|
|
||||||
 |
||||||
Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir A Lively Discussion of Film Noir. Not just another film review show, this podcast is an examination of the impact and history of film noir from the Maltese Falcon to Batman Begins. Every two weeks there is a new 30 minute episode focused on a single film noir classic.
Format : Blogs |
Noircast Special 5: L.A. Noire The Collected Stories: A Conversation with Jonathan Santlofer Updated: 2012-02-11 19:03:00 Description: Clute and Edwards are joined by L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories editor Jonathan Santlofer, a hard-boiled writer and artist extraordinaire. Santlofer discusses the particular challenges and rewards of bringing together a short story collection for a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 53: Out of the Past Act II Updated: 2011-11-24 04:14:00 Description: OUT OF THE PAST is perhaps the most carefully structured of all films noir--a narrative divided (like protagonist Jeff Markum/Bailey) between an inescapable past and an impossible future, teetering on the slimmest hope for the present such that any a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 52: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (with Scott McGee) Updated: 2011-10-15 20:03:00 Description: Appearances can be deceiving. On the surface, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is pure science fiction, the tale of seed pods from outer space that produce emotionless body doubles of each citizen in the small town of Santa Mira. Often read as an alleg...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 51: L.A. Noire Updated: 2011-08-16 03:18:33 Description: A product of Clute and Edwards' longstanding fascination with film noir and hard-boiled literature, this podcast investigates how certain mid-century visual and storytelling conventions evolved into Rockstar Games/Team Bondi's new video game L.A. NOI...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Noircast Special 4: Q and A with Shannon Clute and Jared Case Updated: 2011-07-15 15:24:00 Description: On January 20, 2011 Clute introduced the film Mildred Pierce at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, as part of their Noir Series. His talk was preceded by a question and answer session with Jared Case (Head of Cataloguing and Research Ce...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Noircast Special #3: The Maltese Touch of Evil Video Essay Updated: 2011-06-11 20:47:00 Description: While many scholars have focused on noir as a dark visual style, or a worldview marked by the anxieties and stark realities of modernity, few have addressed noir's high degree of self-consciousness or its profoundly quirky humor. In their new book,Th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 50: The Blue Dahlia Updated: 2009-11-08 00:19:00 Description: A script by Raymond Chandler. Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd, and William Bendix in leading roles. Costumes by the great Edith Head, and cinematography by Lionel Lindon, who had been nominated for best cinematography just the year before for the Oscar sen...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 49: Bande à part (with Dr. Jeffrey Peters) Updated: 2009-08-24 23:18:00 Description: In this episode, guest investigator Jeffrey Peters (Associate Professor of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of Kentucky), leads a panel of five undergraduate students from his Honors Program course "French Film Noir" in a discussion o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 48: In a Lonely Place (with Megan Abbott) Updated: 2008-12-27 05:12:00 Description: Clute and Edwards welcome guest investigator Megan Abbott , the reigning Dark Dame of Noir. Megan is the author of a superb nonfiction study of hardboiled and noir protagonists entitled THE STREET WAS MINE, and three gut-wrenching throwback crime nov...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 47: Bob Le Flambeur (with Howard Rodman and Mike White) Updated: 2008-08-12 20:45:00 Description: Howard Rodman and Mike White are this episode’s guest investigators. Rodman and White discuss Jean-Pierre Melville’s great 1956 film, Bob Le Flambeur. Howard Rodman is a screenwriter, novelist and USC film professor. His most recent screen credit...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 46: Thieves Highway (with Eddie Muller) Updated: 2008-06-18 15:37:00 Description: Thanks to listener support, Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noiris a featured podcast at iTunes, has generated nearly 200,000 downloads worldwide, and has a per-episode audience of over 4,000. With such a record of success, Clute and Edwards are ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Noircon 2008: The Official Podcast Day 3: Cybernoir Panel Updated: 2008-04-28 00:51:00 Description: Shannon Clute, Seth Harwood, and Richard Edwards presented this Cybernoir panel on April 5th, 2008, as part of the Noircon Conference in Philadelphia. Clute and Edwards kick things off with a discussion of how noir style and pulp publishing models se...