0:03 Who are you and where are you going? What do you want? [Music] It was stubborn today. Hello and welcome to Jiggers's Place.
0:38 I'm your host, Kevin Bemel, and I'm here every other Thursday at 5:00 PM Pacific time to have a cocktail with you and talk about all the noninancial parts of life. uh we talk about relationships, we talk about values, we talk about literature, uh and we talk about uh and entertainment and and that's the theme for uh uh today. I'm going to be talking about film noir. Uh it is far and away
1:15 my favorite film genre and I've been a noir fan since Gosh, I think ever since I was a teenager. U I I don't think uh I don't think I watched any film noir when I was a child. Although television had a lot of I think noir inspired shows on it at the time. I remember watching a a TV show with my dad called the FBI. Uh Hawaii 5 wasn't strictly noirish. Um, but it that the
1:50 kind of detective nature of it and and it was kind of oftentimes the gritty side of of Hawaii. Uh, and so uh and and and then I did a show not too long ago on detective fiction as I recall. And of course, film noir is uh an outgrowth of the uh gritty urban detective fiction uh that developed in the 1940s and 19 or 1930s, I should say, starting in the 1930s. But we'll get into that. First, we're going to have a cocktail. And with
2:25 my cocktail designer, uh, Smoke and Mo, we with my cocktail designer, Chat GPT, we came up with a cocktail called Smoke and Motives. I love the title. It is a rye based cocktail. And rye is my favorite uh spirit. Uh, it's not my favorite wine. My favorite wine is champagne, but my favorite uh spirit is is rye, which is a type of whiskey. I'm going to be using for this cocktail bullet rye. Uh if you recall, two weeks
3:00 ago, I made a cocktail with Bullet Bourbon. Bullet is just they just they do it well. And so, uh, actually, I'm gonna take it from my, this is my, uh, library decanter I have here, but I wanted to show you what the bottle looked like to give the Bullet People, uh, you know, a free plug. Uh, and, uh, it's the one with the with the, uh, green label as opposed to the bourbon, which has kind of an orange colored label. And then we're going to use some benedictine. Uh, we're going to use some fresh lemon juice that I just squeezed. It was why I
3:36 started a couple minutes late. And we're going to rinse the glass with messcal. I'm using a Hoya Aul messcal. Um to be honest, I don't know where I found this, but mscal has a smokiness to it. A little bit different than tequila. Although they're both made from agave. Uh tequila is made only from blue agave. Uh mscal can be made, as I understand it, from any kind of agave. Okay. Okay. And then we're going to use a little bit of uh Bitman's Boston bits. Uh okay. We've got our uh our shaker. So, we're going to start
4:12 out with 2 oz of rye whiskey. And oops, don't fall over. Stopper. And you know, you would think after all the times I've made cocktails, I would know where the 2 oz mark was. So, there we we've got our whiskey. And I'm going to have a half ounce each of Benedictine and uh and lemon juice.
4:47 And if you if you if you sign up for my email list, you'll get the recipes in advance and it tells you all the different flavors. So the Benedicting has kind of an herbal warmth and a little bit of mystery to it. Nobody really knows how Benedicting is made except for the one rabbi who decided it was kosher. Okay, this is a/2 ounce of lemon juice. Just going to pour that in there. And then a couple of dashes of bitterman's bits.
5:23 Okay. And then before we shake up the cocktail, I'm going to with the uh mascal, just pour a little bit into the glass. We're going to do what's called a rinse. Actually, I poured a little bit too much. That's okay. And you just swirl it around in the glass just to coat the inside of the glass. Okay. And then when you're done, just pour off the excess. I'll drink it after the show. Okay. And now going to shake um
5:58 cocktail. And as I always remind you, we're shaking it not just to mix it, but to let some of the ice uh melt, which brings which um mixes in a little bit of water, which opens up the flavors. You can see that shaker is nice and frosty. Hopefully Okay. And I'm thirsty, so I'm not going to shake it quite as long as I normally do. Okay. And then I'm going to um strain it into the messcal rinsed glass.
6:40 Get all of that in there. There we go. And I'm going to garnish it with a lemon twist. I don't have any smoldering time. and happy days. You know, you can taste just the smokiness a little bit. It's great. Okay, I'll see you over on the couch.
