbins. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir at http://outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 48: In a Lonely Place (with Megan Abbott)

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 26, 2008 50:58


Clute and Edwards welcome guest investigator Megan Abbott , the reigning Dark Dame of Noir. Megan is the author of a superb nonfiction study of hardboiled and noir protagonists entitled THE STREET WAS MINE, and three gut-wrenching throwback crime novels: DIE A LITTLE, THE SONG IS YOU, and QUEENPIN. The first title is scheduled to be released as a United Artists feature film in 2010, with Jessica Biel in the lead role. Megan's choice for this episode is the 1950 Nicholas Ray film IN A LONELY PLACE, starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame. To learn more about Megan's work, visit www.meganabbott.com. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir at http://outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 47: Bob Le Flambeur (with Howard Rodman and Mike White)

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 12, 2008 38:59


Howard Rodman and Mike White are this episode’s guest investigators. Rodman and White discuss Jean-Pierre Melville’s great 1956 film, Bob Le Flambeur. Howard Rodman is a screenwriter, novelist and USC film professor. His most recent screen credits include Savage Grace and August. Mike White is the publisher and editors of Cahiers du Cinemart, an obscure and obtuse film magazine from Detroit. Visit Mike’s website at impossiblefunky.com. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir at http://outofthepast.libsyn.com.

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Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 45: Force of Evil

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2008 48:14


FORCE OF EVIL shows us that small-time graft is less dangerous than big-time rackets that have the law, the trust of the public, and the appearance of respectability on their side. Ultimately, the crime is the system itself, and the very philosophical underpinnings of capitalism are liable. And while Abraham Polonsky's courage in addressing these themes is remarkable, the degree of craft he exhibits as a rookie director is nothing short of astonishing. With Ira Wolfert, he co-authors a script so rich in its ability to expose the poverty of our dreams, and so stylized and impossibly catchy in its dialogue, that it can't help but feel more real than the real. With this script, and uncommon directing talent, Polonsky coaxes career-best performance from John Garfield, Thomas Gomez, and Marie Windsor. And with Director of Photography George Barnes, Polonsky frames some of the most beautiful and narratively rich shots in film history. FORCE OF EVIL may be the noir that most perfectly captures the ambivalent and fearful relationship Americans had to the great cities and great institutions that were the sclerotic backbone of the country after WWII. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at http://outofthepast.libsyn.com.

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Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Rian Johnson's superlative 2005 debut film BRICK is neither a nostalgic tribute nor a modern reaction to noir style. But due to the conditions surrounding its production, it has more in common with classic noir than most films that play overtly with noir tradition: stiletto-tongued hard-boiled dialogue, razor-sharp editing, on-location shooting, the creative use of ambient sound, and narratively-rich canted angle shots and high-contrast lighting allow BRICK to overcome the pitfalls of a small budget and limited crew–just as these same techniques allowed classic films such as DETOUR or THE HITCH-HIKER to do. In fact, financial constraints lend BRICK an artistic coherency it might otherwise lack, for Johnson was forced to write, direct, and edit the entire picture, and to use family to finance and score it. The resulting work is as disarmingly familiar as classic noir and as surprisingly fresh and inventive as its creator, who clearly understands how to borrow from the past where appropriate and innovate whenever possible. Like the work of all great artists, BRICK demonstrates that aesthetic leaps forward find their surest footing in the past.This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 43: They Live By Night

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2008 34:34


THEY LIVE BY NIGHT is film noir at its best. Edward Anderson's little-known hard-boiled rural bandit novel is made into a screenplay as lean as the post-war dreams of its players. The shifty camera frames every sucker that comes its way, making them false promises then plunging each into a darkness more than night. Rookie director Nicholas Ray mercilessly rolls rising stars Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell in the existential muck, but manages nonetheless to show us the ethereal gold that lines their hearts and dreams. Beyond the sublime writing, acting, and directing, what truly sets the film apart is its ruthless humanity, its unwavering determination to show the full spectrum of good and bad in everyone—the shades of gray that haunt the war-battered world of black and white. It is as poignant now as it was upon its release sixty years ago.  This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

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Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 42: The Ice Harvest

