I've been r-watching the 5 Allied Artists noirs that star Bill Elliott as a sheriff in the LA County area. These are intelligent films. The first one has his character named Andy Flynn but then it becomes Andy Doyle. Good plots and filming, good acting. Dial Red-O has a jazz score by SHorty Rogers and the Giants. Good location work although I'm unfamiliar with LA. I get a real kick out of these old movies. That made me wonder why Hollywood today and for years has produced so much utter crap. I gave the neo-noirs more than a fair shake, but many of them are just crap and cannot hold my attention for a second viewing. They're made that poorly. SO all of this made me think that what I'd prefer is that they fix the old TV-noirs up and re-release them. I already have all the old M-squads for example in good shape. Gordon could be their guru and consultant and make some dough. The Fugitive series we've gotten into before, and it's great. The Untouchables is not bad at all. Danger Man is pretty good. But again,these movies followed basic story-telling rules, and they had teams of specialists in each area that created real workmanship in the final product. The casts were more professional than today. The sound tracks were better. The story development was sound. And all of this carried through even to the b-westerns in many cases. The Bill Elliott westerns are fine. SO are the Tim Holts. The Film Noir Foundation could usefully set TV-noir as its priority. Thats my opinion based upon what I enjoy watching the most. Neo-noirs that are any good are still around and in decent shape. ALl that's needed there is to separate the wheat from the chaff. Restorations are not critical. The specialty festivals seem to have the better foreign ones in their sights.
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