7:30 So, here we are. It's uh it's Thursday, Thursday evening if you're on the East Coast. This is good. and uh you know another day and we're at the weekend or in my case another day and we're at uh what's called Arab Shabbat the day before Shabbat and then Saturday is the Sabbath and uh yeah so it's nice to relax together. Thanks thanks for joining me. So film noir. First of all um I'm going
8:08 to show you several books but I want to start out by showing you this particular book. This is called The Art of Noir and it's compiled by a fellow named Eddie Müller. And for my money, Eddie Müller is far and away the most knowledgeable film noir scholar probably in the world, certainly in the United States. Um, I I used to watch uh Eddie Müller. He he uh on on Turner Classic Movies uh he did a he did presented a noir film
8:44 uh every Saturday night. Um he he his knowledge is absolutely encyclopedic. And so while I am an afficionado and I know some things about it, I don't pretend to be anything like the expert that Eddie Müller is. Among other things, um Mr. Müller uh puts together film noir festivals in various cities across the country. My friend uh Rick Rick Carter who longtime producing partner on a number of of uh film and video projects. We've been to the film
9:19 noir festival here in Los Angeles I think two or three times over the years. Um, unfortunately because of work and other reasons, we we we haven't been able to go um all the time. But, uh, a as as much as I enjoy watching film noir on television or, you know, DVDs or even I think I even have a few on cassette, not cassette tape, sorry, VHS. There is nothing like seeing film noir on the big screen with an audience. uh especially if it's a a a restored print
9:55 of the film. I know I've seen uh double indemnity that way. I've certainly seen the Maltese Falcon many times. Same with The Big Sleep. In fact, most of Humphrey Bogart's film noir I've seen numerous times. Pretty much anytime he's playing, I will go. Huge Humphrey Bogart fan. So, you know, you may be thinking, okay, film noir. I I've heard of it. I've never seen it. What's the big deal, right, with film noir? So, as I always do, I make some notes so I can speak to you cogently,
10:30 right? So, first of all, film noir is really a cinematic style, right? It's a genre of movie and it it it's it it's really it was it was popularized in the 1940s and 50s and it's characterized by its dark moody intense nature. It's almost always filmed in black and white even even as color was becoming uh much more common in films. Uh film noir were even even a a film
11:09 film noir were filmed in black and white and uh it it the visuals had a moodiness about them. that were often it was oftentimes it w was shot on location and favorite film noir cities San Francisco usually there'd be scenes at night with fog uh Los Angeles of course was a big no noir city uh Chicago New York those are probably the f the four right uh most common noir settings and
11:44 then sometimes there would be others and and where exactly was happening. It wasn't, you know, it was a fictitious city um or it was like some small town where some creepy thing was was going on. So, um so that's that's the the setting of it. Um and film noir typically have some kind of moral ambiguity about them. and and the fact that noir came to popularity in the postw World War II period I don't think
12:20 is coincidental. So coming out of World War II where tens of millions of Americans had either directly or through a loved one experienced the unbelievable carnage of a world war. So unlike World War I where Americans heard about the carnage, but when all was said and done, um it wasn't the the the time America spent involved in World War I was only about 18 months, uh around April of 1917 until
12:58 November of 1918. And uh the time that Americans were in combat was even shorter than that because um uh General Persing spent about the first nine months or so, 10 months of of the American Expeditionary Force being in Europe training and getting the American uh soldiers and marines uh you know up up to combat readiness. So it was a relatively short experience for Americans. far fewer Americans uh participated in World War I than
13:34 World War II. And so hence the impact of World War I was was different. Uh World War II there were 8 to 10 million Americans in uniform. There were probably another million or so people civilians supporting the military. There were military contractors. so many people involved in the government supporting the DoD or supporting defense contractors. And then all of these veterans came home and their loved ones were exposed to a certain extent to their experiences.