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Noircon 2008: The Official Podcast Day 3: Wise Guys and Femmes Fatale Updated: 2008-04-14 01:34:00 Description: Wise guys and femmes fatale form the central focus of these next panel discussions from Noircon 2008. In the first half of the podcast, Clute and Edwards talk with authors George Anastasia and Anthony Bruno. Anastasia and Bruno are two seasoned mob-w...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Noircon 2008: The Official Podcast Day 2: Editors and Publishers Tackle Noir Updated: 2008-04-13 00:51:00 Description: Clute and Edwards discuss the editing and publishing of noir fiction with three members of this Day 2 Noircon panel: Charles Ardai, Stacia Decker, and Michael Langnas. Charles Ardai is the editor and publisher of the Hard Case Crime series. Stacia De...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Noircon 2008: The Official Podcast Day 2: George Lippard and Philly Noir Updated: 2008-04-12 14:35:00 Description: Philadelphia noir is the focus of two panels at Noircon 2008. The first panel presents the historical moment, cultural milieu and writings of the 19th century Philly writer George Lippard. Ed Petit and Robert Polito make a compelling case to consider...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Noircon 2008: The Official Podcast Day One Updated: 2008-04-04 05:39:00 Description: Day One: Opening Night. Noircon 2008 opens at the Society Hill Playhouse in Philadelphia, PA. Clute and Edwards kick off this special podcast mini-series coverage with short interviews from the opening night reception. They talk with film critic Irv ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 45: Force of Evil Updated: 2008-03-11 06:50:00 Description: FORCE OF EVIL shows us that small-time graft is less dangerous than big-time rackets that have the law, the trust of the public, and the appearance of respectability on their side. Ultimately, the crime is the system itself, and the very philosophica...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 44: Brick Updated: 2008-02-05 21:02:00 Description: Rian Johnson's superlative 2005 debut film BRICK is neither a nostalgic tribute nor a modern reaction to noir style. But due to the conditions surrounding its production, it has more in common with classic noir than most films that play overtly with ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 43: They Live By Night Updated: 2008-01-04 04:23:00 Description: THEY LIVE BY NIGHT is film noir at its best. Edward Anderson's little-known hard-boiled rural bandit novel is made into a screenplay as lean as the post-war dreams of its players. The shifty camera frames every sucker that comes its way, making them ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 42: The Ice Harvest Updated: 2007-12-05 17:46:00 Description: This special episode of OUT OF THE PAST is full of holiday surprises. Clute and Edwards investigate the 2005 neo-noir Christmas comedy THE ICE HARVEST, then speak with Scott Phillips, author of the 2000 hardboiled novel on which the film is based. Wh...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 41: The Glass Key and Miller's Crossing Updated: 2007-11-10 15:21:00 Description: Stuart Heisler's 1942 film THE GLASS KEY retained the personages and major plot twists of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel by the same name, but wiped the grim off the original tale. By cleaning up the characters and their motives, the film missed an op...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 40: Gilda Updated: 2007-10-08 19:55:00 Description: Rita Hayworth is GILDA. From the flip of her fiery hair to the reprise of her incendiary song, she sizzles the celluloid and burns herself indelibly into our collective consciousness. In fact, her presence so scorches that we are apt to miss the tech...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 39: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Updated: 2007-09-01 04:01:00 Description: Shane Black's 2005 KISS KISS BANG BANG is a film of delirious contradictions. It is part comedy, part tragedy, a bawdy pulp parody and a heartfelt hardboiled homage. The mix would be too eclectic if the film didn't constantly signal its awareness t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 38: I Wake Up Screaming Updated: 2007-08-03 20:38:00 Description: I Wake Up Screaming was produced concurrently with The Maltese Falcon and released shortly after, and thus stands as one of the earliest examples of noir. The Maltese Falcon is the more uniform achievement, successfully coupling a consistent noir vis...