Shakedown (1950)

Director: Joe Pevney

Cast: Howard Duff, Brian Donlevy, Peggy Dow, Lawrence Tierney

Have I Seen It Before: Never.

Did I Like It: In the last few years, I’ve been enjoying going to see old movies at the theater. The older the better. At those screenings, occasionally my mind will wander and wonder what the performers would think if they were aware that their now antique work was being viewed in the way it was meant—mostly—to be seen.

It’s always been a bit of an odd hypothetical. Until a few nights ago, when it is what actually happened. Mrs. Helmerich nee Dow was invited to join us all for Noir Night at the Circle, and so the hypothetical became a very real dynamic.

By all accounts, she left early in screening, whether owing to the fact that most people would not want to dwell on their performance, that her screen career was several lifetimes ago, or the fact that she’s well into her nineties. The likely answer is that any performer—especially if they have passed on—couldn’t be bothered to dwell much on their old performances.

But, far more importantly, I didn’t dwell much on the fact that people actually involved in the making of the film were in the room. The film worked well enough my mind didn’t have time to wander. A tight plot unfurls with speed. It’s nothing special, but it doesn’t have to be. A man with fluctuating luck got a little bit greedy, and proceeded to get his just deserts. Who do I credit with such a quality journeyman’s job of a movie? Look at that director’s name again. Now look up your favorite episode of the original Star Trek*. Odds are you’re starting to put it together.

*You have one, even if you would insist that you don’t.

The Big Combo (1955)

Director: Joseph H. Lewis

Cast: Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Brian Donlevy, Jean Wallace

Have I Seen it Before: Never.

Did I Like It: I worry I’m slowly running out of things to say about the noir genre, or at the very least I’m running out of things to say about the rank and file of the genre. Some of the dialogue is very much like the other examples, the plot is relatively cookie cutter, and I’m becoming increasingly of the opinion that at some point someone shot a few dozen feet of a squad car pulling into the covered garage of the Los Angeles Police Department and leading a clown car’s worth of local hoods into the station for questioning. I think I’ve seen it in at least three films now.

That’s not to say the experience is negative. If you are both inclined to and have the opportunity to watch this film*, you’re probably going to have a nominally good time. The film’s characters are a bit more on the eclectic side. Two button men (Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman) are far more obviously in love with each other than one might have thought would make it through in the 50s, and if you ever really wanted to see a scene heavily imply Richard Conte performing oral sex on a woman, then brother, are you in luck**. The real pleasures, though, are likely in the cinematography from John Alton. A—if occasionally frugal—symphony of playful shadows keeps one interested in the film when the trappings and restrictions of the genre blend into the background.

*Such opportunities should be plentiful, as the film tripped over itself into the public domain. Could you imagine a film released today that just “forgot” to register its copyright? It boggles the mind.

**Why that had to be more obliquely displayed, where two men in a healthy and committed—if murderous—relationship is completely beyond me, but that’s a topic for a different time.