14:10 And it was really kind of almost like a waking up of America to just how brutal human nature could be on a grand scale. And for all that most Americans uh believed that what the United States had done was was a good thing, still the brutality that with which Americans had to fight was really came home to Americans. So, uh, you know, Patton was was famous for his essentially his blitz
14:45 type warfare, uh, you know, just absolutely running over the enemy if possible, right? And so the idea of Americans being so brutal was was was kind of new to the American psyche, even though, like I said, the vast majority of Americans recognized it as being necessary. And so this moral ambiguity about what really who really is a good guy, how does he really behave crept its way into film noir and became a central aspect of it. So oftent times
15:21 the hero was a a a brutal man. He he beat people up. He didn't necessarily treat women courteously, etc. uh and and it and and yet it was all done with a sense of attaining justice. Sometimes justice when it was clear that the police and the regular levers of justice were not were just not going to function uh in a way that would bring justice about.
15:57 So that's really that's really the heart of film noir. Um and the the themes were of course crime, but a lot of times it dealt with corruption, corruption in city governments, and police departments among business. And so, you know, again, it it kind of took aim at institutions that hereto for had all always been uh portrayed as being pillars of American society. and film noir show the sort of dark
16:33 underbelly of of some of these institutions. So, um, as I mentioned a minute ago, the cinematic style, the visual style was a stark black and white cinematography. Um, and there was a lot of shadows and indirect lighting. Um, all which gives it this very sort of almost fatalistic quality. Um some of the plots or many of the plots I should say uh revolved around ideas of greed, betrayal,
17:09 um and and sort of existential despair. Oftentimes the betrayer was a woman, a fem, the so-called fem fatal, right? And if you look at movies in the uh you know pre- noir period, women generally speaking were portrayed in you know in an almost goddess-like way uh a lot of the times or at least in a very a highly respected way. Whereas often times in
17:44 fil noir it turned out that the woman was at the heart of what was going on or at least she was very involved with it. So so for example in in what's typically considered the first film noir the Maltese falcon. So um um I'm going up on the actress's name now uh who plays uh Humphrey Bogart's love interest. Um but in the beginning you think her character who goes by many names including Bridget Oshaughnessy um she seems to be the the the the sort
18:20 of classic uh you know uh woman in need right and she goes to Humphrey Sam Spade played by Humphrey Bogart to get his help. So, she's sort of the the damsel in distress, right? And then I, you know, for those of you who haven't seen it, uh, you know, I don't want to give the plot away, um, but it's not really giving anything away for you to find out that that she is not a damsel in distress. Okay? and and and and so, you know, that that was a very common theme is is that, you know, women could
18:57 be just as is as as nasty and evil as men, sometimes even more so. Um, so the narrative style, it often times used flashbacks, it used voice over. um there was a lot of of sort of creativity in the way the stories the the story is presented and and and that's another uh just fascinating aspect of of of film noir. So you know why do I love film noir? I mean for everything that I've just described first of all it is a genre
19:35 that really pulls you in. So a good in a good film noir you you are hoping that the protagonist reaches his aim. You are happy when the villains finally get theirs and uh you you want the betrayers punished. You want the greedy to have their downfall. It it it allows us to sort of indulge in in the attainment of justice
20:14 even as we know that that at least sometimes uh the wheels of justice go ary. So I for me that that's one of the things I think it also because it explores this idea of moral ambiguity which is the reality of life. I mean, I think we we think we want to live in a world that's perfectly just, but the reality is we could never survive in such a world. And so life is by its nature uh morally ambiguous and film noir has a working
20:52 through of that that's very satisfying, right? And so especially like for me as you know right I I live a you know a traditional Jewish life and and a god- centered life I hope and and it can be very frustrating because it's like why is God letting these things happen right so in a film noir at the end rarely do you think to yourself oh God you let me down right no justice is done almost always Um there's there's uh one
