Tag: DC

Help! I Wanna Get Offline (DC & beyond)

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City Girls DC

What to say re: this (expanding) social group!? They have something for everybody… incl. monthly events where men also attend. I went (less than a month ago) and am already having a FAB time! City Girls DC (formerly City Girls Who Walk) just celebrated its 3rd anniversary. I went to the DC Indie Book Crawl w/ one of its (many) sub-groups- Sci-Fi Fantasy Book Club; the ladies were welcoming, bubbly, and V smart. Later that same day, I went to a (free) Cardio Dance class at Equinox (Georgetown)- I survived (LOL)! This week, I’m going to see “Sister Act”- the ticket was V affordable. You can join their Discord server (IF I can figure it out, then anyone can) or sign up for the newsletter. There are sub-groups for ladies over 35, so y’all other mature gals need NOT worry!

Outerly

Do you enjoy long/leisurely walks, BUT also want to meet new peeps? Outerly (founded by Kay- a young WOC) will match you up w/ 4-8 fellow walkers to explore an area of your city; it is available now in Baltimore & DC. I have gone on one of their walks (late in Fall 2024) which ended at Malcolm X (Meridian Hill) Park. FYI: There were MANY attendees in their 20s, but also some in 30s and above. This is a V affordable option to meet new ppl!

Timeleft

Are you called the “foodie” in your circle of (current) pals? Then, I suggest checking out Timeleft dinners (held each WED night at 7PM all over the world in major cities) where you can meet 5 strangers (or potential friends) in your age group w/ similar personalities. Everyone I met was nice; half of the attendees had been to these dinners before (in other cities)! I have gone 2X (Fall 2024), but plan to go again in the near future.

Two Movies from Noir City DC (OCT 13th-26th, 2023)

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Introduction

Hey y’all, how is your Fall season going? Thanks for reading! As local noir-istas may know, Noir City DC film fest is going on (OCT 13th–26th) at AFI Theatre here in my area (downtown Silver Spring, MD). Eddie Muller (TCM host; founder of the Film Noir Foundation) helped to curate the movies for this event. Muller introduced screenings on the opening weekend (OCT 13th–15th); I saw 2 movies (for the 1st time).

The Big Clock (1948) starring Ray Milland, Maureen O’Sullivan, Charles Laughton, George Macready, Pauline York, & Elsa Lanchester

The Strangest and most Savage Manhunt in History! -A tagline for the film

When a publishing tycoon, Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton), commits murder in a heat of passion, he begins to cover his tracks. Janoth frames an innocent man he doesn’t know, BUT who knew the victim, Rita Johnson (Pauline York). That man, George Stroud (Ray Milland), works for one of Janoth’s magazines and is enlisted to trap the “killer.” George must “help” his boss, elude the police, and find proof of his innocence and Janoth’s guilt!

Rita Johnson: You know, Earl has a passion for obscurity. He won’t even have his biography in ‘Who’s Who.”
George Stroud: Sure. He doesn’t want to let his left hand know whose pocket the right one is picking.

Kenneth Fearing’s 1946 novel and this film adaptation bear many similarities to Samuel Fuller’s novel Dark Page (1944) and its screen adaptation Scandal Sheet (1952). Janoth’s right-hand man/lawyer, Steve Hagen (George MacCready), does his dirty work; they’re close (though- b/c of censorship- we don’t see how much). Neo-noir fans will find similarities btwn this movie and (the 2nd adaptation of The Big Clock) No Way Out (1987) dir. by Roger Donaldson. In that movie, Sen. Brice (Hackman) has a V clever/loyal aide, Scott (Will Patton), who cleans up his messes (and is obviously in love w/ the politician).

Don Klausmeyer: Our organization, the Janoth Publications, is trying to find someone, possibly a collector of your pictures.
Louise Patterson: So have I- for fifteen years.

Milland got the roles that Cary Grant turned down, Muller noted; he’s best known for The Lost Weekend (1945) and Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder (1954). Like Michael Douglas, he has the air of a man who could be a “regular” guy, yet w/ a “shady” side. According to Muller, Louise Patterson (Elsa Lanchester) is based on (IRL American artist) Alice Neel. Laughton and Lanchester were married at this time, though we later learned that he was gay. Director John Farrow and Maureen O’Sullivan (who plays Georgette Stroud) were also married. Unlike what you’d expect from a “typical” noir, there are some of funny moments; Lanchester made my audience LOL during a few scenes.

