NC 16: What Could Happen (fourth in a series...)
Posted by Don Malcolm on 12/1/2017, 3:17 am
Our fourth way into the mystery of NC 16’s lineup (parameters: 1941-53 time frame, MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF screens as restoration) is to look at Eddie’s personal favorite noirs in relation to how recently they’ve been screened at NC SF.
There are two sources for Eddie’s personal faves--the top 25 list he posted at his personal web site (eddiemuller.com) and the variant he provided to the BB’s Top 25 poll in late 2005. (The latter list also provided ten “honorable mention” slots.) The variations are interesting but not startling—there’s certainly nothing so unusual as several of Eddie’s choices in his web site list. (We’ll cover that as we go through the selections, which we’ll do using the tier-based structure that generated our Top 25 poll results.)
Here, the number you see in our customized {parentheses} is the NC festival # in which the film most recently screened.
And though the list is separated into “tiers,” the listing here is displayed in the exact order of Eddie’s personal Top 25. Where there are changes between the two lists, we’ve provided annotations and (in a few instances where it's relevant) the later substitutions found in his BB Top 25 ballot.
Films outside the 1941-53 time frame are underlined; those within the time frame and not shown since NC 5 are italicized; those never screened are in bold type.
So, without further ado:
1-5
In a Lonely Place {14}
Criss Cross {15}
Sunset Blvd. {11}
The Asphalt Jungle {15}
Double Indemnity {2}
No changes in the top five films from website post to Top 25 ballot. As you can see, most of these films have been screened recently. The major exception: DOUBLE INDEMNITY.
6-10
The Maltese Falcon {10}
Nightmare Alley (21-25) {4}
Night and the City {6}
Out of the Past {4}
Moonrise (21-25) {6}
Three films did not deviate from the next tier (which is the back half of a Top Ten). Of those, OUT OF THE PAST has been out of the NC lineup for the longest. As noted, Eddie did mention it by name when discussing the need to show the more well known noirs again as new target audiences become available. But will that translate into showing it again in SF?
NIGHTMARE ALLEY and MOONRISE, reevaluated downward (and replaced by THE KILLERS and SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS in this list), are also films not seen for quite some time. A Gail Russell double bill (MOONRISE/NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES) was shown at NC 6—and there is no precedent for any double bill ever being reprised in toto at NC SF. The other star of MOONRISE, Dane Clark, has many other noirs in his filmography, but most are British “B’s” and many of those are outside the time frame. One possibility would be to screen MOONRISE with DEEP VALLEY, which would showcase Ida Lupino. NIGHTMARE ALLEY played at NC4 with KISS OF DEATH, making it a Coleen Gray double—a solid pairing, but again not one that’s likely to be repeated verbatim.
Maybe the most intriguing idea available would be to fashion a widely divergent “carny noir” double by pairing NIGHTMARE ALLEY with GIRL ON THE RUN (1953), assuming an acceptable print is available for screening. Given Eddie’s well-known predilection for ecdysiasts, the presence of the singular Renee de Milo (the 6'3" stripper...) could be the literal (and figurative!) “tipping point” for such a programming decision.
11-15
The Killers (6-10) {7}
Sweet Smell of Success (6-10) {7}
Thieves’ Highway (HM) {10}
They Live By Night {4}
The Killing {15}
Of the films in this tier, only THEY LIVE BY NIGHT really has a shot. A Nick Ray double bill is certainly possible, with ON DANGEROUS GROUND (not screened since NC 3) the likeliest companion.
16-20
Odds Against Tomorrow (11-15) {8}
Act of Violence {3}
Gun Crazy {11}
The Prowler {6}
Tomorrow is Another Day (HM) {2} (Vertigo)
ACT OF VIOLENCE also looks like a solid bet, which could lead to several double bill variations, depending on whether you go for Van Heflin (MARTHA IVERS, not seen since NC #2) or Robert Ryan (the aforementioned ON DANGEROUS GROUND; THE RACKET, never screened; I MARRIED A COMMUNIST, last in NC #1; and even CROSSFIRE: need I remind you that it’s never been screened at NC SF?).
TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY moved around on Eddie’s list, but one presumes it’s still a favorite. Steve Cochran could be featured, and that could lead to either WHITE HEAT or HIGHWAY 301 or INSIDE THE WALLS OF FOLSOM PRISON (all never screened at NC SF).
21-25
Detour {2}
Scarlet Street (11-15) {14} (Hollow Triumph) {4}
Touch of Evil (11-15)
City That Never Sleeps (16-20) {4}
Raw Deal {5}
Lots of possibilities here, with DETOUR, HOLLOW TRIUMPH, RAW DEAL and THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS all in line for consideration. One figures that RAW DEAL and HOLLOW TRIUMPH might have the edge here; the former has a companion noir from Anthony Mann & John Alton (T-MEN) that hasn’t screened at all at NC SF, so it would make a fine double bill; the choice role for Joan Bennett in HOLLOW TRIUMPH would make for a terrific contrast with her more matronly turn in THE RECKLESS MOMENT (not seen since NC #2).
HM
The Big Heat
Laura {10}
Try & Get Me {11}
White Heat
Crime Wave {3}
Woman on the Run {13}
Reckless Moment {2}
Side Street {3}
Would Eddie put two “HEAT” films together? Or would he pair THE BIG HEAT (which seems like it ought to be among the likeliest films to show up in the NC 16 lineup) with something like SUDDEN FEAR (not seen since NC #2) to get a Gloria Grahame double?
All unanswerable until December 20, of course…
So what are our takeaways from this presentation?
—Of Eddie’s top 5 noirs, DOUBLE INDEMNITY is the one that’s not been screened at NC for the longest.
—OUT OF THE PAST is in the running.
—Eddie has screened everything in either version of his Top 25 lists except TOUCH OF EVIL and VERTIGO, which are both outside the time frame and won’t be in the NC 16 lineup.
—The combined list of Eddie’s favorites contains only one overtly political noir (TRY AND GET ME), which could possibly explain why films such as CROSSFIRE, THE LAWLESS, THE WELL and THE UNDERWORLD STORY have never been screened at NC SF.
—Not a lot of RKO films on Eddie’s list (just two: OOTP and THEY LIVE BY NIGHT), so our earlier “think piece” about RKO studios would not seem to hold much of a clue when we overlay the “personal favorite” perspective. (If Alan Rode were picking the films, the RKO effect would likely be more evident: nearly 30% of the point totals assigned in the Top25 poll from Alan’s ballot were for RKO noirs.)
NC 16: What Could Happen (fifth in a series...)
Posted by Don Malcolm on 12/5/2017, 11:01 am
There is, to paraphrase Rod Serling, a fifth dimension to the ongoing “signpost up ahead” regarding the contents of NC 16. (The parameters again, as announced: time frame 1941-1953; THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF plays as the FNF restoration project.)
We’ve covered 1) our conjectures of a strict year-by-year schedule; 2) we’ve run things through the lens of one studio’s contribution to noir; 3) our top fifty films from the long-ago Top25 poll conducted here have been overlain on the NC SF screening history; and 4) we’ve looked at Eddie Muller’s publicly stated lists of favorite noirs.
Our “fifth dimension” is something more direct than any of the processes applied previously. In the midst of a year of programming dominated by heist films (and an avoidance of social justice noirs), it was possible to overlook the fact that there has already been a festival that closely follows the parameters listed up top.
That festival was the one programmed for NC LA this past year, and covered here at the time. It covered the year 1942-53, and supplied double bills that mostly followed the strict yearly progression that we theorized about in our first installment. It also purported to separate the films into “A’s” and “B’s” (though a re-examination of the lineup will show that it’s as often as not a matter of “A to B” as it is “B to B-“).