21:28 particular film noir that I I particular that I really love. Uh it stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Beall and gosh uh I don't remember the name of it now but um Agnes Morhead who played uh Samantha Stevens mother and Dora in the TV show Bewitched is one of the supporting characters. Oh my gosh, what an absolutely evil woman. Um, and there's a scene in the, again, I don't want to give any of this away to you because if you watch these movies, you
22:04 just want you want to be, you know, surprised, but but there was her her her final scene is just it I mean, you can see I'm speechless over it because there's no way to describe it, but it is just so impactful. Okay. So, and and and that's that's another reason why film noiris it is so impactful the bleakness of it but the redemption at the end uh it it it engages our emotions in in in in a very very powerful way. Um
22:42 and and even when so uh you know often times film noir in the end when the bad guy gets his right he's he's killed or he's captured and thrown in prison whatever it is often times because we've been along the journey of his struggle as much as we're happy that in the end justice has been done yet we're left with a sense of bitter sweetness because we we see that this this
23:19 horrible man was a was on some level a tortured soul and and he's he's crept into us enough that we've identified him with him identified with him at least a little bit and and so as disturbing as it is while at the same time we're I I for me anyway. I'll speak for myself. At the same time, I'm glad that he finally got it in the end. I I'm I feel a little bad for him because he was, you know, oftentimes they're such powerful
23:55 characters had they not turned to crime, what would they have done in society, right? Those kinds of feelings. So uh and um uh you know there's other things the the symbolism oftentimes in the movie the dialogue oftent times is brilliant. Uh the Maltese falcon has some of the most brilliant dialogue. I quote certain parts of it often. Um the big sleep uh which is Humphrey Bogart and Lauren
24:30 Beall. the interplay between the two of them is brilliant. Uh and and and so the writing is just just top-notch. So So these are these are I think the reasons why um I love film noir. I think they're the reasons why uh so many people like like love not ju not not just like love film noir. So I'm I'm going to show you the artwork of some of the best known film noir. Uh, so if you can see this, this is the posters, one of the posters from the killers. Okay. And this the killers um
25:08 it was it was based on a Hemingway story, Ernest Hemingway, fabulous 20th century American writer. It stars Bert Lancaster as I recall. Yeah. And Ava Gardner, two amazing stars of this period. Um, and it is again outstanding example of of film noir. Uh, The Killers was uh 1946. Okay. One of my all-time favorite film noirs. I mentioned it just a minute ago. The Big Sleep with Bo and McCall. Again, the dialogue between the two of them is outstanding. The Big Sleep was written
25:46 by um I'm trying to think. Um Raymond Chandler, I believe. Let me see if does it say here? Yeah, was written by Raymond Chandler. um directed by Howard Hawks and The Big Sleep was uh also uh uh 1946. Okay. And then let's see which one is next here in Eddie Müller's book. Okay. So I I here's the other one I mentioned, the Maltese Falcon again. Well, so this is Mary Aster and Humphrey Bogart. Okay. And and again this is um the Maltese
26:23 Falcon is widely considered to be the first true film noir. It was uh um uh came out in 1941, right? So it was just before the United States got involved in World War II. Um it is brilliant. Um uh it was written by so the the original uh book was written by Dashel Hammet, one of the great uh um uh crime fictiondetective uh novelists and and um one of my
26:58 all-time favorite actors, Sydney Green Street, aka the Fat Man, if you've ever seen Casablanca, is in uh the Maltese Falcon. So is um gosh um is his name here? Yeah, Peter Lori. Peter Lori is also in the Maltese Falcon. Um and um it's interesting. Sydney Green Street is not he's not named on the poster I just noticed. Uh but but Sydney Green Street is outstanding. Okay, so let's see that. Oh, what do I have next here on the hip
27:34 rate? Oh, okay. Um, one of the best known film noir, Double Indemnity with uh, Fred McMurray and Barbara Stanwick. Barbara Stanwick. Now, if you only ever saw Barbara Stanwick in the latter part of her career on television when she's older, you cannot appreciate h what a gorgeous woman she was in the early part of her career. The kind of woman who, you know, if she
28:10 were walking down the street, men would be just just enamored of her. her beauty. Um, and she had a quality about her. Uh, Barb Barbara Stanwick, I I, you know, you don't hear nearly as much about her as you do someone like Ava Gardner or Lana Turner. Um, or other actresses who were wellk known in film noir, let alone other areas like other areas of film. Ginger Rogers, uh, Judy Garland, you know, the the the the the great actresses you'll hear about. Uh Barbara Stanwick had tremendous range.