Act of Violence (1948) starring Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Mary Astor, & Phyllis Thaxter

The Manhunt No Woman Could Stop! -A tagline for the film

Robert Ryan is like one of my top 2 or 3 actors in noir. -Eddie Muller, in intro to the film

WWII veteran Frank Enley (Van Heflin- age 40) is a family man/builder in SoCal. He has a modest house, a beautiful/young wife, Edith (Janet Leigh- just 21 y.o.) and toddler son; he’s respected as a “war hero” in his small town community. One day, he learns that Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan- age 39) is searching for him; he is out for revenge, b/c of something which occurred while they were POWs. Joe drags his right leg as he walks; he carries a handgun. Ann (Phyllis Thaxter- age 29) is the woman following Joe, in the hopes of stopping him from doing something drastic. When Frank has to leave for a builders convention in LA, Joe is close behind! When Frank happens upon a bar, he meets Pat (Mary Astor- in a daring/unglamorous role at age 40).

Joe [to Edith]: Sure, I was in the hospital, but I didn’t go crazy. I kept myself sane. You know how? I kept saying to myself: Joe, you’re the only one alive that knows what he did. You’re the one that’s got to find him, Joe. I kept remembering. I kept thinking back to that prison camp. One of them lasted to the morning. By then, you couldn’t tell his voice belonged to a man. He sounded like a dog that got hit by a truck and left in the street.

No one wore makeup on this movie. Zinnemann wanted somewhat of a documentary look. -Cheyney Ryan (son of Robert Ryan) on the podcast Robert Bellissimo At The Movies (10/12/22)

Some viewers were surprised to see issues tackled so soon after the end of WWII. At the forefront is the question: How does an individual adjust to “normal” life after surviving war? I was excited to watch this movie; it’s currently NOT on any streaming platform. This is a tense noir that’s unpredictable both in its character development and plotting. It’s V well-paced (at only 82 mins), has great dialogue, and important themes. Director Fred Zinnemann (an Austrian Jew who fled Europe before WWII) went on to work on some big movies: High Noon (1952) and From Here to Eternity (1953). As Muller said, Zinnemann learned that both parents were killed in a Nazi concentration camp. The writers of the screenplay are Robert L. Richards and Collier Young (husband of actress/director Ida Lupino).

Edith: Suppose there is a grain of truth to it. Suppose you did have some kind of trouble with him. I can understand how something like that could happen in a prison camp.
Frank: No. You don’t know what happened.
Edith: What was it Frank? Whatever you did you must have had reasons.
Frank: You can always find reasons. Even the Nazis had reasons.

Ryan (who Scorsese called “one of the greatest actors in American film”) and Lupino later starred together in 2 unique noirs- On Dangerous Ground (1951) and Beware, My Lovely (1952). Ryan and Leigh were co-stars in the Western The Naked Spur (1953). Ryan (nearly 6’4″) towers over almost all the others; his simmering rage adds to the intimidating effect. When he talks w/ Edith, his voice is NOT loud/frightening, BUT holds pain/regret. I wanted to see more of Joe’s relationship w/ Ann; they discussed re: what happened in wartime (unlike Frank and Edith). The two leads are opposites in looks: Ryan is brown-haired w/ small/dark eyes, while Heflin is blonde/wide-eyed. Heflin (almost 6″ tall) gets to stretch himself, showing more depth (and emotion) than is usually required of his “Everyman” roles. Leigh does a fine job w/ her role (opposite these experienced men) at such a young age (early in her career). I really liked the cinematography; light, dark, and shadow are used quite effectively.

[1] One of the most daring elements of the film is its suggestion that Heflin is deserving of forgiveness, because the codes of conduct that govern men in the theater of war are different from those that govern us in our day-to-day lives. That maybe doesn’t seem like a daring thing to say now, but at the time it would have been.

Heflin and Ryan are both terrific; Ryan is one of my favorite film noir actors. But the women in the film make quite an impression… If the mens’ world- both at war and at home- is one of violence and revenge, it’s the women who act as the voice of reason and sanity, trying to impose a sense of stability amid the chaos.

[2] This grim look at a couple of de-mobbed soldiers continuing their private war at home rarely get mentioned in lists of essential noirs; maybe, upon release in 1949, it was just a little too close for comfort- hinting a truths the victorious American public were unwilling to acknowledge. If so, the film has yet to be rediscovered- or reappraised. […]

Though the script opts for a strange and bitter “redemptive” ending, the acrid taste of Act of Violence lingers long.

