I was getting ready to head out to the Anthony Mann double last night, when my neighbor nearly hit two dogs wandering free in the alley behind my house. She had corralled them into our shared yard but was anxious, unsure of what to do and late for an appointment. Dog person that I am, I told her I’d handle it. The dogs are both cute and super friendly. One’s a puppy, a Shepherd mix, and the other a small adult terrier mix who is either pregnant or has recently given birth. Collars but no tags. Sheesh…

I walked up and down the block with them. No one recognized them. I printed and posted signs all over the neighborhood, then stashed the two dogs in my yard. I put out food, water and a warm bed, and flew off to the theater. I barely got my butt into a seat when the lights went down, but I made it.

The movies were both great fun. Two O’Clock Courage was zanier, lighter fare about a spunky chick cab driver and a guy with amnesia, while Desperate was full bore noir, all swinging lampshades and arty shadows and heavies in fedoras, including Raymond “The Eyebrows” Burr. I loved the scene where Burr has the captured hero counting down the seconds to midnight, waiting to shoot him at the exact same moment that Burr’s kid brother is set to be executed.

Another weird Creature connection: Desperate was penned by Harry Essex, who wrote the script for Creature from the Black Lagoon. Coincidence…?

Anyway, after the second feature ended, I hightailed out of there as fast as I could and rushed home to find the two dogs wandering around in the alley again. They had escaped from the yard, but hung around waiting for me to come home. No one had called to claim them.

I stashed them in my bathroom for the night. This morning, I took the two of them to the local shelter to register them as lost and found. Their people have 4 days to find them, after which they will be available for adoption. If they are not adopted, I have an IP hold, which means the shelter will call me as a last resort before euthanizing them. At that point, I’ll have to start calling rescue groups to try and find a place for one or both of them. ‘Cause, you know, I’m just sitting around here bored with nothing else to do…

I let ya down, Vince. I got tripped up by a dame. This dame:



In my defense, I’ve never been a real trivia buff. I don’t have the kind of brain that naturally retains long lists of names, dates and facts on any subject. But somehow, I got sucked into the contest anyway.

It should have been easy. We got to pick our favorite Film Noir and then answer questions on that film. I picked Night and the City. I did pretty good at first. Even won a Film Noir Foundation coffee mug, from which I’m drinking java as I type. But I could not remember the name of the actress who played Helen Nosseross. It’s a strange, memorable name too, but what can I say. I drew a blank.

It’s Googie. Googie Withers.

Public humiliation aside, it was another great night of Noir. Well, sort of Noir. The two films were Alias Nick Beal and Fly By Night, neither of which is really 100% Noir.

Beal is nothing new. Guy gets a leg up in politics with the help of the man downstairs, in exchange for his eternal soul. But, campy religious angle notwithstanding, it’s full of noirish fog and shadow and Ray Milland is absolutely mesmerizing as the devilish title character. Audrey Totter (who I can’t stop thinking of as Tawdry Otter) also does a great turn as Satan’s not-entirely-willing helper.

Fly By Night was a blast, but hardly Noir. More Nick and Nora. Lots of snappy (and surprisingly suggestive) banter and screwball romantic comedy. Still highly entertaining. Sharp script, charming, likeable leads (a very young Richard Carlson and leggy Nancy Kelly) and what has to be the best blind guy gunfight in the history of cinema.

Of course, having explained that I’m not a trivia head, I couldn’t help but notice an underlying Creature from the Black Lagoon connection to the evening. Nestor Paiva had a cameo in Beal (“I, Lucas will do it!) Carlson of course is the male lead in Creature and the Creature’s girlfriend was announced as a special guest tomorrow night for Six Bridges to Cross.

So if I remember Nestor Paiva, why couldn’t I remember Googie Withers?

Sadly I won’t be going to every night of the 11th Annual Film Noir Festival this year, but I will be there tonight.

Tomorrow I’ll be a special guest at the monthly MWA meeting along with Judith Freeman, author of The Long Embrace: Raymond Chandler and the Woman He Loved. We’ll be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Chandler’s death. Here are the details:

Sunday, March 22
12:30 PM
Chop Suey Café and Lounge (formerly Far East Café)
347 E. First St.
Downtown Los Angeles (Little Tokyo)

Also, for your amusement, a list of Noir related questions and my off-the-cuff answers (in English) from German website Mordlust.