28:48 She could do comedy, noir, drama, a truly outstanding actress. Uh and and Double Indemnity, which also uh starred Edward G. Robinson, who's one of the one of the great great actors. Uh, Double Anemone came out in 1944 and it's it's one of those films that uh employs a a a an unusual way of telling the story. Okay. Another uh terrific uh uh film noir is The Asphalt Jungle with
29:23 Sterling Hayden. So, Sterling Hayden is is not a particularly well-known actor, but in the in the circles he is. He did a a huge number of film noir. An outstanding actor. And I think I've got one more that I'm going to show you. Right. Okay. So, this is another Humphrey B. Oh, and uh um uh which one was I just Oh, the Asphalt Jungle was I want to say maybe like 1952. It was a little bit later. Okay. And then um another uh um Humphrey
29:59 Bogart film noir. Um again one of my favorites with Ida Lupino High Sierra. Um Idol Lupino fascinating woman. Uh she invented a radar enhancement in World War II. Later became a director. Really astonish. She is superb as is Humphrey Bogart. Um and um uh uh High Sierra early like 1940. Okay. So um okay
30:34 now so those are those are some of the great film noir and um so I want to mention just a a few of the writers. Um, I've mentioned a couple names before, um, but you will, but but first of all, Raymond Chandler, many of his books were made into film noir, um, including The Big Sleep that I've already mentioned many times. Farewell My Lovely, very well-known, The Lady in the Lake, also very well known. Um, his best known character is Philip Marlo. Um, that is the character that Humphrey Bogart plays in The Big Sleep. Um he's a there there
31:11 many many actors who've played Philip Marlo. Uh but that that he's he's Raymond Chandlan's car Raymond Chandler's best known character. Another well-known writer in the film noir genre is Dashel Hammond who I also mentioned. Um he wrote the the the novel The Maltese Falcon. It was adapted for the screen by John Houston who as I recall also directed the Maltese Falcon. Uh and and um Dashel Hammet also wrote uh Red Harvest
31:46 um the DNE Curse. His probably his two best known characters were Sam Spade, which is the character that Humphrey Bogart plays in the Maltese Falcon, and a character called the Continental Op. He was an operative for the Continental Detective Agency. And and for example, Red Harvest uh is is a uh a story about the continental op uh quite quite a fascinating guy. Got to have a little sip here. So, okay. So, Dashel Hammet
32:23 and oh, so James and Kain uh James M. Kain. So he wrote novels including Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice. Um if you like your your film noir very spicy as in man spicy. So The Postman Always Rings Twice will absolutely be for you. It stars
32:58 the brilliant John Garfield, who unfortunately died very young, and the absolutely beautiful Lana Turner and their screen chemistry. It's amazing that the film doesn't get burned up and it still goes through the the through the projector. Um his stories tended to be very morally complex. Both double indemnity and the postman always ring twice involved infidelity but like deep
33:33 deep betraying infidelity. Um and and and really, you know, in his stories, unlike other film noir where you're rooting for somebody, in the in in James M. Kaine's stories, you basically want everybody to get it in the end. They're all just horrible people. Uh okay. And then, um WR Bernett was a screenwriter. Um he wrote uh Little Caesar, the great uh Edward G. Robinson film where he plays the the the
34:11 aonomous character Little Caesar. And uh he also wrote High Sierra that I mentioned a minute ago with uh Humphrey Bogart and Idino. Um and he also wrote um the Asphalt Jungle, which I mentioned, the the the great Sterling Hayden film. Um, so his his films tended to be more gangster oriented. Certainly that's the case with Little Caesar and The Asphalt Jungle. Uh, High Sierra is not so much gangsterish, but it definitely is is crime. Okay, so those are some those are
34:46 three or four of the truly great uh film noir writers, outstanding noir directors. uh Billy Wilder, who of course is one of the greatest directors in Hollywood history. He directed Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, and The Lost Weekend. All noir or sort of noirish uh films. Um The Lost Weekend really isn't a noir film, but but it it it has the same kind of atmospheric quality to it. Um and it is it is a brilliant movie. I'm using
35:21 I'm using a lot of superlatives today. If you watch the show regularly, you know I don't use a lot of superlatives, but when it comes to this period in in Hollywood movie making, it's it's easy to be superlative. Uh John Houston, who I mentioned a minute ago, uh did the adaptation of the Maltese Falcon. He he did he directed it as well, as I mentioned. He also directed the Asphalt Jungle. Houston again one of the great great directors and one of Houston's qualities was he developed very strong
