10 Greatest Film Noirs of All Time
6. Build My Gallows High (aka Out of the Past) (1947)
Dir. Jacques Tourneur Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas If I had to pick one film that sums up film noir- this would be it. Its got flashbacks, voice-over, a very fatale femme, a private eye, brilliant black-and-white photography, and that overwhelming sense of doom that comes with the genre. Jeff (Robert Mitchum) is the quiet owner of a gas station in a quiet town. But a visitor from the city comes by and recognises him. Jeff reveals the story of how he used to be a private eye, hired by a big-time crook (Kirk Douglas) to retrieve a missing woman and a suitcase of money. Jeff finds Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer) in Mexico, and finds himself falling for her and reluctant to hand her back to Kirk Douglas. Jaques Tourneur is like the Orson Welles of B-Movies, and I dont mean that in a flippant way, he understands the use of depth and black-and-white cinematography like the great god Orson. If you like your lighting chiaroscuro, then this movie is for you. If you like grim tales of PI, pasts that cant be escaped, and dreamlike atmosphere, take a look at Out of the Past. Key Line: Jeff: I never saw her in the daytime. We seemed to live by night. What was left of the day went away like a pack of cigarettes you smoked. I didn't know where she lived. I never followed her. All I ever had to go on was a place and time to see her again. I don't know what we were waiting for. Maybe we thought the world would end.