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Soup’s On! My Favorite Pre-Code Dinner Guests
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 24, 2013
Last week, you may recall, I listed 10 characters from the classic film noir era that I would most like to invite to a dinner party. I had such a good time planning my guest list, and even more fun reading your suggestions, that I decided to throw another soiree, this time inviting characters from p read more
Obscure Noir: Plunder Road (1957)
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 23, 2013
For the first 13 minutes of Plunder Road, not one of the characters speaks a word. We can only hear their thoughts. It’s a fascinating beginning to one of the best obscure noirs around. In a nutshell, Plunder Road centers on – in the tradition of The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Rififi (1955), and The read more
Bad Boys: The Men of Pre-Code
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 21, 2013
I admit it. I’m guilty of ignoring the pre-Code fellas. I’m so fond of gals like Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford, Carole Lombard and Loretta Young, Dorothy Mackaill and Joan Blondell (and I could go on and on and on) that I’m afraid I’ve given little attention to the manly side of these fascinating read more
Remembering Evelyn Keyes . . .
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 20, 2013
November 20th is a banner day in the film noir world – it marks the birth date of film noir veteran Evelyn Keyes. This feisty femme appeared in four films noirs during her career, including one of my favorites, The Prowler (1951), and was also featured in such non-noir favorites as Here Comes Mr. read more
Quotes in Noir: The Damned Don’t Cry (1950)
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 19, 2013
“Don’t talk to me about self-respect.” Among the many noirs of which I’m most fond is The Damned Don’t Cry (1950), starring my girl Joan Crawford, David Brian, Steve Cochran, and Kent Smith. In the film, Joanie plays Lorna Hansen Forbes, a Texas oil heiress and the darling of café read more
If you don’t have anything nice to say . . .
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 18, 2013
A few years ago, at a local book fair, I picked up a book called If you don’t have anything nice to say . . . come sit next to me. What a find! Compiled by Coral Amende, this 1994 book is fairly bursting at the binding with catty comments, snarky sayings, and acerbic asides. Reading through the sect read more
The Maltese Falcon (or, The Big Oops)
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 17, 2013
The Maltese Falcon is one of the best-known films from the noir era, and it’s rife with such familiar characters as the Fat Man and Sam Spade, and memorable quotes like this favorite: “The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter.” It’s also rife with more goofs than you can shake a stick at. read more
Johnny Eager: Characters Welcome
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 16, 2013
Johnny Eager tells the story of a slick ex-con who works as a taxicab driver to mask his criminal activities. Standing in the way of Eager’s project is his longtime nemesis, the local district attorney, who just happens to be the stepfather of a young sociology student who falls for Johnny in a big read more
My Favorite Pre-Codes (Or Something Like That)
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 15, 2013
Just a casual chat between gal pals. Don’t you just love pre-Code? Lately, I’ve been struggling with (well, not really struggling – maybe just thinking about? Mulling over?) my definition of “favorite” movie. For instance, I’ve long considered my “favorite” to be Gone With the Wind. read more
Bon Appetit: My Favorite Noir Dinner Guests
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 14, 2013
Just one pie recipe. That’s not too much to ask, is it? What noir characters would you like to have for dinner? This was a question posed to Dark Pages readers several years ago by one of our longtime subscribers, Weda Mosellie. Miss Weda passed on earlier this year, so in her memory, it’ read more
Love that Lizabeth!
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 13, 2013
A tawny-haired beauty with a smoldering gaze and a distinctively throaty voice, Lizabeth Scott is my film noir guilty pleasure. She’s no Sarah Bernhardt, it’s true – but she’s one of the quintessential bad girls of the noir era, and she’s just plain fun to watch! And on November 15th, TCM read more
Must-See Movie: My Name is Julia Ross (1945)
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 12, 2013
Nina Foch gives a first-rate performance in the title role. My Name is Julia Ross came THISCLOSE to being my TCM film noir pick of the month – it was edged out by a hair by that ever-so-awesome Burt Lancaster starrer, The Sweet Smell of Success. But while you’re making your movie-watching choices read more
Behind the Scenes: Shelley Winters in A Double Life
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 11, 2013
To today’s audiences, Shelley Winters may be the grandmother on the Roseanne Barr comedy show, or the zaftig swimming champion who valiantly perished in The Poseidon Adventure. But back in the day, she was a gorgeous blonde whose curvaceous figure was complemented by her considerable acting chops. read more
Russell Johnson: More Than The Professor
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 10, 2013
If you only know Russell Johnson as the Professor from Gilligan’s Island, you may be surprised to know that the actor started his career on the dark side of the big screen, with a featured role in a George Raft noir, Loan Shark (1952). In this feature, Johnson played a hard-boiled character who was read more
The “What a Character” Blogathon: Jeff Corey
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 9, 2013
There was nothing conventional about Jeff Corey. Not his distinctively craggy looks, nor his exceptional talent, and certainly not his experience in Hollywood. Blacklisted in the 1950s due to accusations of Communist leanings, Corey saw his promising film career diminish virtually overnight, but the read more
November 11th on TCM: Chock-full of Robert Ryan Noir!
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 8, 2013
One of the icons of the film noir era, Ryan had a take-no prisoners approach and an aura of barely suppressed ferocity. Although he displayed his talent and versatility in a wide variety of roles during his 40-year career, it is the cold-hearted hoods, psychotic spouses, and iniquitous gangsters fo read more
Pre-Code Ephemera
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 7, 2013
I’ve mentioned on this blog once before, I have a number of collections – dolls, ashtrays, shot glasses, old radios, refrigerator magnets. But one of my favorites is my collection of old movie magazines. I started collecting them years (decades?) ago, way before there was an internet – or, at read more
NaBloPoMo: Hubba wha?
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 6, 2013
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you might wonder what has been going on around here so far this month, what with the daily posting and whatnot. Well, wonder no more. It’s National Blog Posting Month (also known as NaBloPoMo) and I have signed up for the challenge of posting something every read more
William Beedle and Edythe Marrener in Young and Willing (1943)
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 6, 2013
Nope, it’s not pre-Code. Too late. And it’s not noir. Too zany. But Young and Willing, a Paramount production that no one seems ever to have heard of except me, is two things: it’s one of my favorite guilty pleasures and it’s a showcase for two future veterans of the film noir era: William Holden read more
Quotes in Noir: The Dark Corner (1946)
Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on Nov 5, 2013
Ah, Clifton Webb. He could imbue a phrase with more flair, sophistication, and downright venom than anybody I can think of. Webb was perhaps at his most memorable in Laura (1944), in which he played the ever-acerbic Waldo Lydecker, but he was just as good in the lesser-known noir The Dark Corner. In read more