35:56 characters so he didn't both Billy Wilder and John Houston they directed other types of films besides film noir and they brought their work from other genres into their film noir but they also brought their experience in film noir to other films outside the genre and I think That's one of the reasons why they're such great directors. John Houston of course directed many amazing westerns especially with uh John Wayne uh just you know a towering director. Um Fritz Lang um is another one known for
36:34 um great film noir movies including um The Big Heat and Scarlet Street. Now, Fritz Lane was originally from Germany, and he brought this sort of German expressionist uh um uh I'm trying to think of the the German expressionist um influence, that's the word I'm looking for, to his film, The War that he did here in the United States. And then, um Robert uh Semacodmac um he he um directed The Killers and Crisscross. And then I I saved this uh
37:10 for last because I I anytime I see this film anywhere, I will go to see it. A lonely place starring uh Humphrey Bogart as a sort of dissipated Hollywood writer, Gloria Graham as his love interest. uh and it's it's uh a lonely place is is directed by Nicholas Ray who among film afficionados is really well known but he was never well known in the general to
37:46 the general public the way u John Houston was or Billy Wilder or you know uh people at that level uh Vincent Minnelli etc. Um, if you ever get to see a in a lonely place, especially in a theater, just please do yourself a favor and go watch it. So, the film is shot, some of the location shots are in Beverly Hills. Um, and you see the Beverly Hills of the 19 early 1950s I
38:23 believe the film was made. and it gives you a sense of the, you know, kind of greater Los Angeles area of that period, it also gives you a a pretty realistic behindthecenes look to Hollywood. So whereas MGM oftentimes, you know, really presented the glamour of Hollywood, Nicholas Ray in a lonely place is really showing you the dark underbelly of Hollywood, the movie industry, Hollywood. Okay. So, so those are some of the great um uh directors.
39:00 And then I I've I think I've mentioned most of these actors before, but I think the top pardon me, film noir actors, Humphrey Bogart, I've mentioned Edward G. Robinson, um Robert Mitchum, who um appeared in Out of the Past, The Night of the Hunter, and The Big Sleep. Um I think he he plays the police uh police detective in the Big Sleep if I remember correctly. uh Fred McMurray who plays the insurance man in Double Indemnity. You know, if you're my vintage, you remember Fred McMurray playing the father in My Three Sons,
39:37 right? And that was the Fred McMurray I knew or I knew him from uh the Disney film about the Boy Scouts, Follow Me. Um and then I saw him in Dublin and I'm like, "Oh, I like that Fred McMurray much more." Um, so as much as a as a boy scout guy I am, um, Dick Powell, um, who one of the great actors of of the age, um, he was the leading man in Murder My Sweet, but Dick Pal also did a lot of radio shows. Um, including, uh, oh gosh, I can hear
40:14 him. Um, oh gosh, uh, God, I can't think of the name. I can't think of the name, but anyway, he did a lot of of detective radio shows. All of them, if they had been visual, you know, would have been film. They're film noir. They're noirish, you know, in a audio sense. Okay. Raymond Burr, um, great actor. Um, he was often the villain or the tough guy. So although I'm not I don't know that I would necessarily call this a film noir per se. If you've ever seen Rear Window, the
40:53 quintessally brilliant film uh Alfred Hitchcock with uh Jimmy Stewart and the most beautiful woman who ever lived, Grace Kelly. Um so Raymond Burr plays the heavy in that film. Uh, so if you if you want if if if you're um you know if you're interested um in who is this guy Raymond Burr? Go see Rear Window. Again, just like with In a Lonely Place, if you ever get the chance to see Rear Window in in a in a movie theater, just go, trust me, go. Okay. Um outstanding film
41:29 noir actresses both uh uh fem fatal and leads. So I mentioned uh Barbara Stanwick. um who is the quintessential fem fatal in double indemnity. Lauren Beall who did um the big sleep and dark passage um with with Humphrey Bogart um she very sultry actress um and and and had enormous onreen onscreen chemistry with Humphrey Bogart. Uh Von Veronica Lake who is known for her peekaboo hairdo because her hair typically covered one