Here’s the film lineup for NC LA ‘17 again, and given what we’ve covered in previous installments, it may assist us in zeroing in on a probabilistic list of films likeliest to be in NC 16 at the end of next month:
F 3/24 THIS GUN FOR HIRE*/quiet please, murder* (1942)
Sa 3/25 MINISTRY OF FEAR*/ADDRESS UNKNOWN* (1944)
Su 3/26 LADY ON A TRAIN*/escape in the fog {8} (1945)
M 3/27 THE DARK CORNER {14}/BEHIND GREEN LIGHTS* (1946)
Tu 3/28 CALCUTTA*/backlash* (1947)
W 3/29 THE ACCUSED {2}/THE HUNTED {9} (1949/1948)
Th 3/30 CHICAGO DEADLINE {7}/i was a shoplifter* (1949/1950)
F 3/31 WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS {3}/the killer that stalked new york* (1950)
Sa 4/1 THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF {4}/iron man* (1950/1951)
Su 4/2 THE BIG HEAT*/WICKED WOMAN {5} (1953)
We have THIS GUN FOR HIRE and THE BIG HEAT as the two most well known noirs not yet screened in SF’s NC. Two other notable Paramount films, MINISTRY OF FEAR and CALCUTTA, while not nearly as well known nor as universally admired as the first two, are also revealed here as films yet to play in SF. For those in search of a lighter, more “confectionary” noir—and one that played in the relatively scarce year of 1945, there’s LADY ON A TRAIN.
The other films unscreened in SF from the NC LA ’17 lineup are all B’s. There are six of these: QUIET PLEASE, MURDER; ADDRESS UNKNOWN; BEHIND GREEN LIGHTS; BACKLASH; I WAS A SHOPLIFTER; THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK, and IRON MAN. Of these, QUIET PLEASE, MURDER was screened in Chicago this past summer, and it has well-known cad George Sanders, so it’s bumped up in likelihood by the intersection of those two factors. ADDRESS UNKNOWN, with its anti-Nazi theme, is a kind of surrogate for “social justice noir” without having to show an actual one, so based on that it would gain percentage points in probability over the others.
Eddie’s fondness for Evelyn Keyes could elevate THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK, as could also be the case for IRON MAN, which has many other FNF “intangibles” going for it:
--The studio (Universal, favored by Eddie)
--The director (Joe Pevney, favored by Alan Rode)
--A well-known cast (in addition to Keyes, there’s Rock Hudson, Jeff Chandler, and Stephen McNally)
Now it must be repeated that NC LA ’17 was a slapdash lineup, but it does contain three complete double bills never screened in SF:
THIS GUN FOR HIRE/Quiet Please, Murder (1942)
MINISTRY OF FEAR/ADDRESS UNKNOWN (1944)
CALCUTTA/Backlash (1947)
I’d put it at about 70% that the first pairing here could slide right into a slot at NC 16; about 50% that the second one would do so—but only about 5% for the third.
And I think the existence of this year-by-year, “A-B” construction lends some more credence to the idea that the NC 16 lineup will try to follow some kind of yearly format.
Films from NC LA ’17, in their likelihood of being screened at NC 16, can now be tentatively quantified, as follows:
THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF 100%
THE BIG HEAT and THIS GUN FOR HIRE 90%
LADY ON A TRAIN and MINISTRY OF FEAR 70%
IRON MAN and THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK 50%
QUIET PLEASE MURDER 45%
ADDRESS UNKNOWN 40%
WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS 30%
THE ACCUSED and WICKED WOMAN 25%
All other films not yet screened at NC SF 20%
THE HUNTED 10%
ESCAPE IN THE FOG and CHICAGO DEADLINE 5%
THE DARK CORNER 0%
Rationale for this is based on accumulated evidence from our ongoing exploration of the relevant factors surrounding these films. Here are some details supporting the percentages above:
--We know about THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF.