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2007 66:11


This special episode of OUT OF THE PAST is full of holiday surprises. Clute and Edwards investigate the 2005 neo-noir Christmas comedy THE ICE HARVEST, then speak with Scott Phillips, author of the 2000 hardboiled novel on which the film is based. While the book contains its share of dark humor, it is largely a tale of the moral tipping point in the life of Witchita Mob lawyer Charlie Arglist (played by John Cusack), who discovers his capacity for ruthlessness when backed into a corner. The movie plays down the moral crisis and plays up the comedy, but director Harold Ramis manages to recreate some of the brooding atmosphere of the original story by staging a series of noir tribute shots. Phillips, and Clute and Edwards, all weigh in how successfully the film adapts the book in this double-feature holiday special. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 41: The Glass Key and Miller's Crossing

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2007 65:51


Stuart Heisler's 1942 film THE GLASS KEY retained the personages and major plot twists of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel by the same name, but wiped the grim off the original tale. By cleaning up the characters and their motives, the film missed an opportunity to picture its stellar cast (Dunlevy, Ladd, and Lake) in a noir light. Instead, for much of its running time it looks and feels like the glamour whodunnit pictures, or populist clean-government reform films, of the 1930's. Hammett's novel finally received proper treatment in the Coens' 1990 masterpiece MILLER'S CROSSING. Though filmed in color, this movie borrows heavily from classical noir, and gives us characters as complex and morally flawed as any envisioned by Hammett. This podcast—the third double-feature of "Out of the Past" to examine how the Coens' films have been inspired by the fiction of Cain, Chandler, and Hammett, as well as previous film adaptations of these masters of hardboiled—is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Rita Hayworth is GILDA. From the flip of her fiery hair to the reprise of her incendiary song, she sizzles the celluloid and burns herself indelibly into our collective consciousness. In fact, her presence so scorches that we are apt to miss the technical artistry of this film. Rudolph Maté's superlative cinematography uses banal objects pedagogically, to teach us to read the images: the blinds in Mundson's office make us aware of the fact we're looking, then show us how and where to look; the elaborate staging and framing of staircases make us wonder whether each character's fate is ascending or descending. While the Triad of superb players (Hayworth, Ford, and Macready) fleshes out the elaborate story, it is Maté's camera that builds the suspense. In then end, the cinematography combines with lines of dialogue pronounced by philosopher Uncle Pio to give us the world through noir-colored glasses—a "worm's eye view" that lends Hollywood's biggest stars a distinct earthiness. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 39: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2007 35:26


Shane Black's 2005 KISS KISS BANG BANG is a film of delirious contradictions. It is part comedy, part tragedy, a bawdy pulp parody and a heartfelt hardboiled homage. The mix would be too eclectic if the film didn't constantly signal its awareness that it is doing something that should be impossible. Black's self-conscious screenplay uses the generic traits of hardboiled to examine the status of hardboiled stories and characters today, poking fun at itself all the while. In this vein, it could be likened to BRICK and THE ICE HARVEST, which similarly find comi-tragic inspiration in a literary tradition while largely abandoning the classic noir visual style. While noir fans may be tempted to track down the movie's numerous references to other novels and films, the greater payoff comes from simply appreciating Black's superb writing and the sublime comic acting of Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 38: I Wake Up Screaming

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2007 38:04


I Wake Up Screaming was produced concurrently with The Maltese Falcon and released shortly after, and thus stands as one of the earliest examples of noir. The Maltese Falcon is the more uniform achievement, successfully coupling a consistent noir visual style with noir themes of disillusionment. But for these very reasons I Wake Up Screaming may be the more important film to scholars of noir. It vacillates between a 1930's-style love story and a war-era tale of existentialist dread, between traditional light-saturated, protagonist-centered staging and elaborate off-kilter compositions bathed in darkness. It is a Janus film, and it is debatable whether it looks primarily backwards or forwards, is principally an ending or a beginning. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

With its throwback hardboiled script and careful restaging of iconic noir shots, Lawrence Kasdan's 1981 BODY HEAT is a noteworthy neo-noir. However, it is no mere nostalgia piece, but rather a daring updating of the tradition: Kathleen Turner's sizzling portrayal of a femme fatale inspired such diverse 1980's and 1990's classics as FATAL ATTRACTION and BASIC INSTINCT, and Kasdan's intricate plotting may even have served as the model for THE USUAL SUSPECTS. On all these points Clute and Edwards agree, but disagree on whether the 1980's were a decade capable of producing true noir--with its nuanced blend of existentialism and fatalism--or whether the fundamentally hedonistic zeitgeist of the era lead to films that simply retained the stylistic trappings of the classic period while delivering a more superficial message.  This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 36: His Kind of Woman