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews

“The Report” (2019) starring Adam Driver, Annette Bening, & Jon Hamm

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The Report is a thriller based on actual events. Idealistic staffer Daniel J. Jones (Adam Driver) is tasked by his boss Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Annette Bening) to lead an investigation of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program created in the aftermath of 9/11. Jones’ relentless pursuit of the truth leads to findings that uncover the lengths to which the nation’s top intelligence agency went to destroy evidence, subvert the law, and hide a shocking secret from the American public. The Report is written and directed by Scott Z. Burns, and the film also stars Jon Hamm, Sarah Goldberg, Michael C. Hall, Douglas Hodge, Fajer Kaisi, Ted Levine, Jennifer Morrison, Tim Blake Nelson, Linda Powell, Matthew Rhys, T. Ryder Smith, Corey Stoll, and Maura Tierney. -Synopsis (Amazon)

This movie (acquired by Amazon Studios) is available for free on Amazon Prime; I saw it 2x (to get a better understanding on the issues). If you follow the news/current events, have an interest in politics, and/or enjoyed The West Wing– check this movie out. This has more of a documentary-style approach, so I wouldn’t call it a typical “thriller” (as classified on IMDb). Just before filming, the original plan of 50 days shooting was cut to a 26 days; the $18 million budget was slashed to ONLY $8 million! Burns revealed that ALL the actors (incl. Driver) were paid next to nothing on this project. Burns originally planned to approach the material in a satirical Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) manner; the more he delved into the facts, he realized it had told in the most realistic fashion. The film premiered at Sundance and received a standing ovation for the real Dan Jones (who was present).

Sen. Feinstein: If it [waterboarding] works, why do you need to do it 183 times?

After completing the screenplay, Burns shared it w/ frequent collaborator, Steven Soderbergh, w/ a view as to who he’d suggest for the lead. Driver’s name came up almost immediately; Soderbergh directed Driver in Logan Lucky (2017). In 2007, Dan comes to Capitol Hill as an idealistic young man (wanting to help his country); we learn that he was a Math teacher in Baltimore w/ Teach for America (3 yrs). After 9/11, he switched his classes to national security while at grad school (Harvard). Dan gets a job working for Sen. Feinstein (D-CA), head of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He ended up working on the torture report for 5+ yrs- wow! Jones was available to provide feedback on set; Driver found this very helpful.

Gretchen (CIA Agent): You may not realize, but we were trying to protect this country from people who wanna destroy everything we believe in.

Dan: You may not realize it, but we are trying to do the exact same thing.

The term “enhanced interrogation” has no meaning under law; the tactics aren’t used by professional interrogators. It was created by the CIA to describe tactics that would otherwise be considered torture or unlawful detainee abuse. The science finds that rapport-based approaches to interrogation are the most effective, as FBI Agent, Ali Soufan (Fajer Kaisi), tells Dan when they meet in NYC. Soufan’s flashback was eye-opening and troubling. I’m now curious to see The Looming Tower, a HBO miniseries (w/ Jeff Daniels and French-Algerian actor, Tahar Rahim, as Soufan) which focuses on the FBI’s response to 9/11. The physician assistant, Raymond Nathan (Tim Blake Nelson), who came to oppose EIT, meets w/ Dan late at night in a parking garage (reminiscent of Deep Throat in All the President’s Men). The psychologists, James Mitchell (Douglas Hodge) and Bruce Jessen (T. Ryder Smith) were put in charge of not only creating and implementing the EIT program, but also evaluating its effectiveness. This is (obviously) a conflict of interest, as Dan explains to Feinstein in the 2nd hr. of the movie.

Evan (NYT Reporter): If the Times had your report, we would print it, tomorrow.

Dan: No. If it’s gonna come out, it’s gonna come out the right way.

I live just outside DC, so got a kick out of seeing Driver running past the national monuments. Then there are the (relatable) boring office buildings, basement rooms, and working on computers- LOL. Driver has a scene w/ his wife, Joanne Tucker (who he met while they were students at Julliard)! Tucker plays Gretchen (blonde CIA Agent working under the mysterious Bernadette, played by Maura Tierney); she confronts Dan and his colleague in the restaurant scene. Matthew Rhys plays Evan (the NYT national security reporter); he’s a friend of Driver who acted w/ him off-Broadway and appeared on HBO’s Girls. Corey Stoll (who also appeared on Girls) plays a lawyer, Cyrus Clifford, who Dan consults w/ after the CIA goes after him. Driver and Stoll played brothers in the comedy movie This is Where I Leave You (2014).