--The need for solid anchoring films for weekend slots would argue for either the most well known titles that have yet to be shown and/or the most well known titles that haven’t been shown for the greatest amount of time. One can figure that the unscreened films will take precedence, so that’s why the top four films on this list (which is not exhaustive, mind you, it’s just the list from the NC LA ’17 lineup) are ones not yet shown at NC SF. The biggest name films in that category are THE BIG HEAT, THIS GUN FOR HIRE, MINISTRY OF FEAR and LADY ON A TRAIN.
--Then there are less well-known films yet to be screened that feature a favored/favorite performer. In this list, that means Evelyn Keyes (one of the subjects of Dark City Dames, and named by Eddie as the best actress of that group). That elevates the two films from NC LA ’17 in which she appeared: IRON MAN and THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK. While I think Eddie may be more fond of the latter, I’m going to keep them both at 50-50.
--Next are unscreened films that might fit into a year where titles are scarcer. That would be ADDRESS UNKNOWN (1944) and QUIET PLEASE, MURDER (1942). The presence of George Sanders in the latter gives it great likelihood, IMO.
--WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS is at 30%. It’s the first film on this list that's actually been shown in SF before (NC 3, still the best festival in NC history). It’s elevated above the remaining unscreened films for two reasons: 1) it’s highly regarded; 2) it’s a “bad cop” noir from 1950 and would make a fine companion for THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF.
--THE ACCUSED and WICKED WOMAN are elevated a bit due to their particular sexual politics.
--The rest of the unscreened films (all B’s: BACKLASH, BEHIND GREEN LIGHTS, I WAS A SHOPLIFTER) have about a 1-in-5 shot due to their marginal nature and the fact that there are stronger films for the years in which they were released. Actually, 1-in-5 might be too high.
--THE DARK CORNER is not going to be in the NC 16 lineup, as it was shown as part of NC 14. There’s a little more chance (1-in-20) for ESCAPE IN THE FOG (shown at NC 8) and CHICAGO DEADLINE (NC 7), but only because they might fit as the back end of a double bill if the lineup is being strictly organized by year. THE HUNTED has a bit of a better chance (1-in-10) even though it was seen during NC 9, because Eddie likes the film and has a “thing” for Belita.
We'll do similar work based on other recent festivals plus some takeaways from the previous entries in the series and create percentages for another set of films in the next installment...
NC 16: What Could Happen (sixth in a series...)
Posted by Don Malcolm on 12/7/2017, 6:29 am
The lists have been made and checked twice; the odds have been calculated and the envelope containing them has been conveniently thrown away; and what you are left with here is a pared-down list of the films yet to be screened at NC SF since its inception in 2003, and the odds (see the KEY below) that any of the films on this list will make it into the NC 16 lineup.
We will return in a day or two with a hypothetical day-by-day screening schedule for NC 16. Close your eyes, and cross your fingers!
UNSCREENED AT NC BY YEAR
KEY:
CAPS BOLD/UNDERLINED 70% or higher;
CAPS UNDERLINED 50-70%;
CAPS 35-50%;
Upper/Lower 15-35%;
lower case 0-15%
1941 HIGH SIERRA • Ladies In Retirement • blues in the night
1942 THIS GUN FOR HIRE • QUIET PLEASE, MURDER • CROSSROADS • nightmare
1943 THE FALLEN SPARROW • THE SEVENTH VICTIM • Shadow Of A Doubt
1944 MINISTRY OF FEAR • ADDRESS UNKNOWN • WHEN STRANGERS MARRY • Guest In The House • Flesh & Fantasy • Destiny • The Mask Of Dimitrios
1945 LADY ON A TRAIN • CORNERED • Danger Signal • Jealousy
1946 THE BIG SLEEP • BEHIND GREEN LIGHTS • Whistle Stop • The Verdict • the strange woman • suspense
1947 DEAD RECKONING • T-MEN • BRUTE FORCE • JOHNNY O’CLOCK • Calcutta • Fear In The Night • Backlash • The Brasher Doubloon • The Red House • Boomerang! • ride the pink horse • dishonored lady • lured • crossfire
1948 BLONDE ICE • CALL NORTHSIDE 777 • The Street With No Name • whiplash
1949 WHITE HEAT • FLAMINGO ROAD • TENSION • ALL THE KING’S MEN • Whirlpool • Rope Of Sand • house of strangers • flaxy martin
1950 THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK • THELMA JORDON • KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE • The Sleeping City • The Underworld Story • Storm Warning • Dark City • Highway 301 • Panic In The Streets • quicksand • backfire • dial 1119 • no way out • the lawless
1951 HIS KIND OF WOMAN • IRON MAN • Detective Story • Under The Gun • Two Of A Kind • The Scarf • the well
1952 WITHOUT WARNING! • Flesh and Fury • Five Fingers • the turning point • the thief
1953 THE BIG HEAT • THE BLUE GARDENIA • The Man Between • The Glass Wall • the glass web • a blueprint for murder • i, the jury
NOTES:
--The list strongly favors films that have been screened elsewhere but not (yet) at SF.