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2007 35:51


"His Kind Of Woman" makes viewers aware of what they expect from noir by disappointing their expectations. The film moves quickly from the down and out digs of gambler Dan Milner (Mitchum) to a sunbathed beachside resort in Mexico. There, it takes its time setting up a complicated intrigue involving a large ensemble cast. It introduces the sultry Lenore Brent (Russell) as a mysterious dame, only to domesticate her by the end of the film, and gives the character of Mark Cardigan (Price)--a B actor and slapstick hysteric--an inordinate amount of time to strut and fret his stuff. For all of these reasons, the film seems light years away from the gut-wrenching bare-bones noir world of the 1940's. However, the presence of Mitchum, strong cinematography by Harry Wild, and John Farrow's coy and self-conscious direction at once recuperate a noir atmosphere and pose important questions about the commercialization of filmmaking in the 1950's. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

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Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 35: Pickup on South Street

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later May 11, 2007 36:14


Sam Fuller's 1953 "Pickup on South Street" leaves open important questions that Elia Kazan's "On the Waterfront" will feel compelled to answer, and Fuller's film has a more timeless quality as a result. With artful minimalism, Fuller captures the claustrophobic paranoia of the HUAC era. He uses alternating points of view, pitting each character's vision of America against another's, to create narrative tension and an ambiguous moral. The film is a fork-tongued parable--a warning to all in power to be vigilant, but equally to all citizens to beware the "patriotic eyewash" that allows those with power to misuse it in times of crisis. Accordingly, Fuller's is a world populated by conflicted characters: slick pickpockets and savage cops, sinister federal agents and starry-eyed communist messengers, and hard-edged but soft-hearted street hustlers. Nobody's clean, but everyone has a shot at redemption if they're willing to suffer for it. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 34: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2007 35:17


Van Heflin, Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas and Lizabeth Scott all turn in stellar performances in this 1946 gem. For much of its running time the film lacks many of the visual hallmarks of the noir style, but Robert Rossen's pitch-perfect script, delivered with such subtlety by the fine cast, builds a dark backstory that makes what might have been a standard melodrama into a noir masterpiece: the drama of a few individuals is transformed into a parable of post-war America. Add Edith Head's gorgeous costumes and Miklos Rozsa's superlative score, and you have one of the most enjoyable films ever made. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 33: Hollywoodland

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2007 43:35


Recently, several Hollywood films, including HOLLYWOODLAND, have revisited traumatic events of the 1940's and 1950's. This new film cycle begs several questions--chief among them, why do the malaise and murder of the postwar years resonate with filmmakers today, and do these films share characteristics that allow us to speak of an emerging film style? Clute and Edwards maintain there are significant differences lurking behind the apparent similarities, and such differences call for more nuanced terminology than the blanket moniker "neo-noir." They propose the tripartite nomenclature of noir-style, neo-noir, and faux-noir, and argue that HOLLYWOODLAND is a superlative example of neo-noir: it tells a throw-back, hard-boiled tale in a new visual style. While Allen Coulter's direction is key to crafting this new look of noir, the acting of a strong ensemble cast is crucial to conveying the heartache caused by the suspicious death of actor George Reeves--TV's Superman. A must-see film for casual fans of classic noir, and serious students of its evolution. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

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Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 32: Kiss Me Deadly

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2007 40:06


The 1955 film "Kiss Me Deadly" makes telling changes to Mickey Spillane's 1952 source novel. What was a story of greed and social corruption becomes an allegory of Cold War hysteria. Plot and character cede the stage to emotion and character type. While earlier films noir portrayed the downfall of a flawed person whose bad decisions had far-reaching social consequences, "Kiss Me Deadly" instead pits simplified personages and storylines against an ecstatically elaborate camera vision and sound design. It is at once the boiling down and the blowing up of noir--executed with a degree of camp only the mid-1950's could muster--and as such, it is the fulcrum on which hard-boiled literary tradition and noir film history teeter-totter. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 31: Touch of Evil