[1] The late Sen. John McCain gets the last word here, appropriately, with archive footage of his impassioned speech on the Senate floor regarding the necessity of forbidding the U.S. from engaging in torture, regardless of what the country’s enemies do.

[2] The cuts in time work well to put meat on the bones and helps to mix the political, ethical, and real life aspects of it. […]

It is more important than engaging though, and could have been a stronger film for embracing the complexity more than it did.

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews

Official trailer for The Report.
The director and actors talk re: The Report at Sundance Film Festival with Variety magazine.

Noir City DC Film Fest: “Road House” (1948) & “Desert Fury” (1947)

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Hey y’all, thanks for reading (hope you also subscribe)! I missed out on blogging re: movies during #Noirvember (yup- again), BUT am gonna share w/ you the 2 films I saw at a local film fest (at AFI in Silver Spring- a FEW blocks from my place). The best part- I met TCM host Eddie Muller (looking classy and full of funny stories) and got my book (Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir) signed!

Road House (1948) starring Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, Richard Widmark, & Celeste Holm

Jefty Robbins (Richard Widmark), owner of a roadhouse in a small town (near the Canadian border), hires tough-talking/world-weary Lily Stevens (Ida Lupino- who does her own singing) for a 6 wk. gig, despite the reservations of his manager/best friend, Pete Morgan (Cornell Wilde). Pete even tries to get Lily to go back to Chicago, offering her some money. Jefty is interested in Lily, as she’s “different from other girls.” He brings her breakfast in bed at her hotel. When Pete goes out of town for a fishing trip, Lily turns her charms on Pete, who is resistant. Pete usually dates the roadhouse cashier, Susie Smith (Celeste Holm). Events bring Pete and Lily closer together, until they fall in love. Lily turns down Jefty’s marriage proposal. Then, Pete and Lily have to face Jefty’s intense jealousy!

Susie: She does more without a voice than anybody I’ve ever heard!

Road House was director Jean Negulesco’s 1st film for 20th Century Fox; he had recently been fired by Warnes Bros. Darryl F. Zanuck told him, “This is a bad script. Three directors have refused it. They don’t know what they’re doing, because basically it’s quite good. Remember those pictures we used to make at Warner Bros., with Pat O’Brien and Jimmy Cagney, in which every time the action flagged we staged a fight and every time a man passed a girl she’d adjust her stocking or something, trying to be sexy? That’s the kind of picture we have to have with Road House.”

Not only was Lupino (one of Muller’s faves) a good actress, she also had a head for business (purchasing the rights to the movie for $20K). This film was a year after Widmark played a sadistic killer in Kiss Of Death. As Jefty, Widmark gets to show some of his “regular guy” side, but evolves (or devolves) into a very troubled man. Wilde’s role is as the straight man (which can be dull), but he does a good job. Wilde and Lupino have strong romantic chemistry. Holm gets the (thankless) role of the “girl next door” who’s overlooked, but she handles it well. I really liked the production design on this film; scenes in the roadhouse’s bowling alley were shot at a real alley located near the studio. Check this movie out- it’s one I think MANY will enjoy!

[1] Despite the hole-riddled ending, it’s still worth seeing because of Lupino’s and Widmark’s performances. She is great as the 2nd-rate singer (singing her own songs with a decent but obviously less than stellar voice–which was perfect for the role)… Widmark was interesting because he combined two totally different performances in one film…

[2] “Road House” is an engaging film–noir with a storyline of unrequited love and obsession. Ida Lupino has an impressive performance, singing with a wonderful husky voice. […] This film is also the third appearance of the outstanding Richard Widmark and his insane smile on the cinema. Cornel Wilde and Celeste Holm complete the dream cast of this unknown gem. 8/10

[3] Widmark’s character is by far the most interesting. A little unbalanced at the beginning, he turns crafty and bitter before he loses it altogether. There’s a good deal of pathos in the character.

