Out of the Past (1947)
Out of the Past (1947), directed by Jacques Tourneur.
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Small town girl: "You've been to a lot of places, haven't you?"
He: "One too many".
He's not exactly running, not exactly hiding, just trying to start over in a modest life with a new girl, away from former associates and the dangerous life and passion he once knew. It is not to be: they find him and pull him back into the life. We're rooting for him, but the odds are not good.
If you were teaching film noir, this would be a textbook example with a bit of everything:
The gorgeous visuals, the way cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca sculpts with shadows and cigarette smoke.
The snappy patter: "You can never help anything, can you? You're like a leaf that the wind blows from one gutter to another" and She: "Oh, Jeff, I don't want to die!", He: "Neither do I, baby, but if I have to I'm gonna die last".
The femme fatale: Jane Greer had a short career in film, but is famous for this role.
The competing tough guys. Kirk Douglas: flashy, patient but vicious. Robert Mitchum: introverted, smart but susceptible: "How big a chump can you get to be? I was finding out".
The overly complex plot, particularly in the second half. Mitchum knows he's being put into a frame-up, which is good because I lost track of the twists and turns.
The tragic ending outdoors in nature, like The Asphalt Jungle (1950) or On Dangerous Ground (1952).
Thoughts on the femme fatale motif in film noir: it's often said that men are simple and women complex, and that men struggle with "What do women want?" But men can be puzzling, too: why the fascination with sexy but duplicitous women? Do men want to be chumps, used and stabbed in the back? These women don't wear dominatrix outfits, but it's as if the men display a need to be abused. Of course, the formula requires them to wise up and get tough in the end -- when it is too late.
Finally, I was shocked by the sadistic menace Kirk Douglas put into his threats to Jane Greer:
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You're gonna take the rap and play along. You're gonna make every exact move I tell you. If you don't, I'll kill you. And I'll promise you one thing: it won't be quick. I'll break you first. You won't be able to answer a telephone or open a door without thinking, 'This is it.' And it when it comes, it still won't be quick. And it won't be pretty. You can take your choice.
Roy Webb score.
The Warner Archive Blu-ray has both subtitles and a commentary track, unheard of in their MOD DVD line.
The commentary is good, although perhaps oriented to those not too familiar with the genre.