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2007 33:29


Orson Welles's 1958 "Touch of Evil" is considered the last film noir of the classic period. Clute and Edwards investigate why it deserves this designation, arguing that it uses the conventions of noir in such a self-conscious manner that henceforth it will be impossible to tell a straight noir tale. Indeed the film is so self-conscious that it is no more a narrative than it is a demonstration of how to create film narrative. It is considered a great film for this reason, but also because it features myriad strong acting turns, stages Welles's dramatic demise as a Hollywood player, and contains story and character seeds that will come to fruition in films as different as "Psycho" and "Miller's Crossing." This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 30: The Postman Always Rings Twice and The Man Who Wasn't There

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2006 74:08


In this double-feature podcast, Clute and Edwards investigate Tay Garnett's 1946 "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and the Coen brothers' 2001 "The Man Who Wasn't There"--considering their merits as films, and as adaptations of the novels of James M. Cain. While Garnett makes noir acceptable mainstream fare, with high production quality and glamorous stars like Lana Turner and John Garfield, his film loses the hauntingly arid psychology of Cain's novel. Conversely, the Coens decide not to adapt any one Cain story, but opt instead to recapture the tone of Cain's work; and Cain's heartache seen through the Coens' lens is the very picture of a radically new noir zeitgeist. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 film "Detour" is commonly lauded as a B-noir that overcame production limitations with artful minimalism. In this context, instances of obtrusive lighting and camerawork are viewed as minor blemishes--the best quality that could be expected from a poverty row feature. Clute and Edwards argue that the film should be granted a far greater measure of technical mastery, that the so-called flubs purposefully call attention to the very cinematic means used to construct the narrative.In this optic, the film is not good despite its "flubs" but great because of them; they render it a self-conscious noir meta-narrative--a film about the making of noir films. These qualities combine with a great script and superlative acting, by Tom Neal and Ann Savage, to create the template for all noir post-1945. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

edwards detour ulmer edgar g ulmer clute tom neal ann savage past investigating film noir
Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 28: The Black Dahlia

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2006 31:53


In the murder of Elizabeth Short, novelist James Ellroy found a means to grieve over the rape and murder of his own mother. In the novel THE BLACK DAHLIA Betty is at once a symbol of the post-war era torn apart by its passions, and a symbol of Bucky Bleichert's/James Ellroy's search for meaning. Likewise, but dissimilarly, Betty serves a double function in De Palma's film. She seems to be an embodiment of cinematic history split between classic and post-modern eras, and of De Palma's search to assemble the perfect visual experience from pieces of his own filmic corpus. Stripped of her historical referent by De Palma, the Dahlia no longer evokes the same horror--and what is true for her is true for the film as a whole. It's various components--fine cast, clean screenplay, competent cinematography--are stitched together with near-surgical precision, but never suture us into a position where we feel we're part of the story. When the struggles of the players cease to be anything we can relate to, we can only wonder why their tale is dubbed noir. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Did noir die in 1950? As a filmic style, certainly not; many of the most daring visual and narrative experiments of the classic period date from 1951-1958. However, 1950 seems to mark a dramatic transition in what might be called noir philosophy. The strong men of the post-war years, who were victims only of their own errors in judgment, cede the screen to indeterminate men, who fall victim to forces they never grasp. This transition infuses the noir universe with a crueler sense of irony but also frees directors from certain conventions, thereby ushering in a quirkier and more self-conscious era in noir's history. D.O.A typifies this era, but is saved from ambiguity by Edmond O'Brien's strong performance. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

movies film cinema edwards noir film noir clute edmond o'brien past investigating film noir
Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 26: Murder, My Sweet

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2006 31:52


Dick Powell was cast as Philip Marlowe in the 1945 film "Murder, My Sweet." Was it a stroke of genius to allow a song and dance man to reinvent himself in this role, or the desecration of a literary icon? Clute and Edwards are deeply divided on this issue, but find many topics on which they agree: whether the viewer considers Powell's performance a triumph or a tragedy, it is evident that the tension between the two strong female leads (Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley) is a fundamental driving force of the film; with numerous deft touches director Edward Dymytrk pulls the audience into Marlowe's point of view, and demonstrates the investigator's inner turmoil; Chandler is the fulcrum on which post-war film and literature teeter because Philip Marlowe is the perfect embodiment of the psychologically-scarred modern Everyman. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 25: He Walked By Night

