If aliens ever land on earth enquiring, "Zubbo gog film noir?", a single viewing of 'Out of the Past' would send them on their intergalactic journey as significantly enlightened extra-terrestrials.
I found myself repeatedly watching several scenes for greater insight into the vagaries of the plot and the imaginative use of flashback, before suddenly realizing, 'I didn't study this hard for my 'A' Levels!'
Idiosyncrasies aside, it's the characters that make this movie enduringly memorable: Sly, oily, insidious, all controlling big operator, Kirk Douglas, in contention with dryly laconic patsy, Robert Mitchum, the fall guy, who just refuses to fall, always one step ahead, brushing aside every confrontation and heart pounding situation with cool detachment and a ready fist.
Scheming Jane Greer, screen's ultimate femme fatale, is 'Out of the Past's' jewel in the crown. Inherently manipulative, irresistibly mercurial, bouncing back and forth like a ping-pong ball, constantly switching allegiance in an obsessive pursuit of self gratification. Capable of pulling a trigger with the same nonchalant air that she would light a cigarette. Justifying each cunningly calculated move, each callous act, with a butter wouldn't melt, doe eyed, 'couldn't help it'. Even while sleeping, she's probably dreaming of which guy next to play for a sucker!
ALL THIS.....before even delving into the movie's stunningly mesmeric use of lighting. Seldom have the properties of light and shadow been so perceptively explored, so fully realized and wholly integrated into a film's overall visual impact.
The slightly blurry print provides a final ghostly nuance to a work already immersively eerie and atmospheric. The Holy Grail of film noir? There's no denying its pedigree, chum!
I found myself repeatedly watching several scenes for greater insight into the vagaries of the plot and the imaginative use of flashback, before suddenly realizing, 'I didn't study this hard for my 'A' Levels!'
Idiosyncrasies aside, it's the characters that make this movie enduringly memorable: Sly, oily, insidious, all controlling big operator, Kirk Douglas, in contention with dryly laconic patsy, Robert Mitchum, the fall guy, who just refuses to fall, always one step ahead, brushing aside every confrontation and heart pounding situation with cool detachment and a ready fist.
Scheming Jane Greer, screen's ultimate femme fatale, is 'Out of the Past's' jewel in the crown. Inherently manipulative, irresistibly mercurial, bouncing back and forth like a ping-pong ball, constantly switching allegiance in an obsessive pursuit of self gratification. Capable of pulling a trigger with the same nonchalant air that she would light a cigarette. Justifying each cunningly calculated move, each callous act, with a butter wouldn't melt, doe eyed, 'couldn't help it'. Even while sleeping, she's probably dreaming of which guy next to play for a sucker!
ALL THIS.....before even delving into the movie's stunningly mesmeric use of lighting. Seldom have the properties of light and shadow been so perceptively explored, so fully realized and wholly integrated into a film's overall visual impact.
The slightly blurry print provides a final ghostly nuance to a work already immersively eerie and atmospheric. The Holy Grail of film noir? There's no denying its pedigree, chum!
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