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 37: Body Heat Updated: 2007-07-06 18:42:00 Description: With its throwback hardboiled script and careful restaging of iconic noir shots, Lawrence Kasdan's 1981 BODY HEAT is a noteworthy neo-noir. However, it is no mere nostalgia piece, but rather a daring updating of the tradition: Kathleen Turner's sizzl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 36: His Kind of Woman Updated: 2007-06-13 03:17:00 Description: "His Kind Of Woman" makes viewers aware of what they expect from noir by disappointing their expectations. The film moves quickly from the down and out digs of gambler Dan Milner (Mitchum) to a sunbathed beachside resort in Mexico. There, it takes it...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Noircast Special 2: Alternative Noir Publications Updated: 2007-05-18 01:28:00 Description: The "Noircast Special" podcasts allow Clute and Edwards to address topics of interest to listeners of "Out of the Past" and "Behind the Black Mask." This episode features interviews with the creators of three alternative noir publications: Tee Morris...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 35: Pickup on South Street Updated: 2007-05-11 05:57:00 Description: Sam Fuller's 1953 "Pickup on South Street" leaves open important questions that Elia Kazan's "On the Waterfront" will feel compelled to answer, and Fuller's film has a more timeless quality as a result. With artful minimalism, Fuller captures the cl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 34: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers Updated: 2007-04-01 21:07:00 Description: Van Heflin, Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas and Lizabeth Scott all turn in stellar performances in this 1946 gem. For much of its running time the film lacks many of the visual hallmarks of the noir style, but Robert Rossen's pitch-perfect script, del...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 33: Hollywoodland Updated: 2007-03-02 05:06:00 Description: Recently, several Hollywood films, including HOLLYWOODLAND, have revisited traumatic events of the 1940's and 1950's. This new film cycle begs several questions--chief among them, why do the malaise and murder of the postwar years resonate with filmm...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 32: Kiss Me Deadly Updated: 2007-02-02 02:31:00 Description: The 1955 film "Kiss Me Deadly" makes telling changes to Mickey Spillane's 1952 source novel. What was a story of greed and social corruption becomes an allegory of Cold War hysteria. Plot and character cede the stage to emotion and character type. Wh...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Noircast Special 1: Kill Me Like You Mean It Updated: 2007-01-26 00:02:00 Description: The "Noircast Special" allows Clute and Edwards to address topics of interest to listeners of "Out Of The Past" and "Behind The Black Mask." This inaugural episode features a roundtable discussion with the director, playwright, and lead actors of The...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 31: Touch of Evil Updated: 2007-01-02 04:47:00 Description: Orson Welles's 1958 "Touch of Evil" is considered the last film noir of the classic period. Clute and Edwards investigate why it deserves this designation, arguing that it uses the conventions of noir in such a self-conscious manner that henceforth i...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 30: The Postman Always Rings Twice and The Man Who Wasn't There Updated: 2006-12-02 02:37:00 Description: In this double-feature podcast, Clute and Edwards investigate Tay Garnett's 1946 "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and the Coen brothers' 2001 "The Man Who Wasn't There"--considering their merits as films, and as adaptations of the novels of James M. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 29: Detour Updated: 2006-11-01 16:59:00 Description: Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 film "Detour" is commonly lauded as a B-noir that overcame production limitations with artful minimalism. In this context, instances of obtrusive lighting and camerawork are viewed as minor blemishes--the best quality that could...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 28: The Black Dahlia Updated: 2006-10-02 04:06:00 Description: In the murder of Elizabeth Short, novelist James Ellroy found a means to grieve over the rape and murder of his own mother. In the novel THE BLACK DAHLIA Betty is at once a symbol of the post-war era torn apart by its passions, and a symbol of Bucky ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 27: D.O.A. Updated: 2006-09-02 00:46:00 Description: Did noir die in 1950? As a filmic style, certainly not; many of the most daring visual and narrative experiments of the classic period date from 1951-1958. However, 1950 seems to mark a dramatic transition in what might be called noir philosophy. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 26: Murder, My Sweet Updated: 2006-06-30 04:01:00 Description: Dick Powell was cast as Philip Marlowe in the 1945 film "Murder, My Sweet." Was it a stroke of genius to allow a song and dance man to reinvent himself in this role, or the desecration of a literary icon? Clute and Edwards are deeply divided on this ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 25: He Walked By Night Updated: 2006-06-15 02:23:00 Description: This film deserves its reputation as an important early police procedural and precursor to the television series "Dragnet," but does not deserve to be viewed reductively--as only that. Anthony Mann's un-credited direction was among his best. He coaxe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 24: Chinatown Updated: 2006-06-01 00:00:00 Description: Robert Towne's screenplay for the 1974 film "Chinatown" tells an original story, but a story whose scope, intrigue, characters, pacing, and style owe a great debt to the work of Raymond Chandler. That said, it would be a mistake to view "Chinatown" ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 23: On the Waterfront Updated: 2006-05-15 04:00:00 Description: Elia Kazan might have broken the Hollywood Blacklist. Instead, when HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) asked him to name names, he sang like a canary. His actions ended many careers, and broke the spirit of many Hollywood players. Kazan ne...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 22: Good Night, and Good Luck Updated: 2006-05-01 04:01:00 Description: As America intoned the mantra "Communism," fear became its religion and McCarthy its high priest. George Clooney's "Good Night, and Good Luck" investigates Edward R. Murrow's brave act of voicing dissent, at a time when dissent was seen as un-Americ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 21: Sunset Blvd. Updated: 2006-04-15 04:00:00 Description: The most famous texts of any canon are rarely the most typical; rather, they push the limits. The fame of Billy Wilder's 1950 masterwork "Sunset Boulevard" is of this problematic sort. The film plays on all the usual themes of noir: mysterious deaths...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 20: Reservoir Dogs Updated: 2006-04-01 05:01:00 Description: Kubrick's "The Killing" weaves the narrative threads of each character's story into the complex yarn of a heist. Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" ties references to numerous films into a dense knot. The pleasure of watching, and difficulty of discussin...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 19: The Killing Updated: 2006-03-15 05:01:00 Description: Stanley Kubrick and Quentin Tarantino both launched their careers by updating the noir tradition. In the first episode of a two-part comparative analysis, Clute and Edwards demonstrate how Kubrick's "The Killing" (1956) and Tarantino's "Reservoir Do...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 18: The Set-Up Updated: 2006-03-01 05:01:00 Description: As crisp and fluid as a boxer's footwork, Robert Wise's editing turns a lightweight script into the heavy-hitting drama "The Set Up." Art Cohn's screenplay is a very Hollywood adaptation of a 1928 poem by Joseph Moncure March. The poem is a shot to...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 17: Gun Crazy Updated: 2006-02-15 05:57:00 Description: What good is it to be a sharpshooter when there's no war on? If you want to understand the sense of impotence and angst that defined the postwar generation, "Gun Crazy" is a case study. With a deft and almost whimsical touch, Joseph Lewis sketches ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 16: The Grifters Updated: 2006-02-01 05:01:00 Description: This is perhaps the most noir of all neo-noirs. Never has 1990 Los Angeles looked and sounded so much like 1950 Los Angeles. While Stephen Frears sets Jim Thompson's source novel at the time the film is made, he carefully trims away modern LA. The fi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 15: The Lady From Shanghai Updated: 2006-01-15 05:01:00 Description: Every Orson Welles film demonstrates the great director's ability to work with and against filmic tradition. "The Lady from Shanghai" is a compendium of noir conventions: it tells a tale of post-war greed, of Americans willing to tear each other asun...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 14: Notorious Updated: 2006-01-01 05:01:00 Description: The question of whether Hitchcock is a noir director remains open. What is certain is that by 1946 noir aesthetics began to inflect every genre from the Holiday picture ("It's a Wonderful Life") to the espionage/thriller film. Like "The Third Man," "...