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2006 35:52


This film deserves its reputation as an important early police procedural and precursor to the television series "Dragnet," but does not deserve to be viewed reductively--as only that. Anthony Mann's un-credited direction was among his best. He coaxed strong performances out of actors given few lines, and made every shot count. Cinematographer John Alton brought the darker sides of Los Angeles to life, and Alfred DeGaetano made brilliant editing choices to overcome limited sets, a bare-bones script, and the lack of big-name stars.  Their combined efforts produced an oft-imitated 79-minute B-masterpiece, and demonstrated how much talent was to be found in the poverty row studios. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Robert Towne's screenplay for the 1974 film "Chinatown" tells an original story, but a story whose scope, intrigue, characters, pacing, and style owe a great debt to the work of Raymond Chandler. That said, it would be a mistake to view "Chinatown" as a simple nostalgia piece. In this tale of the fundamental--indeed foundational--corruption of Los Angeles, Director Roman Polanski, Writer Towne, and Cinematographer John Alonzo tell a hard-boiled tale in a modern filmic style, and this productive collision allows them to simultaneously critique and reaffirm the mythic qualities of genre literature and film. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 23: On the Waterfront

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2006 36:37


Elia Kazan might have broken the Hollywood Blacklist. Instead, when HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) asked him to name names, he sang like a canary. His actions ended many careers, and broke the spirit of many Hollywood players. Kazan never apologized; indeed, his career and life from that moment staged a defense of his decision. "On the Waterfront"--which won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director for Kazan, Best Actor for Brando, and Best Actress for Eva Marie Saint--was his most elaborate, and perhaps eloquent, staging of what he felt to be the righteousness of his actions. The script and visual style are very noir, and the effect is jarring--for noir usually tells the tale of a man who makes a mistake, and is haunted by the consequences. Here, noir is co-opted by a man who wants to believe he can do no wrong. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 22: Good Night, and Good Luck

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2006 33:24


As America intoned the mantra "Communism," fear became its religion and McCarthy its high priest. George Clooney's "Good Night, and Good Luck" investigates Edward R. Murrow's brave act of voicing dissent, at a time when dissent was seen as un-American. The film shows an America living in fear of Communism in the 1950's that is very much like an America living in fear of Terrorism today, and demonstrates why the media--then and now--rarely question controversial pundits and their pronouncements. The media are dependent on advertising revenue; advertisers want to reach the largest possible audience; audiences want to be entertained, not educated. For these very reasons, creatively funded films often voice stronger objections than other media dare to voice. While "Good Night, and Good Luck" is not a film noir per se, Clooney seems to recognize that noir themes and stylistics may be called upon when American cinema has a message to deliver--like the heavy hired to knock some sense into us. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 21: Sunset Blvd.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2006 30:35


The most famous texts of any canon are rarely the most typical; rather, they push the limits. The fame of Billy Wilder's 1950 masterwork "Sunset Boulevard" is of this problematic sort. The film plays on all the usual themes of noir: mysterious deaths; a male protagonist doomed by a single bad decision; a femme fatale who twists his hopes to resemble her own, and slowly trims away his universe until she is the sole star guiding his fateful journey. But these themes are absurdly exaggerated. The first death is of a pet monkey. The narrator is telling his story from beyond the grave. The female star has imploded under her own gravity, and becomes something of a tragicomic black hole that pulls in the entire constellation of poor players. More than noir, the film is a self-conscious staging of the crime that is Hollywood. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 20: Reservoir Dogs

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 31, 2006 36:39


Kubrick's "The Killing" weaves the narrative threads of each character's story into the complex yarn of a heist. Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" ties references to numerous films into a dense knot. The pleasure of watching, and difficulty of discussing, Tarantino's work arises from having to pick at, and follow, seemingly infinite threads to their points of origin. Text is henceforth hypertext. As Clute and Edwards follow the many links from Tarantino back to Kubrick, they investigate what's at stake when the canvas of noir is stretched to drape a corpus like Tarantino's. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 19: The Killing

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 14, 2006 35:05


Stanley Kubrick and Quentin Tarantino both launched their careers by updating the noir tradition. In the first episode of a two-part comparative analysis, Clute and Edwards demonstrate how Kubrick's "The Killing" (1956) and Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" (1992) come more clearly into focus when each is viewed through the lens of the other. "The Killing" might be considered a masterwork on its own merits. Kubrick's careful composition of every shot demonstrates his deep sympathy for noir tradition, but he adds much that is new: a non-linear narrative more fractured than any previously attempted; an omniscient voice-over and inventive sound design to guide the viewer through the non-linear tale; the staging of a playful self-consciousness; an element of chance that ultimately trumps self-determination or fate as the most powerful force in the noir universe. In short, Kubrick opens the door for Tarantino. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 18: The Set-Up

