Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum in "Out of the Past"

Well, I can say onething for certain – 1947 was a slow year in movies. My choices really boiled down between this noir crime drama and Miracle on 34th St. and considering it’s still four months til Christmas, it would’ve felt a bit weird to be watching a holiday movie in mid-September.

The problem I have with noir films in general is that virtually every character in them are bad guys or good guys who are really shady bad guys parading as good guys. Of course the good thing about noir movies is that pretty much every character in them dies at the end. But then, I don’t really care about any of the characters to begin with, so having them killed off in the big finish doesn’t really do much for me. It’s kind of like, “Eh, OK.” If I’m going to venture into the world of noir and pulp fiction, I’d rather crack open a Black Lizard or Otto Penzier dime novel and immerse myself in the rich language and atmosphere provided thru the written word.

Onward to tomorrow’s feast of Italian cinema – Bicycle Thieves. Back up movies are Bogey in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Hitchcock’s classic Rope.