2 Films: 1950's Noir

Film Noir (literally translated “dark film”) was a genre that flourished in the post WWII era of filmmaking. Its genesis came from the hard boiled pulp fiction of the 1930’s by the likes of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. By the 1950’s, especially the mid 50’s noir was nearing the end of its reign as the most prominent genre in film but before it left there were still a couple of classics in store.

The Killing (1956)

The heist film is a sub genre of film that I find to be surprisingly popular. Practically every year there are at least a couple new heist films and there are actually a lot of good ones. If we’re talking straight heist films then I believe that Stanley Kubrick’s the Killing is the greatest of them all. What I mean by straight heist films is that many heist films focus less on the heist and more on either the preamble (the Asphalt Jungle another classic) or what happens afterwards (Reservoir Dogs another more modern classic). The Killing is just a wonderful tautly paced noir heist film with great acting and even better directing. Stanley Kubrick (Dr. Stangelove, 2001) made the Killing quite early in his career and this tale of a racetrack heist is really his break out film. He is inventive with his use of time and with the way the camera is always moving. This jumping around and inventive camerawork gives the film a crackling energy and suspense. There are many classic noir elements here like the use of shadow and the double cross and the heist here is done to perfection creating suspense and anticipation. Movies don’t get much better put together and entertaining as this. You won’t mind letting the Killing steal an hour and a half of your time 5/5!

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Kiss Me Deadly is a movie like no other. This film is a classic detective story and one of the three classic detective films (the Maltese falcon, and The Big Sleep being the other two) but it also turns the whole genre on its head. The film is about the detective Mike Hammer who was one of the top selling fictional characters of the day. Hammer was a no nonsense guy who believed in delivering what he saw as real justice and bedding as many women as James Bond. Hammer is the blueprint for all of the classic anti heroes we see today like Dirt Harry. The screenwriter did not like Mike Hammer or what he stood for and he crafted a screenplay in which Hammer is a sleazy and mean guy. In the film as Hammer goes on the case he is constantly being belittled and beaten down by the characters around him both verbally and physically. Unfortunately or fortunately the attacks never seem to stick. Although Ralph Meeker’s Hammer isn’t a hero he is still the one we root for and in the end the attacks almost seem to fall flat because there is no way that the audience hates Hammer like they should. Believe it or not this adds to the movie, this and the wonderful surprises Kiss Me Deadly has in store for the audience. I don’t want to even talk about the plot because that would ruin what an incredibly modern, interesting, and entertaining film this is. It’s a strange and new film while also being a really good classic detective adventure. It’s one of a kind and it only gets better with age. It’s just plain fantastic!  5/5!