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2006 30:41


As crisp and fluid as a boxer's footwork, Robert Wise's editing turns a lightweight script into the heavy-hitting drama "The Set Up." Art Cohn's screenplay is a very Hollywood adaptation of a 1928 poem by Joseph Moncure March. The poem is a shot to the gut--a powerful meditation on race that shows a black American is never in for a fair fight. The 1949 screenplay is the flyweight story of a down and out white fighter who thinks he's one punch away from glory. But Robert Wise and Robert Ryan prove that any story, when told masterfully, can pack a punch. The whole gritty-grimy world is boiled down to one arena, and one man's fight with fate becomes the story of us all. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

What good is it to be a sharpshooter when there's no war on? If you want to understand the sense of impotence and angst that defined the postwar generation, "Gun Crazy" is a case study. With a deft and almost whimsical touch, Joseph Lewis sketches a country in transition--uncertain whether to gratify its thirst for heroism or its hunger for things, big things, lots of things. The film also signals a dramatic transition in filmmaking. In a giant stride, it seems to have one foot in the silent film era (think Murnau's "Sunrise") and the other in the New Wave (think Godard's "Breathless"). A must-see for anyone wanting to understand the evolution of noir. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 16: The Grifters

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2006 29:43


This is perhaps the most noir of all neo-noirs. Never has 1990 Los Angeles looked and sounded so much like 1950 Los Angeles. While Stephen Frears sets Jim Thompson's source novel at the time the film is made, he carefully trims away modern LA. The film moves between the Bryson Apartments, the racetrack, and scenes on a train. Gone are the glitter and glitz of modern downtown and its skyscrapers. In their place are the greed and grift that have always been the motor driving the City of Angels--forces so strong they tear families to shreds and answer prayers with death. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 15: The Lady From Shanghai

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2006 38:40


Every Orson Welles film demonstrates the great director's ability to work with and against filmic tradition. "The Lady from Shanghai" is a compendium of noir conventions: it tells a tale of post-war greed, of Americans willing to tear each other asunder for a dollar; it is the story of an irresistible dame and the smart guy who becomes a chump the second he lays eyes on her; it uses A-stars against type so as to bring out their blemishes and inner demons (even daring to cut and dye Hayworth's famous hair!). It is thus a classic noir tale, but it is executed with such self-consciousness that the viewer is left to wonder if it isn't the beginning of the end for noir--an elaborate staging of the demolition, the shattering, of the film noir universe. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

The question of whether Hitchcock is a noir director remains open. What is certain is that by 1946 noir aesthetics began to inflect every genre from the Holiday picture ("It's a Wonderful Life") to the espionage/thriller film. Like "The Third Man," "Notorious" is best described as the latter, for its political and geographical scope exceed what is typical of noir, and justice is defined and done in unambiguous terms. Nevertheless, at crucial moments a noir camera vision is manifest. More importantly, Hitchcock has his stars play their darkest roles: Bergman is the alcoholic tramp daughter of a convicted Nazi; Grant plays the cold-hearted and sadistic spy who is her only hope. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 13: It's a Wonderful Life

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2005 39:34


With "It's A Wonderful Life" Capra launched his independent studio, Liberty Films. He thought he had a guaranteed box office winner, with stars Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, and the power-to-the-people message that had made his pre-war films such successes. He was wrong. Capra never seemed to realize what a dark film he had made, nor understand that his populist message no longer resonated. This film would not acheive great success until decades later, when the divorce generation would (mis)read it as a tale of the redemptive virtues of the nuclear family. Richard and Shannon read it as a proof of just how influential noir's themes and visual style were in the wake of the war. Welcome to 1946--the year of suicide, and noir. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Hollywood began tearing itself apart with accusations of Communism in 1947, and in 1949 American director Jules Dassin was blacklisted. In order to pursue his craft he fled to France, where he cobbled together a small budget and a motley crew of B stars. Together they created the heist masterpiece Rififi, the tale of a ragtag international band of thieves who use inferior tools and superior know-how to pull off the job of a lifetime. They are in the clear until somebody rats and then one by one they are hunted down. The real crime is that Dassin had to fashion this allegorical gem while in exile. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 11: The Big Sleep and The Big Lebowski