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 13: It's a Wonderful Life Updated: 2005-12-15 06:10:00 Description: With "It's A Wonderful Life" Capra launched his independent studio, Liberty Films. He thought he had a guaranteed box office winner, with stars Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, and the power-to-the-people message that had made his pre-war films such su...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 12: Rififi Updated: 2005-12-01 05:42:00 Description: Hollywood began tearing itself apart with accusations of Communism in 1947, and in 1949 American director Jules Dassin was blacklisted. In order to pursue his craft he fled to France, where he cobbled together a small budget and a motley crew of B s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 11: The Big Sleep and The Big Lebowski Updated: 2005-11-15 06:19:00 Description: When "The Big Lebowski" was released in 1998, Ethan and Joel Coen claimed its "episodic" narrative structure found its source in the work of Raymond Chandler. In this super-sized double-feature podcast, Richard and Shannon examine "The Big Lebowski"...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 10: The Killers Updated: 2005-11-01 07:07:00 Description: While Robert Siodmak's noir triumph "Ernest Hemingway's 'The Killers'" flaunts its literary bloodlines, Hemingway's 1927 short story is little more than a pretext. The film actually investigates the fundamental post-WWII question: in a world where e...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 9: Laura Updated: 2005-10-14 04:51:00 Description: Otto Preminger's 1944 "Laura" marks an important transition in film history. Visually it harks back to Hollywood's Golden Era, flooding with light elaborate sets and the glamorous stars they hold--but at crucial moments a noir vision bubbles up to ar...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 8: The Asphalt Jungle Updated: 2005-10-01 04:08:00 Description: Shannon and Richard argue that John Huston's directorial evolution from "The Maltese Falcon" to the prototype heist film "The Asphalt Jungle" provides a blueprint of the evolution of film noir from the early 40's to the early 50's. With "The Asphalt ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 7: The Hitch-Hiker Updated: 2005-09-15 04:30:00 Description: One of the only female directors of Hollywood's Golden Age, no one could coax more from actors or tell a story with greater economy than Ida Lupino. Her 1953 gem the Hitch-Hiker hooks you with the opening still and leaves you breathless and running s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 6: Blade Runner Updated: 2005-09-01 04:06:00 Description: Out of the past and straight into the future, Ridley Scott blends film noir and science fiction in "Blade Runner." Richard and Shannon query this unusual mix, and ask how a style that is often as outlandishly unrealistic as noir could be used to make...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 5: The Maltese Falcon Updated: 2005-08-15 04:05:00 Description: This episode examines the classic "The Maltese Falcon." Based on a book by Dashiell Hammett, starring Humphrey Bogart, directed by John Huston, it is generally considered the first "film noir." As Richard and Shannon examine this landmark film, the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 4: The Third Man Updated: 2005-08-01 04:04:00 Description: As they discuss "The Third Man," starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten, Shannon and Richard debate whether film noir is a "style" or a "genre." As a style many of its visual features can be adapted to other genres (war films, westerns). If it is ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 3: Batman Begins Updated: 2005-07-15 04:01:00 Description: Episode three of this podcast series investigates Christopher Nolan's blockbuster "Batman Begins" in relation to the visual and narrative conventions of film noir. Richard and Shannon ask what it means to dub a modern film "noir," as many reviews of...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 2: Double Indemnity Updated: 2005-07-09 00:15:00 Description: In this podcast, Clute and Edwards investigate Billy Wilder's 1944 noir classic "Double Indemnity." They place the film in its historic context and query its unusual success; it was nominated for seven Academy Awards in a year when feel-good films l...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Episode 1: Out of the Past Updated: 2005-07-02 19:52:00 Description: In this premier episode, Shannon Clute and Richard Edwards discuss Jacques Tourneur's noir masterpiece "Out of the Past." They explain why it is the first film they choose for their continuing series of podcasts delving into the history of film noir...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD |
|
||||