--Foreign films, with the exception of THE MAN BETWEEN, have not been handicapped here. There is a 5-10% chance of a surprise in that area; there is little reason to expect any French noirs in this time frame.
--The list is based on the notion that films from the same year will be paired together. If not, all bets are off...
--Ten films as yet unscreened in SF are odds-on favorites to be in the festival: HIGH SIERRA (Bogart/Lupino); THIS GUN FOR HIRE (Ladd/Lake); THE FALLEN SPARROW (Garfield/O’Hara); MINISTRY OF FEAR (Milland); LADY ON A TRAIN (Durbin, comedy elements); THE BIG SLEEP (Bogart/Bacall); DEAD RECKONING (Bogart/Scott); T-MEN (Mann/Alton); WHITE HEAT (Cagney/O’Brien/Mayo/Cochran); THE BIG HEAT (Ford/Grahame).
--Eight films as yet unscreened in SF are significantly favored to be in the festival: QUIET PLEASE, MURDER (Sanders, screened several times elsewhere in ’17); THE SEVENTH VICTIM (Lewton); BLONDE ICE (extreme femme fatale, to be paired with a similar film previously screened); FLAMINGO ROAD (Crawford/Curtiz); THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK (Keyes, played elsewhere recently); HIS KIND OF WOMAN (Mitchum/Russell/Price/Burr, comedy elements); WITHOUT WARNING! (Laven, Rode favorite, solid “B”); THE BLUE GARDENIA (Conte/Baxter/Sothern/Burr/Erdman, inclusion creates end-of-time-frame double bill for Fritz Lang).
--Thirteen films as yet unscreened in SF are somewhat favored to be in the festival: CROSSROADS (Lamarr/W. Powell/Trevor, MGM, if “B” film not chosen for ’42); ADDRESS UNKNOWN (Cameron Menzies, shown recently, if decision is made to show fewer repeats for ’44); WHEN STRANGERS MARRY (young Mitchum, if decision to avoid “Nazi noir” is made); CORNERED (D. Powell/Dmytryk, good espionage, in lieu of “social justice”); BEHIND GREEN LIGHTS (shown in LA); BRUTE FORCE (Lancaster/Dassin, shown elsewhere, prison noir sub-genre not covered otherwise); JOHNNY O’CLOCK (D. Powell/Keyes/Cobb/Gomez/Drew/Foch, solid follow-up feature for several ’47 noirs that could precede it); CALL NORTHSIDE 777 (Jimmy Stewart/Richard Conte, played elsewhere); TENSION (Basehart/Totter/Sullivan, MGM, played elsewhere); ALL THE KING’S MEN (Crawford/Ireland, McCambridge, played elsewhere, in lieu of “social justice”); THELMA JORDON (Stanywck, Siodmak); KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE (Cagney/Payton, could pair with other Cagney film if chrono order is adjusted); IRON MAN (Keyes/Chandler/Hudson, Universal, Joe Pevney, screened elsewhere).
--That’s more films (31) than the festival can hold...it will be most interesting to see how many in each category get picked.
--And it will be interesting to see if there are any unscreened films not on the list that get selected.
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