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2005 80:16


When "The Big Lebowski" was released in 1998, Ethan and Joel Coen claimed its "episodic" narrative structure found its source in the work of Raymond Chandler. In this super-sized double-feature podcast, Richard and Shannon examine "The Big Lebowski" against Howard Hawks's 1946 noir "The Big Sleep," and both films against Chandler's 1939 novel "The Big Sleep." Beyond their similar narrative structures, these works all present consummate dialogue, a panoply of memorable characters, and crimes and anxieties impossible to imagine outside Los Angeles--the city of angels, and noir. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 10: The Killers

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2005 31:33


While Robert Siodmak's noir triumph "Ernest Hemingway's 'The Killers'" flaunts its literary bloodlines, Hemingway's 1927 short story is little more than a pretext. The film actually investigates the fundamental post-WWII question: in a world where every man bears scars from the fight, how and why does he keep fighting? Siodmak's answer seems to be the very one given by Albert Camus in his famous essay "The Myth of Sisyphus." At the moment a man accepts the burden of his existence, bends to shoulder the stone of his being, he is greater than his destiny. Siodmak adds a caveat: if a man knowingly wrongs another he seals his own doom, and the killers descend on him like Fate itself. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Otto Preminger's 1944 "Laura" marks an important transition in film history. Visually it harks back to Hollywood's Golden Era, flooding with light elaborate sets and the glamorous stars they hold--but at crucial moments a noir vision bubbles up to artfully blemish this smooth facade. It is a classic love story--except that it hinges on forbidden fantasy and murder. It at once gives a coy nod to the parlor psychology of the "Thin Man" variety of mystery, and looks forward to the dark Hitchcockian psychological thriller. It is a Janus of a film, and it may be eternally debated whether its double vision signals an end or a beginning. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/ Our program is available at these podcast sites: Rate this podcast @ DigitalPodcast.com Vote for this podcast at podcastalley.com If you already have iTunes 4.9 installed on your computer, click on the link below: Out of the Past--Free iTunes Subscription

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 8: The Asphalt Jungle

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2005 29:30


Shannon and Richard argue that John Huston's directorial evolution from "The Maltese Falcon" to the prototype heist film "The Asphalt Jungle" provides a blueprint of the evolution of film noir from the early 40's to the early 50's. With "The Asphalt Jungle" noir enters an even darker phase in it's history: an ensemble of tragic criminals (all brilliantly cast) displaces the strong leading man; the certainty of contained criminality cedes to the anxiety of widespread malfeasance; the city is a wasteland of corruption; time is an inexorable force that marches characters toward their doom. It is a vision so dark, so fatalistic, that it seems to owe as much to Italian Neorealism as to the noir tradition. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/ Our program is available at these podcast sites: Rate this podcast @ DigitalPodcast.com Vote for this podcast at podcastalley.com If you already have iTunes 4.9 installed on your computer, click on the link below: Out of the Past--Free iTunes Subscription

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 7: The Hitch-Hiker

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2005 29:20


One of the only female directors of Hollywood's Golden Age, no one could coax more from actors or tell a story with greater economy than Ida Lupino. Her 1953 gem the Hitch-Hiker hooks you with the opening still and leaves you breathless and running scared for seventy perfectly polished minutes. Lupino rubs the sheen off violence to create a quasi-documentary vision of criminality striking at random the most remote corners of society. A profoundly unsettling film, it works above all on the male psyche, blowing wide open the post-war crisis of masculinity in a culture "up to its neck in IOU's." This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/ Our program is available at these podcast sites: Rate this podcast @ DigitalPodcast.com Vote for this podcast at podcastalley.com If you already have iTunes 4.9 installed on your computer, click on the link below: Out of the Past--Free iTunes Subscription

