Out of the Past
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Movie Reviews of Out of the Past
Movie Review: Absolute Must Have
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the Perfect movie. A woman with a gun, what's better then that? This movie is never out of my mind. Its great and it is a must have in a classic film collection, one of my favorite movies of all time.Movie Review: Great movie but skip the commentary
Summary: 5 Stars
The movie is great, but Ursini's commentary is irritating. I wish I had a nickel for every time he said "sort of." The commentary should have been professionally edited and tightened up.Movie Review: FINALLY!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Out of the Past is one of the 5 best noir films of all time, and this fills a BIG hole in dvd-land. Now if The Asphault Jungle would just come out...Movie Review: Excellent, if not definitive, film noir
Summary: 4 Stars
"Out of the Past," a 1947 RKO release directed by Jacques Tourneur of "Cat People" fame, is frequently hailed as the definitive "film noir" by critics, historians, and other "experts." I disagree, although I do find it an excellent film overall. Sure, it stars Robert Mitchum, who, in Roger Ebert's opinion, "embodies the soul of film noir," and he wears a trenchcoat throughout no matter the weather. But from the very first frame, I found it a little short on the atmosphere - the fog and shadows, the rain swept streets, the blinking neon lights - that are the genre's visual style, and the visual style defines film noir more than the dialogue (tough, terse, fatalistic), or the characters (cynical double-crossers or those who become cynical after being double-crossed).
Daylight dominates the early scenes as Mitchum, a former private eye now operating a gas station, is called back to his old profession by Kirk Douglas. Yep, there's a woman involved. There's always a woman involved in noir, this one played by Jane Greer who would join Richard Widmark, another member of the noir hall of fame, in providing support for Jeff Bridges, James Woods, and Rachel Ward in the 1984 remake, "Against All Odds."
Things pick up halfway through as the double-crossing begins in earnest, but though "Out of the Past" has much to recommend it, it is not the best example of this fascinating genre. Try Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity" or Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep." Jules Dassin's "Night and the City" is another highlight, as is Lewis Milestone's "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" and Anatole Litvak's "Sorry, Wrong Number." For more modern attempts at revisiting the genre, you could do no better than Dick Richards' "Farewell, My Lovely" with Mitchum a superb Philip Marlowe.
Brian W. Fairbanks
Movie Review: "If I have to I'm gonna die last"
Summary: 4 Stars
"Out of the Past" has all the biggies: money, murder, double crossing and then the inevitable revenge, and especially the femme fatale. The plot is tight and interesting but a little opaque at times. Essentially you see the plot through Mitchum's character, so things that aren't all that clear to him aren't all that clear to you, though the overall plot line hangs together well if you give the movie the benefit of the doubt on the characters' motivations.
The movie is also well acted, though that's easier when portraying strong guys who don't show much emotion, as all of the main male characters do (or don't). Mitchum's dry delivery serves him well and Douglas is all smiles and sociopathy as the gambler/nemesis. Douglas' gunsel is also well played: the quintessential second banana smart enough to get away with murder but who knows deep down, he's not smart enough to be #1. The femme fatale is a tougher role and Greer does well, though her motivations are never really clear: she's an odd mix of sentiment and sociopath, an independent risk taker and co-dependent victim.
The film is very noir, as a good film noir should be. All of the main characters screw up mightily and (SPOILER) in the end they all die for their mistakes. Even in the final shot of the movie the last great gesture is a hurtful lie told for a greater good. A perfect movie? No, but a good one both as a stand-alone flick and as an important milestone in film noir development.
I specialize in San Francisco noir movie and book reviews. Have a suggestion? Send it to me via my blog.