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Movie Quote of the Day – Armored Car Robbery, 1950 (dir. Richard Fleischer)
Lt. Jim Cordell: Aged in the glass bourbon.
Noirvember 2012 in Films
So this month marked the third-annual Noirvember, and I must say I couldn’t be more pleased with the turnout this year. We had people posting on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Not only did I manage a new-to-me Noir film of the day, I also did a noir movie quote of the day every day this month, which I’m sure y’all noticed. I also read a few noir books: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett and Laura by Vera Caspary, as well as reading the screenplays for Sunset Blvd. and The Third Man. Although I did manage to see a few non-noir films on the big screen (mostly new releases), a lot of decades went ignored this month. I will try to make up for that in December. Along with the aforementioned 2012 releases, I also go to see two of my favorite films that evaded me when they were first on the big screen at the Castro this month: David Fincher’s Zodiac (in a double with The Game) and Julian Schnable’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. All and all, it was a great month for cinema. Also, don’t forget to check out our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide!
Movie Quote of the Day – I Walk Alone, 1948 (dir. Byron Haskin)
Kay Lawrence: It might take me awhile to get him out of my system. One gets kind of used to someone.
Movie Quote of the Day – The Woman in the Window, 1944 (dir. Fritz Lang)
Richard Wanley: The Biblical injunction “Thou shalt not kill” is one that requires qualification in view of our broader knowledge of impulses behind homicide. The various legal categories such as first and second degree murder, the various degrees of homicide, manslaughter, are civilized recognitions of impulses of various degrees of culpability. The man who kills in self defense, for instance, must not be judged by the same standards applied to the man who kills for gain.
Movie Quote of the Day – Naked Alibi, 1954 (dir. Jerry Hopper)
Chief Joe Conroy: Are you in the habit of hauling in cut-up strangers?
Marianna: Yeah. It’s a hobby with me.
Movie Quote of the Day – The Narrow Margin, 1952 (dir. Richard Fleischer)
Mrs. Neall: What’re you going to do? Shoot something for breakfast?
Det. Sgt. Walter Brown: Sure. Name it.
Mrs. Neall: Eggs, bacon, toast, a bucket of coffee and some cigarettes. I’m famished, Brown.
Oscar Vault Monday – Witness for the Prosecution, 1957 (dir. Billy Wilder)
Like Stanley Donen’s Charade, Witness For The Prosecution is often misremembered as an Alfred Hitchcock films. While the subject matter on paper sounds like a Hitchcock film, the resulting film is most definitely a Billy Wilder film. Since the film came at the end of the Film Noir era I thought it would be a perfect way to end Noirvember. Witness For the Prosecution is not a full-on noir like Wilder’s Sunset Blvd., Double Indemnity or Ace in the Hole, but it definitely borrows from those films. It’s got a wonderful twist ending that I, for once, will not spoil. After the film ends there’s a disclaimer that runs during the credits. A voice-over announces:
“The management of this theatre suggests that for the greater entertainment of your friends who have not yet seen the picture, you will not divulge, to anyone, the secret of the ending ofWitness for the Prosecution.”
So I’ll follow the producer’s wishes. Currently, this film is available on instant Netflix, so you can watch it right away if you want!. Witness For The Prosecution was nominated for five Academy Award, though it didn’t win any: Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Supporting Actress Elsa Lanchester, Best Actor Charles Laughton, Best Director and Best Picture. The other films nominated for Best Picture were Sayonara, Peyton Place, 12 Angry Men and winner The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Movie Quote of the Day – Cry Vengeance, 1954 (dir. Mark Stevens)
Peggy Harding: Can I get you something?
Vic Barron: A bourbon, if you can spare the time.
Peggy Harding: I think I can spare it.
Movie Quote of the Day – Moonrise, 1948 (dir. Frank Borzage)
Danny Hawkins: You don’t sound very happy.
Gilly Johnson: Should I be?
Movie Quote of the Day – No Man of Her Own, 1950 (dir. Mitchell Leisen)
Helen Ferguson: He’s nice, isn’t he? I mean, giving me his place?
Patrice Harkness: Oh, he’s tolerable. He has his good points.
the diary of a film history fanatic 