Out of the Past (1947)

Director:

Jacques Tourneur

Writers:

Daniel Mainwaring (screenplay)
Daniel Mainwaring (novel)

Release Date:

13 November 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

A MAN - Trying to run away from his past... A WOMAN - Trying to escape her future!

Plot:

Jeff Bailey, small-town gas pumper, has his mysterious past catch up with him one day when he's ordered to meet with gambler Whit Sterling...

Plot Keywords:

Income Tax | Tax Evasion | Beautiful Woman | Film Noir | Deaf Mute

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert Mitchum	...	Jeff Bailey
Jane Greer	...	Kathie Moffat
Kirk Douglas	...	Whit Sterling
Rhonda Fleming	...	Meta Carson
Richard Webb	...	Jim
Steve Brodie	...	Jack Fisher
Virginia Huston	...	Ann Miller
Paul Valentine	...	Joe Stephanos
Dickie Moore	...	The Kid
Ken Niles	...	Leonard Eels

Also Known As:

Build My Gallows High (UK)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | American Sign Language

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Germany:12 (re-rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (1998) | UK:A (original rating) | Iceland:12 | Germany:18 (original rating) | Sweden:15 (re-rating) (1965) | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Sweden:(Banned) | USA:Approved (PCA #12082) | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Humphrey Bogart read the script and, seeing the similarities between this and The Maltese Falcon (1941), wanted to play Jeff. However, Warner Bros. didn't buy the material and RKO produced this movie.

Quotes:

Jeff Bailey: It was the bottom of the barrel, and I was scraping it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mad About You: Out of the Past (#1.4)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

THE FIRST TIME I SAW YOU

Beloved film classic should be seen by more people

Terrific exotic adventure/melodrama with gothic undertones. Douglas follows Mitchum following Greer to Mexico; murder and robbery follow everywhere femme fatale Greer goes. She's excellent; vulnerable eyes revealing the fear motivating her totally irrational, greedy actions. She and Mitchum are made for each other (it's a shame that this and the less exciting "The Big Steal" are their only films together as far as I know, although Greer did make a good pairing with the comparably skilled Richard Widmark in "Run for the Sun"). Every step of their twisted journey feels inevitable, painful, and joyous, like a death-row inmate smoking his last cigarette. Mitchum is at his best here as the patsy for Greer and Doublas' schemes, who plays along as if he knows better but is truly seeking absolution from death.

One of the best films ever made by Hollywood, all the more amazing considering it was made almost on the fly (what people today call a "film noir" but what the producers though of as a "B" movie).

Tourneur is one of the best low budget directors in the business; fans of good film will seek out his movies, which cover all the different genres of film. His father was one of the creators of film style, and he has a striking sense of visual composition himself, which he puts to excellent use in this, possibly his best film.