Coincidental to tin's post, the Movie Channels's (Comcast) Sunday Night Noir films showed "Out of the Past", a great film in this genre with a complex fatalistic storyline and some terrific black and white noir effects, dark cinematography, and a terrific femme fatale with Jane Greer. Hubba.
Mitchum, Greer, Kirk Douglas. Virginia Huston and Rhonda Fleming in lesser roles. This was Greer's best known work, although she around awhile. Sweet, smooth, beautiful; you wouldn't guess she was a deadly coniver. Note to self. Also, this was Douglas's second film, playing a crime boss in this one.
Mitchum is the good guy, done bad to, and never gets redemption. He goes down in flames after doing good. A bittersweet ending, as noir's do. A very complicated story line, going in directions we aren't used to seeing in films, this one gives you something to ponder.
See if you can find it. This film was included in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant". US Library of Congress.
My one complaint is that Mitchum never (hardly) takes off that hideous gray trench coat, two sizes too big, and Elliot Ness hat.
edit: When was the last time you saw somebody killed with a fish hook?
