on 12/3/2021, 1:02 pm
Del Toro is clearly articulate, intelligent and a fan of a certain type of classic noir; one wonders how some of these films could plausibly have any actual influence on the NIGHTMARE ALLEY remake, however.
The article (and its accompanying video) are definitely worth a look, but for those who prefer the nickel tour, here are the ten films del Toro cites:
FALLEN ANGEL
NIAGARA
UNDERWORLD USA
THE KILLING
DETOUR
TOO LATE FOR TEARS
BORN TO KILL
THE LINEUP
THE BREAKING POINT
NIGHTFALL
A very solid list; no quirky surprises here, however. Many of these films contain intense gender interaction, but several really don’t. Kudos to del Toro for his appreciation of BORN TO KILL, but his association of this film with NIGHTMARE ALLEY suggest that he’s misreading Gresham’s book when he claims that Stan & Lilith are on “equal footing” when they meet: that’s more how the original movie sets it up.
I’d also suggest that PITFALL is actually Liz Scott’s best role: but that’s in a completely different kind of noir that probably doesn’t wear its rough edges sufficiently on its sleeve to appeal to him.
Apparently del Toro will spend time next week presenting many of these films to audiences at the Los Feliz 3 (the American Cinematheque’s current replacement for the Egyptian Theatre). Hoping that he’ll make the trek out to Santa Monica a few times; while the Aero isn’t “hip” like Hollywood, they have a lot more seats available & they’d make more $$.
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