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 6: Blade Runner

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2005 24:31


Out of the past and straight into the future, Ridley Scott blends film noir and science fiction in "Blade Runner." Richard and Shannon query this unusual mix, and ask how a style that is often as outlandishly unrealistic as noir could be used to make science fiction feel more grounded and approachable. They consider why, aside from strong performances by Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Daryl Hannah, this film achieved such renown, and came to be considered the epitome of neo-noir. Like the DNA of the humanoid Replicants in the movie, the filmic code Scott created in "Blade Runner" has proved to be as ineluctable as it is generative. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/ Our program is available at these podcast sites: Rate this podcast @ DigitalPodcast.com Vote for this podcast at podcastalley.com If you already have iTunes 4.9 installed on your computer, click on the link below: Out of the Past--Free iTunes Subscription

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 5: The Maltese Falcon

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2005 31:22


This episode examines the classic "The Maltese Falcon." Based on a book by Dashiell Hammett, starring Humphrey Bogart, directed by John Huston, it is generally considered the first "film noir." As Richard and Shannon examine this landmark film, they discuss film noir's debt to hard-boiled fiction, Huston's inventive camerawork as the beginning of a visual style, and Bogart's portrayal as the prototype for noir tough guys. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/ Our program is available at these podcast sites: Rate this podcast @ DigitalPodcast.com Vote for this podcast at podcastalley.com If you already have iTunes 4.9 installed on your computer, click on the link below: Out of the Past--Free iTunes Subscription This is a link for claiming my Odeo feed. Please visit Odeo and subscribe to this show. My Odeo Channel (odeo/1e72186612f60313)

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 4: The Third Man

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2005 28:23


As they discuss "The Third Man," starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten, Shannon and Richard debate whether film noir is a "style" or a "genre." As a style many of its visual features can be adapted to other genres (war films, westerns). If it is a genre such adaptations are problematic, for "noir" has recognizable themes. Richard and Shannon have a lively debate over these definitions, and the question, "is 'The Third Man' a film noir?" Their different answers lead to very different assessments of the film. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/ Our program is available at these podcast sites: Rate this podcast @ DigitalPodcast.com Vote for this podcast at podcastalley.com If you already have iTunes 4.9 installed on your computer, click on the link below: Out of the Past--Free iTunes Subscription

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 3: Batman Begins

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2005 29:00


Episode three of this podcast series investigates Christopher Nolan's blockbuster "Batman Begins" in relation to the visual and narrative conventions of film noir. Richard and Shannon ask what it means to dub a modern film "noir," as many reviews of "Batman Begins" have done. They discuss the complexity of Christian Bale's Batman, and how it seems to draw on sources as diverse as hard-boiled fiction and Frank Miller's graphic novel "The Dark Knight Returns." Likewise, they discuss the visual style of "Batman Begins" in relation to such films as Fritz Lang's "Metropolis," Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner," and Tim Burton's "Batman Returns." A great overview of "noir" from its origins to the present. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/ Our program is available at these podcast sites: Rate this podcast @ DigitalPodcast.com Vote for this podcast at podcastalley.com If you already have iTunes 4.9 installed on your computer, click on the link below: Out of the Past--Free iTunes Subscription

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Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 2: Double Indemnity

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2005 28:58


In this podcast, Clute and Edwards investigate Billy Wilder's 1944 noir classic "Double Indemnity." They place the film in its historic context and query its unusual success; it was nominated for seven Academy Awards in a year when feel-good films like "Going My Way" were the rule. They conclude that while Wilder's direction is a masterpiece of subtlety, the film owes its enduring legacy to two factors: the strong acting of Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson and Fred MacMurray; the unsurpassed script by Billy Wilder, James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/ Our program is available at these podcast sites: Rate this podcast @ DigitalPodcast.com Vote for this podcast at podcastalley.com If you already have iTunes 4.9 installed on your computer, click on the link below: Out of the Past--Free iTunes Subscription

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Episode 1: Out of the Past

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2005 28:06


In this premier episode, Shannon Clute and Richard Edwards discuss Jacques Tourneur's noir masterpiece "Out of the Past." They explain why it is the first film they choose for their continuing series of podcasts delving into the history of film noir. In the course of a lively discussion of this film, Clute and Edwards argue that while "Out of the Past" is not an early noir, it is nonetheless a prototype that helps the viewer define just what is film noir. As of July 15th, new episodes will be available for downloading on the 1st and 15th of each month. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/ Our program is available at these podcast sites: Rate this podcast @ DigitalPodcast.com Vote for this podcast at podcastalley.com If you already have iTunes 4.9 installed on your computer, click on the link below: Out of the Past--Free iTunes Subscription