Actress Ann Savage died on Christmas Day, but I'm only now getting around to posting about her.

First of all, the kids at Busted Flush Press asked me to contribute a few words for their recent tribute.

Also, my pal cinriter (from whom the fantastic photo above was shamelessly nicked) is writing a book about the versatile actress and posted an excellent and much more in depth tribute on her own blog. I’m really looking forward to Lisa’s book and hope like she does that its publication will win over a whole new generation of fans for Ms Savage.

at the grave of writer/director Billy Wilder , author of Sunset Boulevard, Ace in the Hole, Ball of Fire and Some Like It Hot.

If you don’t read Kim Morgan’s fantastic blog Sunset Gun, you don’t know what you’re missing. Like her latest article about one of my favorite Film Noir classics Born to Kill. Think that bald, gravel-voiced old man from Reservoir Dogs isn’t sexy? Think again.

Without going into a long rant about these-young-kids-today and their ADD addiction to mile-a-minute jitter and flash, allow me to draw your attention to the fact that Eddie Muller’s excellent, old-school and decidedly grown-up short film The Grand Inquisitor is now available online. Check it out and if you like it, be sure to rate it. You can also read more about the fascinating history of this film on the official website.

I always get a kick out of reading personal ads. Sad, funny, or just plain weird, I like seeing what average Joes and Janes think are their best qualities and what they claim they want out of a relationship.

I always wanted to place the following personal ad, just to see what sort of responses I would get.

"Cold blooded, amoral femme fatale seeks sexually frustrated hard luck drifter with nothing to lose. Must be strong, ruggedly handsome and willing to help me murder my rich husband."

I attended the last night of Noir City at the Egyptian to catch one of my all time favorites NIGHT AND THE CITY on the big screen, along with a rare Ida Lupino melodrama called WOMAN IN HIDING. What was particularly interesting about the screening of NIGHT was that it was a British print. I have the Criterion DVD, which I watch compulsively, and right away I noticed substantial differences. Familiar scenes were gone and new scenes were added. Nothing major, just little things here and there. Even though I missed the things that were cut (particularly the scene where Helen tells Nosseross how much he disgusts her) and the editing itself was choppy and not very well done, it was fascinating to see the alternate scenes. Alan Rode told me that this cut was done without director Dassin’s knowledge or permission. I wonder why… Now I’ll have to go back to the DVD and sift through the supplements to see if there is any information related to this British version.

WOMAN IN HIDING on the other hand was pretty silly and more straight thriller/melodrama than real Film Noir with it’s sweet, innocent heroine and happy ending. Still it was worth it for Peggy Dow as the luscious and trampy gun wielding other woman.

Oh and tonight I will be attending the LATFOB kickoff party at the Mystery Bookstore. I really should be working…

In spite of my promise to cut out the distractions and get back to work, I still managed to fuck off to the movies last night. I had a fantastic time last year doing the entire Film Noir Festival, but sadly, this year I just can’t spare the hours away from my desk. So I’m picking and choosing. One of my picks from this year’s crop was last nights rare proto-noir double bill of STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR and THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK.

STRANGER has Lorre slinking around in the shadows with his EEEEEEEEEEE-vileness turned up to eleven. Even his hands are evil in this movie. In addition to the oh-so-evil Lorre and his villainous white scarf, this movie also features an over-the-top expressionistic dream sequence and a nice little foot fetish scene where the hero invites his girl up to his apartment and then asks her to take her shoes and stockings off so that he can “warm up” her feet. Hardly a brilliant film but still lots of fun, especially on the big screen.

MASK features a much more sympathetic Lorre as a hopeful immigrant who is forced into a life of crime after a hotel fire leaves him hideously disfigured and unable to find work. This film seems to have a strong homosexual subtext between Lorre and the man who saves him from suicide, the unfortunately named “Dinky.” There’s a love interest for Lorre, a pretty and clueless blind girl, but the real heart of the story is in the bond between the two men. About halfway through the story, Lorre gets a creepy rubber mask to cover his burned face and I have to say I was disappointed that the mask stayed on for the rest of the film. I guess I was expecting some kind of Phantom of the Opera moment where it would be torn off at some crucial climax in the plot. Still as silly as it can be at times, this is a weirdly sad and memorable movie.

