on 12/16/2024, 1:33 pm, in reply to "From 2021 (2017-18): The Noir Top 25 Poll--Results of a Revision(ist) Effort"
Posted by Carl on 6/27/2021, 4:36 pm, in reply to "From 2017-18: The Noir Top 25 Poll--Results of a Revision(ist) Effort"
Edited by Carl on 6/27/2021, 4:41 pm
Interesting comparison. By and large, I find 2017 more "accurate" if such a determination can be made. I think that is a function of more of these films being readily available. Some thoughts:
--Criss Cross has much to recommend, but I never believed it was worthy of the No. 2 slot. I don't think Yvonne De Carlo carries the female lead that well (except in the dancing scene) and while the story is solid, the dialogue of the script is pretty ordinary.
--We have a general consensus version of Touch Of Evil that maybe didn't exist in 2005, or at least wasn't as widely seen. The version we're seeing now is without any doubt a great film (and we can only hope that dude who's out there looking for an uncut Magnificent Ambersons finds the unfindable).
--Nice to see Raw Deal up to No. 12. I have it in my top 10 now, particularly after the latest restoration that brings out the moody John Alton photography. The Big Combo also went up, logically, because we have a far more watchable version.
--Act Of Violence definitely merits its quantum leap. It has everything -- story, atmosphere, Robert Ryan AND Van Heflin. It's Fred Zinnemann's only noir, but like so many of his films, it's the work of a master.
--A little surprised In A Lonely Place took even a small drop because it seems to have gathered so much adoration in recent years. I don't have a problem where it is. Still don't see it as a top 10 noir. Am I the only one who finds "I was born when she kissed me, I died when she left me, I lived a few weeks while she loved me” just slightly cheesy?
--Not surprising that Force Of Evil took a big jump and I would surmise The Breaking Point did as well. Not even sure if that made the top 100 in the 2005 poll, and if it's not in the top 50 in 2017, it's an oversight. I've always preferred those Garfields (along with Nobody Lives Forever) over the overlong and slightly kitschy Postman and the grim hostage drama He Ran All The Way.
--Double Indemnity or Out Of The Past? It's a coin flip. But it's one of those two at No. 1. I now go with the '17 poll winner.
--I wonder if Detour might climb a few more spots based on its sparkling restoration. It would in my rating.
--The only film that took a drop that I don't agree with is Born To Kill. I believe it's a wildest noir ever made, with the wildest man in the lead, and it also has Elisha Cook AND Esther Howard with two scenes together that play up their brilliance as character icons. And even though it dropped from fifth to 17, I still have a soft spot for The Killers just for the opening 10 minutes in the diner.
--One film I don't understand doesn't get more recognition is Sudden Fear. It's my favorite Crawford, with Palance and Grahame as dual baddies. And some great Bay Area location shots. It would now make my top 25.
--Interesting that The Big Heat dropped a bit. Just re-watched it recently. It dawned on me for the first time that all the female characters die in the film (Mrs. Duncan, Bannion's wife and Debby Marsh) while even the worst of the men (Lagana, Vince Stone) manage to survive (only Mrs. Duncan's husband is killed off, and that's self-inflicted, plus we never actually see him on camera). I don't think this is an accident by any means, not with Fritz Lang at the helm.
--By and large, we were pretty "on it" back in 2005 considering so many of these films were hard to find back then.
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