Written and reviewed by Larry Gleeson during the annual TCM 31 Days of Oscar (2025)

Double Indemnity, possibly the definite film that firmly establishes the tenants of film noir with its dark visuals and dark narrative with an unflinching pitch-black worldview reminiscent of German Expressionism. Fred MacMurray (Walter Neff) a successful insurance salesman crosses path with femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck). Neff isn’t a bad sort of a person. Unfortunately, he finds himself at the whims of Phyllis who wants her husband dead. Phyllis entices Neff with just a towel and a pair of gams. What unfolds is a blueprint for as close to a perfect film noir as there is.

Film noir typically uses a voice-over narration, flashbacks, low-key lighting, shadows that conceal emotion, rain-slicked pavements representing fragmented psyches all wrapped around a criminal act with a woman who leads an unsuspecting man down the prim rose path. Double Indemnity has all of this and more. Boasting an excellent cast headlined by Stanwyck, MacMurray, and Edward G. Robinson, and one of the most talented and enigmatic comedic writer/directors in cinematic history, Billy Wilder. Art direction was headed by two German Weimar cinema artists, Hans Drier and Hal Pereira, steeped in German Expressionism. Pioneering low-key lighting cinematographer, John F. Seitz joined in to create visual and thematic motifs from the very beginning of the film.

Every detail of the coldly expressed, mise-en-scen reveals Walter, driving on a rain slicked road in the dark of night. As he makes his way into his insurance office, the illusory visuals of Walter as imprisoned inside a prison yard with prisoners. As Walter begins his flashback via a Dictaphone, a representational handgun, his imprisonment is unabashedly confirmed. Most of Double Indemnity comes through from Walter’s voice-over narrated flashback. His ironic tone and viewpoint enable him to comment on his actions from an informed point of view. As Phyllis puts on a fresh set of clothes after dazzling Walter with just a towel from her open-air, second floor. The use of overhead lighting added an alluring aura. Walter’s desire is undeniable as he voices, “I wanted to see her again without that silly staircase between us.” As the double entendres fly, Walter has taken the bait, hook line and sinker.

Most interesting, is Wilder’s use of doubles, or the doubling effect linking crime and narrative, used widely by Alfred Hitchcock. In a suspenseful moment following Walter and Phyllis’s murder of Phyllis’s husband, Walter’s boss, Mr. Keyes (Robinson) has dropped by Walter’s apartment unexpectedly to inform Walter of doubts of an accidental death for Mr., Dietrichson . Walter listens fully aware Phyllis is on her way over. Phyllis hears Keyes inside Walter’s apartment before he walks out, she hides behind the door. Walter holds open the door chatting as Keyes starts to leave. This is the pivotal moment of truth for Walter. Whose side will Walter’s soul choose? Does he even have a choice? His unconscious, animalistic attraction to Phyllis dictates Walter’s doom and demise. Being under the Production Code, Phyllis needs to be punished. What will Walter do? Tune in and find out! Nominated for seven Oscars, Double Indemnity is highly recommended.

Reviewed by Larry Gleeson during the annual TCM 31 Days of Oscar.

The Maltese Falcon (1941), directed by John Houston, tells the story of hard-boiled detective, Sam Spade, hired for a missing person case. When his partner is murdered, the stakes are raised. What unfolds is a tale of Spade, his partner’s wife (Gladys George), a stunningly beautiful liar (Mary Astor), two police detectives, and three eccentric criminals. In what could consider an homage to Alfred Hitchcock, Huston uses a McGuffin. In addition, the film is shot by cinematographer, Arthur Edeson, with impeccable attention to detail. The film is based on a novel by Dashiell Hammett. What really makes The Maltese Falcon are the characters. All the actors seem to embody their respective characters with an attitude. In retrospect, American society was emerging from the Depression. Men are hardened and society is full of greed. And, as The Maltese Falcon shows, murder is not out of the question.

Interestingly, The Maltese Falcon was John Huston’s first shot at directing. The film allowed Huston the opportunity to continue making films for the next forty years with the same distinctive style. Bogart would take his performance as Sam Spade and reprise it several times over. The role also elevated Bogart to a starring leading man. Additionally, the film introduced Sydney Greenstreet, the Fat Man, Mr. Gutman. Greenstreet would go on top make several more films with Peter Lorre, including Casablanca starring Bogart and Lauren Bacall. The Maltese Falcon was nominated for three Oscars; Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing, Screenplay.

