Posted by Don Malcolm
on 11/4/2009, 2:02 pm, in reply to "TV Noir of the Week THREAT TO A HAPPY ENDING (1957)"
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Good question, Rand--just how many steambath sequences are there in film noir? SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT (don't think there was actually steam involved in that one, but tiny tough guy Harry Morgan is there handing out the towels...), T-MEN (probably the best), and THE LINEUP come to mind. There must be several more...
Steambaths seemed to be the rage in Hollywood in the 40s: guys who were drunk or a bit too plump seemed to swear by them for their purported therapeutic properties. Is it a coincidence that Orson Welles (a big "steam" aficionado) got Hank Quinlan-like when he was forced to leave Hollywood and live a more ramshackle life in Europe, where "melting the pounds away" was not nearly so conveniently done??
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