42:05 eye. Um she was in uh Gun for Hire and The Blue Dalia. Um you know, both great films. Jean Tyranny uh who was in Laura and Lever to Heaven. Gloria Graham next to Barbara Stanwick. Gloria Graham for me tops even Lauren Beall. She is I mean from her from from films like um Oklahoma where she you know which is a musical and and and she plays a a a comedic role and then to see
42:43 her in a lonely place she is is beautiful impactful um just gripping in her performances and then um uh wrapping up with Rita Hayworth um who was in Gilda um oftentimes mixings glamour with with danger. So, um you know, if if if you have uh any liking at all for classic Hollywood um the 40s uh 1940s and 50s and into the very early 60s. So, you will see typically you will see most of
43:18 the great um actors and actresses uh appearing in a film noir at one time or another. So let me share a few more uh film noir books for you. So um this is a um a book edited by John Grant. This is called film noir, a comprehensive encyclopedia film noir. It's the essential reference guide. It has literally thousands uh 3,250
43:54 entries in it. Um, by the way, this is Robert Mitchum right here. Um, and it includes 2,200 uh US movies, over 600 UK movies, almost 300 French movies, and then movies from another five or six countries. So, it this really covers film noir internationally. Um, another wonderful book is um the film noir guide. Um this is edited by Michael F. Kenny. Um and again this is covering this is sever 700 films
44:31 from the classic period of film noir which really focuses on the 1940 1940 and 1959 whereas the uh comprehensive encyclopedia film noir covers the entire breadth of film noir up until very recently. Okay. And then another uh noir book focusing on kind of the classic period in this case 1941 through 1950 is um into the dark. This is published by Turner Classic Movies of course um you know TCM. They're a network dedicated to
45:09 classic movies and and and as I mentioned in the beginning Eddie Müller is their sort of noir specialist and this this is a book they publish. Um, and I I think it's a guide to various films as well, so you can see, you know, in this The Window, and they give you information about it. So, um, I I haven't found any I I'm sure they're out there, but I haven't I don't have any books that, you know, talk about just no, film noir as a genre, and how it developed, that kind of thing. Most of them tend to be more these guide books where you you learn about the genre by
45:44 learning about the individual movies. And in the end that is the delight of film noir is we you can discover it by watching truly fascinating engaging movies and I think each film noir aicionado makes it our own. So, my I mentioned my friend Rick Carter. Uh Rick and I have been watching film noir uh together for decades. And I I you know I think if he
46:20 were here and we were talking about it, you would hear different perspectives on film noir and and in the end that's one of the things that makes it so wonderful. It is a conversation without end because fundamentally it's a conversation about human nature and human nature is endlessly fascinating. It it has an infinite number of varieties to it and so we're never at a loss for talking about it. And so this is this is my you know homage if you will to to film noir.
46:57 I if if you are already a fan, I'd love to hear, you know, what you love about film noir. Please drop me a comment um in my social media. All the links will be in the show notes, of course, as they always are once it posts on on on YouTube. If you haven't indulged in film noir, I can't encourage you enough to check it out. It is it is a treat. It's It's like eating a hot fudge sundae, okay? It's drinking an entire not bottle, magnum of
47:32 champagne and you don't get a hangover the next day. So, here's to all the great writers and directors and actors and actresses. Here's to our fellow human beings that through the noir experience give us food for thought that that that really enriches our lives. So, thank you so much for joining me uh this this afternoon evening if you're on the east coast. Uh hope you enjoyed it. Uh again, love to hear your comments. If you if you like if you like joining me
48:08 at Jiggers's place for a cocktail and a smoo, tell a friend about it. Tell a family member about it. I I I'd love I'd really appreciate it. You know, I do this unlike my other shows where I'm I'm trying to help you with your career and all that kind of stuff. And and and I'm you know, and I do it also hopefully to get some business from time to time. I do this purely for the enjoyment of it so we can enjoy some time together at the end of the week. So, here's wishing you a wonderful rest of the evening, rest of the week, a restorative weekend,
48:43 and signing off as I always do to my bell. Marie, you are my bell. Courage at all times, my