Some film historians argue The Maltese Falcon marks the arrival of film noir. There is a criminal element. The music creates suspense. The use of heavy shadows and low-key lighting define it further. Costuming (Orry Kelly) is befitting with the use of overcoats and fedoras. Undoubtedly,  the most telling characteristic is the mise-en-scen. Additionally, when the detectives visit Spade for the first-time, both detectives leave their coats and hats on. Edeson catches the sergeant in a terrific Rembrandt shot as they question Spade about the murder of his partner, Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan). Film noir was staring back into the camera lens.

Both Huston and Hammett are credited with writing the screenplay. The dialogue makes Spade a tough, cynical, and hard character. Much like the unforgettable line from Lauren Bacall’s character (“You know how to whistle, don’t you? You just put your lips together and blow,” in To Have and Have Not (1944), The Maltese Falcon delivers several. Most cinephiles go verbatim with Spade’s opening response to the beautiful liar, Brigid O’Shaunessy, pleading with Spade to help her:

“You won’t need much of anybody’s help. You’re good. You’re very good. It’s chiefly your eyes, I think, and that throb you get in your voice when you say things like ‘Be generous, Mr. Spade.”

Spade’s ending response is considered classic as well:

“Well, if you get a good break, you’ll be out [of prison] in twenty years and you can come back to me then. I hope they don’t hang you, precious, by that sweet neck. The chances are you’ll get off with life. If you’re a good girl, you’ll be out in twenty years. I’ll be waiting for you. If they hang you, I’ll always remember you.”

and, just before the elevator bars close across O’Shaunessy’s face, foreshadowing a long prison sentence, the police sergeant asks Spade what the falcon is “for.” Spade responds,

“It’s the stuff dreams are made of.”

A telling ending. Huston had been a writer at Warner Bros, before directing The Maltese Falcon. The studio wanted a happy ending. Huston argued against it. There is a lot to unpack in the one hour and forty-minute film. Yes, the characters are an eyeful. And the plot has more than a few twists. Pay attention, it’s worth it. Highly recommended.

Written and reviewed by Larry Gleeson during the annual TCM 31 Days of Oscar

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), a Pre-code production from Warner Brothers’ Vitaphone, is based on the true story of Robert Elliot Burns, wrongly convicted of robbery and sentenced to ten years on a brutal and inhumane chain gang. The film received three Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Sound. Mervyn LeRoy directed with Paul Muni starring as the lead character, James Allen. Allen has returned home from The World War a changed man. Allen served with the Engineer Corps. and had other ideas than returning to his position at the Parker Shoe Manufacturing Co., Home of Kumfort Shoes. He desires to get away from routine of office work and Army life. Rather, he dreams of accomplishing things building and constructing bridges. When Mother (Louise Carter) Allen expresses concern, Allen’s minister brother (Hale Hamilton), interjects a lofty incantation of Allen getting a good night’s sleep, going to the factory, and Allen becoming a soldier of peace instead of a soldier of war. Allen reacts vehemently of being a soldier of any kind.

Nevertheless, Allen takes the advice and returns to his old position at the factory. As he is preparing to file bills of laden, explosions and jack hammers fill the air drawing his interest. A new bridge is being constructed. Allen hangs around the site returning late from lunch everyday disappointing Mr. Parker. Mother Allen encourages her son to pursue what is in his heart. Allen gleefully sets off for New England. He works in a quarry but is laid off quickly. From New England, Allen heads to New Orleans arriving a week late. All the positions are filled. This continues until Allen bounces into the St. Louis/East St. Louis area. Here, Allen meets up with a dubious character, Pete (Preston Foster), at a boarding house. Pete entices Allen to go out for hamburger. Unfortunately, Pete pulls a handgun and robs the hamburger joint and is killed by police in a shootout. As Allen tries to get away, the police nab him and find the robbery money in his pocket.

Allen gets sentenced to ten years in prison for being a part of the robbery.  The judge had no mercy, and Allen gets a hard labor sentence for trying to run away from the robbery scene. Allen is in the wrong place at the wrong time. What transpires next is the first visual, filmic insight into the sordid chain gang system depicting the harsh realities of the chain gang system, a brutal and inhumane manner of cutting costs predominantly in Georgia, Texas, and Florida. Inmates who have not put in a good day’s work are whipped with a razor’s belt. The worst part is the systematic binding with chains. The binding changes the gait of men who have challenges walking without the chains upon their releases.

