Out of the Past
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Movie Reviews of Out of the Past
Movie Review: "A dame with a rod is like a guy with a knitting needle." (recommended)
Summary: 5 Stars
Jeff Markham (Robert Mitchum) is a private detective who assumes the name Bailey to distance himself from his troubled past. In his new life, he falls in love with small-town homely Ann Miller (Virginia Hudson). Interrupting their elopement is G-Man Joe Stephanos (Paul Valentine) for a former gambler client, Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas), whom Markham had crossed.
Markham is now reunited with the past he knew deep inside he could not flee. Ever jovially facaded Whit is eager to hire Markham for another suspicious assignment. Once vulnerable to the now openly revealed affections of Whit's girl, femme fatale Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer), Markham must reconcile his emotions and trust his instincts which tell him he's in line for a crafty revenge plot. Discovering how, when, and who is involved makes this the most important investigation in his life.
Amid scenic backdrops of Acapulco, Lake Tahoe, and San Francisco, there are enough plot twists to make this worthy of multiple viewings. Throughout the scandal and mahem, dialog remains sharp, terse, and poetic. Markham relying on his persuasive tongue, takes big chances which contributes to quite a suspenseful noir. Beautiful Kathie seems to find a "rod" at the most [in]opportune times. Your stomach knots while control shifts between multi-dimensional Markham, Whit, and Kathie as Markham attempts to escape from OUT OF THE PAST.
Movie quote: "Do you always go around leaving your fingerprints on a girl's shoulder?"
Movie Review: The most doom-laden of all film noirs.
Summary: 5 Stars
Jacques Tourneur's "Out of the Past" perfectly defines the genre of film noir, with its morally compromised characters, underworld setting and general air of impending doom. I agree with an earlier reviewer that "Out of the Past" is second only to "Double Indemnity" among film noirs; I would add merely that "Out of the Past" exceeds "Double Indemnity" in its sheer fatalism, simply because Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) seems so much less deserving of his fate than "Double Indemnity's" Walter Neff. Played with sleepy-eyed, world-weary intensity by Mitchum, the essentially decent Bailey is made to pay over and over for the mistake of falling for Kathie Moffett (Jane Greer), the most treacherous of all femmes fatales, making "Indemnity's" Phyllis Dietrichson look like Pollyanna by comparison. "Nobody's all bad," says Jeff's new love of Kathie. "She comes closest," Bailey answers, and "Out of the Past" gives us ample proof of that observation. My only complaint about "Out of the Past" is with the ending, involving what the deaf boy (Dickie Moore) tells Bailey's new love (Virginia Huston). Obviously it was intended to be a fatalistic act of nobility (and probably played that way in 1947), but now it seems like a particularly rancid piece of Hays Code-era morality. Otherwise, with its smoky intensity and fine performances (particularly by Kirk Douglas as a gleefully vengeful mobster), "Out of the Past" is a brilliant example of film noir, one that repays repeated viewings.Movie Review: One You've Got to See
Summary: 5 Stars
Out of the Past is a great example of film noir. It is considered so important, it was entered in the exclusive list of films to be preserved by the Library of Congress. It exhibits several aspects of noir: the lighting is amazing and stark, the characters are all corrupt in some way, and there is a femme fatal involved. The story is about Jeff (Robert Mitchum), a man trying to escape his dark past to marry the woman he loves. However, it comes back to get him in the form of a mob boss (Kirk Douglas) who he crossed by romancing his beautiful girlfriend (Jane Greer). Jeff is to become framed for two murders in order to secure the boss' freedom; he has failed to pay taxes on his corrupt income and is in jeopardy of being found out.
The film is very dark, but it is highly enjoyable. The characters are interesting and they have depth. The love affairs are not perfect the way they are often shown in films; the romances have twists and turns just like in real life.
Supplementing the brilliant cast is former child star Dickie Moore in the role as a deaf boy. Now in his twenties, Moore is very attractive and exciting to see. His part is far too small in this film.
The DVD has a commentary by film noir expert James Ursini, a man who seems to know a lot about the subject and to have a strong interest in it. He does not talk down to the listener; this commentary is an asset to the DVD.
Movie Review: Film noir classic & Mitchum's rocket to stardom
Summary: 5 Stars
Robert Mitchum plays a private eye who not only gets caught in the clutches of crime boss Kirk Douglas, but, even worse, in the clutches of two-timing femme fatale Jane Greer. Mitchum does a job for Douglas which requires him to find Greer, who's run off with $40,000 of his dough. When he finds her, rather than turn her in to Douglas, he has an affair with her. When he finds himself getting involved in her dirty work (including blackmail and murder), Greer takes off back to Douglas, and Mitchum, realizing he's been a sap, goes to a quiet town hoping to forget his past.
But Douglas has his number and forces him to pull another job: stealing records that implicate him in tax evasion. The plot thickens, as they say, and before it's over there's more double-crossing and murder involving all the principals, who all get what they deserve by the end. It's considered a film noir classic because of the complicated plot developments, the unsavory characters (especially Greer and Douglas), the fatalistic outlook, and the atmospheric photography (lots of night scenes and shadowy overtones). Mitchum is perfect in his role, with those droopy eyes and the cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and this picture made him a star. The whole structure of the movie and the way it unfolds, as well as the superb gritty photography, influenced countless other noirs during its era. An excellent movie; definitely worth a watch.
Movie Review: Perfect noir
Summary: 5 Stars
A dark stranger from the city rides into a simple small town. He has
some questions about the man with the mysterious past who owns the gas
station across from a nice family diner. After the two men talk, the
man with the mysterious past goes to fix loose threads he left behind
in a film that is nothing but noir.
Robert Mitchum plays Bailey, the snoop who falls in love with his
client's target: the dark and mysterious Kathie (Greer). Quick-tongued
and lethargic, he gracefully plunges deeper into the abyss of
uncertainty as he gets caught up in a power game between a man and his
girl, and the own pull of his desires versus what he knows is right for
him.
The acting of these characters as they tumble about their own
destruction is superb, but none moreso than the witty dialog that's
great even by film noir standards. The directing and cinematography are
perfect to, so that it's nearly impossible not to feel pulled along by
the roller-coaster ride towards doom. The action NEVER lets up, and
just when the film seems to catch its balance, it lunges right over.
Highly recommended to fans of noir and anyone who wants to look into
the genre, not to mention anybody who likes classics and just about
anybody else who has any reason to believe they should watch it.
--PolarisDiB