-Excerpts from IMDB reviews

Desert Fury (1947) starring Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak, Burt Lancaster, Wendell Corey, & Mary Astor

Fritzi Haller (Mary Astor) is a powerful casino owner in Chuckawalla, a small town in Nevada. Her 19 y.o. daughter Paula (Lizabeth Scott) has quit school; she returns at the same time as racketeer Eddie Bendix (John Hodiak), who left under suspicion of murdering his wife a few years ago. Paula and Eddie become involved, despite the big age gap and her being warned against him. Fritzi, a deputy/Paula’s friend Tom Hanson (Burt Lancaster) and Eddie’s companion Johnny Ryan (Wendell Corey- his film debut) try to break up the relationship. Then, Eddie’s past catches up w/ him in an unexpected way!

This is the kind of B movie that ONLY a true fan of noir will like (or tolerate)- LOL! Seeing it w/ a audience helped, as did the intro from Muller. The music is unnecessarily dramatic, overpowering some scenes. Fans of this genre MAY be surprised to see Scott as the lead here; she was a limited actress (though V conventionally pretty w/ a distinctive/husky voice). Lancaster (looking esp. handsome w/ his tousled hair and leather jacket) has the straight-shooter role here; Tom (in his late 20s) cares for/is protective of Paula. She doesn’t have many friends in town; other kids stayed away from her b/c of her mother’s profession. The romance between Paula and Eddie isn’t as interesting as the (enigmatic) relationship between Eddie and Johnny. Corey gets a meaty role for his first role; a villain w/ many layers, Johnny is V protective over his friend.

[1] Made in 1947 in perfect glossy Technicolor to distract you from the beserkness and tawdry storyline, this is one terrific exercise in censorship busting antics that managed to fulfill it’s reputation. […] DESERT FURY is genuine queer cinema. With incest hinted, guns and car tire screeching, sinister sunglass wearing and cactus pricks everywhere…

[2] Desert Fury is one of those several films from the studio days where gay was strictly taboo yet it somehow got to the screen. That scene where Corey tells Scott how he met a ragged and hungry Hodiak at the Automat and bought him a meal and took him home sure sounded like a pickup to me. Many from the generation before Stonewall told me that the Horn & Hardart Automat was one of the great pickup places in New York. Romances and flings have started in stranger places. No way that the writers would not have known that. Corey’s devotion to Hodiak can’t be explained any other way as the story unfolds. In fact he’s the stronger of the two.

[3] The best part of Desert Fury is Edith Head’s costumes. Every single scene, Lizabeth and Mary are dressed in gorgeous dresses that will have you oo-ing and ahh-ing for the entire running length. Lizabeth is very pretty in this film, and dressing her up in such beautiful costumes only makes it more fun to watch her, even when she’s exercising bad judgement.

-Excerpts from IMDB reviews

“The Wanderers” by Ann Ziegler (Theater J)

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The play opens w/ an almost 40, married couple who live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn w/ their two young kids- Abe (a secular Jewish man) and Sophie (from Jewish and African-American heritage). Abe and Sophie talk re: growing up together. We learn that though they are both authors, Abe is more well-known/critically-praised (having won several awards before turning 30). Sophie decides to start writing again, so Abe will have to help out w/ the kids more. Both of them are somewhat dissatisfied w/ their marriage; Abe starts emailing Julia, a famous actress (who recently came to one of his readings). Sophie hears Abe (a man of many words) go on praising Julia, but she doesn’t seem jealous or even concerned. Abe comes off as insecure/neurotic (as one might expect of a writer), Sophie is more grounded and sensible.

Next, we meet a seemingly different pair- Schmuli and Esther- who are a wide-eyed couple in their 20s. They also live in Williamsburg, but as part of an insular/tight-knit community of Satmar Hasidic Jews. They met only once before their wedding; Schmuli was so shy that he just looked at Esther’s shoes. In time, they have two daughters, and the constrained life of a housewife starts getting to Esther. She wonders if she could also have a job, and Schmuli is shocked. Esther recalls the very different life her best friend, Rifka, chose. Esther, pregnant w/ her third child, goes to visit her old friend up in Albany. Rifka has a newborn who will be her last child. Esther is very surprised when Rifka explains to her re: birth control pills. She had always thought that God was the only one who decided re: such matters!

You don’t need to know anything re: Judaism to watch (and enjoy) this play; its themes and situations are universal. It’s not only about marriage, it also has much to say re: being a creative person (writer), connection (or disconnection) from one’s roots/religion, the effects of one’s relationship w/ parents (incl. absent ones), and the allure of celebrity. I think most viewers will find something to relate to in this story. Esther and Abe face the same question- will they stay in their current life or choose another? And will that choice make them happier?