Technically, the film very well put together achieving the suspension of disbelief with continuity editing.  In addition, the use of dissolves with frames of calendar pages, pay slips, and newspaper headlines establish settings, show the passage of time, and informs the audience. The mise-en-scen and cinematography work extremely well together, too, revealing mood and story line with depth and clarity. The actors are credible. Hair, makeup, and costuming match the characters on the chain gangs and in society. Muni, one of the top actors of his time and one of the biggest stars at Warner Brothers, embodies the character, James Allen, with strength and power, albeit with a gullibility that thwarts his life following his first escape. Truthfully, both escape scenes contain a plethora of highly engaging and visually appealing action shots with blood hounds, shotguns, rifles, speeding dump trucks, and explosives. Furthermore, the narrative moves along with veracity and contains moments of sharply witted dialogue.

I found the chain gang system incredulous as depicted in I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. With a bastion of corruption from the state governors, through the prison board commissioners and down to the wardens, the film raises important issues about the penal system and the impact of incarceration on individuals and on society. Interestingly, the film’s exhibition created such an uproar that it prompted reforms within the prison system. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is an early example of socially conscious film making that worked. With a runtime of one hour and thirty-two minutes, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, is an exceptionally well-constructed film that engages and pokes the audience toward discernment. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Larry Gleeson during the annual TCM 31 Days of Oscar

Bullitt (1968), directed by Peter Yates, is a star vehicle for actor Steve McQueen. McQueen’s Solar Productions produced the Warner Bros. film. Bullitt was shot on location in San Francisco and features the groundbreaking car chase that is considered one of the greatest car chases in film history. The chase scene is clocked at nine minutes and forty-two seconds. Both vehicles involved in the high-speed chase scene had reinforcements to handle the steep San Francisco hills. McQueen (Lt. Frank Bullitt) drove a 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback. The other vehicle was a Dodge Charger with a 460-horsepower engine. Speeds topping 100 miles per hour were recorded during the chase scene. Bullitt won the 1969 Best Editing Oscar for Frank P. Keller’s efforts.

Bullitt is a non-conforming Lieutenant in the San Francisco Police Department assigned, under request from U.S. Senator Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) to guard Johnny Rossi, an infamous West Coast racketeer turned whistleblower.  In a mix-up, two men get access to the apartment where Rossi is holding up blasting a shotgun and wounding a police officer while mortally wounding Rossi. Bullitt has a hunch foul play is at work. What transpires is a game of cat and mouse involving police captains, detectives, doppelgangers, racketeers, and a United States Senator. Senator Chalmers demands Bullitt take responsibility for Rossi’s murder with a sworn statement. However, it’s a Sunday and the statement cannot be completed on a Sunday. This gives Bullitt the time he needs to bring to fruition his hunch.

As I was watching the infamous chase scene, I began noticing a few interesting anomalies with a green Volkswagen Beetle. In addition, the Dodge Charger lost three hubcaps. Yet, the vehicle had three hubcaps on before crashing and burning. Due to an accidental fire while filming, footage was destroyed. Editor Keller stitched scene footage from different cameras for coverage. Typically, the majority of films aim for a seamless edit through continuity editing. The chase scene is a prime example of discontinuity editing. Nevertheless, the chase scene generated significant buzz in the film-going world. Interestingly, the 1972 comedy, What Up Doc? parodies the scene including a few moments of discontinuity. But that’s for another time…

I couldn’t help but compare Bullitt’s sound design to James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari, winner of the 2020 Oscar for Best Achievement in Sound Editing. Bullitt received a nomination in 1969 for Best Sound. The sounds of the 1968 Mustang GT Fastback roared impressively and to a lesser degree the sounds of screeching tires, and cars launching and landing on the hilly streets of San Francisco sounded quite realistic.  While McQueen did not receive a nomination it established him as a top box office draw. With a budget of $5.5 million, the film grossed over $42 million. Bullitt also established San Francisco as a premium film location outside of Los Angeles.

Lastly, the narrative of Bullitt has twists and turns. It’s complex and it requires attention to make sense of the ending. The payoff is definitely worth the price. The film is based on Robert L. Fish’s 1963 novel, Mute Witness, and features a strong cast, including a young Jacqueline Bisset (Cathy). One of the film’s more colorful scenes has Cathy escorting Bullitt to the location of a potential witness in a canary yellow, 1965 Porche Cabriolet convertible. With a compact and succinct runtime of one hour and fifty-one minutes, and for the original modern-day car chase – one of the greatest in cinematic history – Bullitt is a “must-see!”