The other thing that made the night worth the lost wordcount, (besides a repeat viewing of Muller’s short film and the Q and A with Marsha Hunt) was getting turned on to what has instantly become one of my new favorite blogs Sunset Gun by noir enthusiast and girl-after-my-own-black-heart Kim Morgan. Plus I got to reconnect with several old friends, including Kevin Burton Smith with whom I really need to sit down and talk Helen Nielsen, and Terrill Lee Lankford who I’m still in fan-girl awe of every time I see him.

So now, back to work until the 24th. Can’t miss NIGHT AND THE CITY on the big screen!

I’m off to Philly on a redeye tomorrow night, headed for NoirCon. I have to say, I’m seriously sick of travel, but this looks to be a good time.

In other Noir news, Noir City at the Egyptian kicks off this weekend too. How’s that for bad timing? I’m particularly pissed about missing Wicked Woman and The Story of Molly X. I’m gonna try to hit as many of the others as I can.

And speaking of recent Film Noir related deaths, California Noir fans have also lost novelist and hardcore Noir enthusiast, Arthur Lyons. Lyons was the founder of the Palm Springs Film Noir festival and author of the LA based Jacob Asch novels. He was only 62.

First Night and the City's star Richard Widmark, now the director! Jules Dassin (Brute Force, Thieves' Highway, Rififi) has died in Greece at 96.

One of my personal favorite Film Noir icons Richard Widmark died this morning at age 93. His performance as two bit hustler Harry Fabian in NIGHT AND THE CITY (my favorite film of all time ) was brilliant and unforgettable. He is also fantastic in PICK UP ON SOUTH STREET and who can forget his riveting debut as laughing psychopath Tommy Udo in KISS OF DEATH? I feel a Widmark marathon coming on.

I’m off to Chicago in a few hours. This tour has been pretty hectic but I’m trying to keep a stiff upper lip. Took a little time off last night to hang with my pop. We watched the gorgeous Criterion disk of Billy Wilder’s pitch black classic Ace in the Hole. Man what a nasty, wonderful movie that is. If you haven’t seen it yet, you need to.

Looking forward to chowing down on some serious Italian food and hanging with savagesinister and savagemutha, along with any other Chicago peeps I can manage to drag out on a school night. Not looking forward to icy wind, freezing rain and doing more time on those germ filled steel habitrails in the sky.

Come out and see me at Centuries and Sleuths if you’re in the hood. If not, I’ll type at you when I get home on Monday.

Made it to San Francisco without incident, despite the monsoon. I’m still not sure why I bothered to sit under the dryer at the beauty parlor for an hour and a half yesterday. Nature. Sheesh! What’s a girl to do?

First order of business, Angkor Borei. It was just as amazing as I remembered, although I was sad that the lovely Chinhan was not there. Darren, Pam and I went there straight from the airport. We had the stuffed spinach leaves (of course) cold Cambodian noodles (of course) and I also ordered Prahok, the same ground pork and fish paste dip that we had at Hak Heang, as a comparison. It was much lighter, both in color and in weight, slightly sweeter and a little bit more, I don’t know... Western-friendly maybe. The fermented fish paste flavor was more subtle, though still too strong for Darren. It was still quite delicious, and came with a wider variety of fresh vegetables. Dessert was black sticky rice with mango and coconut cream. Mmmmmmm!

Then I caught REPEAT PERFORMANCE with Joan Leslie, a strange and apparently very rare supernatural noir in which a woman shoots her husband and then is given a chance to live the year over and try to fix what had gone wrong. It was odd for a lot of reasons, but mostly because you just can’t fathom why on earth she’s so hell-bent on saving her marriage to that loser. Must be a 40s thing. It did have a great trio of male leads, including Richard Basehart in his debut role, and knockout gowns by Oleg Cassini (Mr. Gene Tierney, as Muller referred to him.)

From there it was out with Megan, her pal Allison, Cornelia Read and Busted Flush’s David Thompson to a dive boxing bar called the Hara, staffed by avid hardboiled mystery aficionado Carl Kickery. He’s a character and a half, made famous by Muller as the guy who said “Women mystery writers suck!” We figured a posse of beautiful, bad-ass hard-writing broads like us could gang up on him and make him see the light. Don’t know if we did or not but we sure had fun trying.

Today is the HELL OF A WOMAN signing, but unfortunately I’m going to miss the films. It’s killing me to miss The Prowler, and I really wanted to see Muller’s film, but I gotta make a redeye for NYC.