Noirathon - LA vs NY: Round 5
The Champ: CRY OF THE CITY (NY)
I love the “Suitable only for adults” label on the poster. CRY is a really wonderful and often overlooked gem, directed by Robert Siodmak and featuring a perfect combination of real New York exteriors and the kind of wonderful, classic Noir backlot streets that I wish I could live on. The plot involves two Italian guys who grew up in the same neighborhood on the Lower East Side. One became a cop (Mature), the other a crook (Conte) and when the crook kills a cop and escapes from prison, it’s up to his boyhood friend to bring him to justice. Both actors are superb, especially Conte as the womanizing, remorseless killer, but the person who really steals the show is the amazing Hope Emerson, who plays a murderous masseuse. At 6’2” and over 200 pounds, Emerson utterly dominates every scene she’s in. The classic Noir Femme Fatale is a pretty little thing who uses her beauty and feminine wiles to gain power over men. Emerson has neither but she doesn’t need them. Her power is all physical and she uses it just like any male predator, to intimidate and strong arm her victims. The legendary “neck massage” scene is deliriously creepy. She starts off by massaging Conte’s shoulders, telling him that she has “the touch” and essentially offering him a happy ending, and then ends the scene by wrapping her big mitts around his neck and demanding he do things her way or else. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more perfectly inverted gender play in any movie before or since. This isn’t a very well known film, but it’s one that I highly recommend.
The special guest was the charismatic Tommy Cook, who played Conte’s little brother. He was the most dynamic and entertaining guest so far. Host Alan Rode barely got a word in edgewise.
The Challenger: CITY OF FEAR (LA)
FEAR is a fun, entertaining and often over-the-top B thriller with an Atomic age, almost Science Fiction premise. A convict escapes from prison with a steel cylinder he believes to contain pure heroin worth over a million dollars. What the cylinder actually contains is a mysterious radioactive isotope that contaminates and eventually kills everyone who touches it. The convict refuses to give up on the idea that he’s got that cool million coming and he gets sicker and more unhinged as the movie progresses, spiraling rapidly down into delirium and madness. Made for five cents and shot all over Los Angeles, probably without a permit, FEAR (like ARMORED CAR ROBBERY) is not really in the same weightclass as its opponent, but I still found it enjoyable and engaging. Nonetheless, this round definitely goes to New York and CRY OF THE CITY.
Also worth mentioning were the great trailers shown at the start of the show, one for CRIMSON KIMONO and one for THE KILLING. Man, that KIMONO trailer really hits the interracial angle with a sledge hammer. Particularly in this one shot of handsome, melancholy James Shigeta under a caption that read something like “What is his fascination with white women?” It’s still kind of astounding to my 21st century brain that the idea of a Japanese man having sex with a white woman was really that outrageous and taboo. Anyway, it sure whet my appetite for tonight’s show, CRIMSON KIMONO vs PICK UP ON SOUTH STREET.
I love the “Suitable only for adults” label on the poster. CRY is a really wonderful and often overlooked gem, directed by Robert Siodmak and featuring a perfect combination of real New York exteriors and the kind of wonderful, classic Noir backlot streets that I wish I could live on. The plot involves two Italian guys who grew up in the same neighborhood on the Lower East Side. One became a cop (Mature), the other a crook (Conte) and when the crook kills a cop and escapes from prison, it’s up to his boyhood friend to bring him to justice. Both actors are superb, especially Conte as the womanizing, remorseless killer, but the person who really steals the show is the amazing Hope Emerson, who plays a murderous masseuse. At 6’2” and over 200 pounds, Emerson utterly dominates every scene she’s in. The classic Noir Femme Fatale is a pretty little thing who uses her beauty and feminine wiles to gain power over men. Emerson has neither but she doesn’t need them. Her power is all physical and she uses it just like any male predator, to intimidate and strong arm her victims. The legendary “neck massage” scene is deliriously creepy. She starts off by massaging Conte’s shoulders, telling him that she has “the touch” and essentially offering him a happy ending, and then ends the scene by wrapping her big mitts around his neck and demanding he do things her way or else. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more perfectly inverted gender play in any movie before or since. This isn’t a very well known film, but it’s one that I highly recommend.
The special guest was the charismatic Tommy Cook, who played Conte’s little brother. He was the most dynamic and entertaining guest so far. Host Alan Rode barely got a word in edgewise.
The Challenger: CITY OF FEAR (LA)
FEAR is a fun, entertaining and often over-the-top B thriller with an Atomic age, almost Science Fiction premise. A convict escapes from prison with a steel cylinder he believes to contain pure heroin worth over a million dollars. What the cylinder actually contains is a mysterious radioactive isotope that contaminates and eventually kills everyone who touches it. The convict refuses to give up on the idea that he’s got that cool million coming and he gets sicker and more unhinged as the movie progresses, spiraling rapidly down into delirium and madness. Made for five cents and shot all over Los Angeles, probably without a permit, FEAR (like ARMORED CAR ROBBERY) is not really in the same weightclass as its opponent, but I still found it enjoyable and engaging. Nonetheless, this round definitely goes to New York and CRY OF THE CITY.
Also worth mentioning were the great trailers shown at the start of the show, one for CRIMSON KIMONO and one for THE KILLING. Man, that KIMONO trailer really hits the interracial angle with a sledge hammer. Particularly in this one shot of handsome, melancholy James Shigeta under a caption that read something like “What is his fascination with white women?” It’s still kind of astounding to my 21st century brain that the idea of a Japanese man having sex with a white woman was really that outrageous and taboo. Anyway, it sure whet my appetite for tonight’s show, CRIMSON KIMONO vs PICK UP ON SOUTH STREET.
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