Out of the Past

Rating:
Summary: Solid Suspense, Biting Dialogue
Review: One of the great things about RKO Studios was the manner in which it achieved optimum results with economical budgets. The Melrose Avenue studio turned out some of the greatest film noir suspense efforts of all time, and "Out of the Past" ranks with the very best.

The cornerstone of a great film begins with a solid script, and the scenario penned by Daniel Mainwaring adapted from his novel, "Build My Gallows High," using his pen name of Geoffrey Homes on each occasion, is packed with suspense and laced with biting dialogue. The two leads, Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer, represent letter perfect casting, while Kirk Douglas in completing the romance triangle also performs with convincing gusto. The 1947 release made immediate stars of all three performers.

With respect to the part of femme fatale Kathie Moffett, Jane Greer told me in an interview, "This is the kind of part an actress would die for. There is this great buildup where Kathie is being discussed over and over before she appears. It reminds me of the way that Paramount films would have a big buildup for Alan Ladd. It would make him look ten feet tall by the time he appeared on screen."

The Mitchum-Greer relationship is explosive throughout. Despite the double dealings of Greer's character Kathie, Jeff Markham-Bailey, played by Mitchum, despite his street smart cleverness, repeatedly succumbs to her seductive beauty. At one point Mitchum exclaims, "Ah, Kathie, you're so good at changing sides." The statement is completely accurate as she takes turns playing syndicate boss Douglas and detective Mitchum like Wurlitzers.

In an attempt to break away from his past, Mitchum begins operating a gas station in the small California town of Bridgeport. He begins a romance with Virginia Houston, a wholesome girl whose sincerity contrasts sharply with Greer's duplicity. At one point, after Mitchum meets Greer again when agreeing to perform one last job for Douglas, Houston tells him that "Nobody is all bad," including Greer's character Kathie. "She comes the closest," Mitchum replies acerbically.

Perhaps the most memorable line of the film is when, during a tense moment, Greer exclaims that eventually everyone dies. Mitchum replies, "Yeah, but if I've gotta die I'm gonna die last." That succinct dialogue describes determined loner Mitchum perfectly. His romance with Greer, however, leaves him a doomed man. She guns him down in her car just as the police have arrived after Mitchum has alerted them. "You dirty, double crossing rat," Greer snarls as she fatally shoots Mitchum. She then runs into an ensuing hail of gunfire from the police.

"Out of the Past" is noir suspense at its zenith. The Mitchum-Greer team was reunited two years later for "The Big Steal," which merged comedy and chase scene suspense adroitly.

Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF FILM NOIR
Review: OUT OF THE PAST IS NOT ONLY AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF FILM NOIR IT'S A GREAT FILM! THE DIALOGUE IS SUPERB. LINES LIKE "I THINK I'M IN A FRAME" "DOESN'T SOUND LIKE YOU" "I DON'T KNOW, I'M GOING UPSTAIRS TO LOOK AT THE PICTURE." THAT STUFF STAYS WITH YOU! LET'S TALK ABOUT THE ACTING. ROBERT MITCHUM IS PERFECT IN THE LEAD ROLE. JANE GREER ALTHOUGH YOUNG, MAKES THE IDEAL EVIL WOMAN. AND OF COURSE KIRK DOUGLAS MORE THAN HOLDS HIS OWN. MOST FILM NOIR IS SHOT IN SHARP BLACK AND WHITE CONTRAST WITH MOSTLY INSIDE SCENES. WHILE THERE IS MUCH OF THIS IN OUT OF THE PAST, YOU WILL ALSO NOTICE A LOT OF OUTSIDE SHOTS...I THINK THAT'S INTERESTING. THIS IS TRULY A CLASSIC FILM YOU CAN WATCH AGAIN AND AGAIN. IT'S WITHOUT A DOUBT, MY FAVORITE FILM. P.S. IF ANYONE KNOWS WHERE I CAN GET AN ORIGINAL LOBBY POSTER OR EVEN A GOOD REPRODUCTION...PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Film Noir
Review: This classic film noir, featuring the twin cleft-chinned presences of
Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas, has got to be one of the most
enjoyable ever made. It's not the somewhat confusing plot, but the
snappy dialogue -- and the confident acting -- which makes it work so
well. The repartee ("A woman with a rod is like a man with a
knitting needle") is worthy of some of the best screwball
comedies and yet it's just as dark as a noir should be in terms of the
desperate things the characters do and the terrible things that happen
to them as a consequence. Jacques Tourneur ("Cat People",
"I Walked With a Zombie") directs with finesse, but the
importance of an ace writer like James M. Cain ("The Postman
Always Rings Twice") -- uncredited for some reason -- can't be
stressed enough. He deserves as much credit for the success of the
film as Tourneur, Mitchum, Douglas, and shapely femme fatale Jane
Greer, the woman who seduces both Mitchum and Douglas -- rod in hand.