When the world around you has ceased to make the sense that it seemed to make for several millennia and you realize you are all on your own, you have to go for the gusto. Being in charge of your own response to the whirling hand of the bitch goddess Fortuna is the most power you can ever hope for.
Tag: Film Noir
Placing “Touch of Evil” and “Angels in the Outfield” side by side reveals that Janet Leigh rises above the likes of Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren, Doris Day, and other cool blonde beauties of her era. One need only watch “Psycho” and “Touch of Evil” after catching “Midnight Lace” to see that Leigh was capable of reaching dramatic heights Doris could only dream of, despite Day’s claims of emotional breakdowns.
The classic femme fatale is a dangerous temptress within whose trap a not-terribly-bright man falls and Mia is certainly seductive enough toward Vince to get him trapped almost to the point of devastation once they return back home. It is exactly at this point that the standard conventions of film noir begin to fall apart.
Despite the moral ambiguity of Rick Blaine at the beginning and despite the presence of real evil in the form of the Nazis all around him and despite the presence of all those other elements—guilt, alienation, paranoia—the ending of Casablanca holds out hope.
The Big Combo is a 1955 movie starring Cornel Wilde and Richard Conte that constantly surprises and features scenes of violence and sexuality that left censors in a tizzy.
