Response to Episode 50: The Blue Dahlia (Eric Harvey)
Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
Eric Harvey, a Junior at Reed College, responds to Episode 50: The
Blue Dahlia with a thoughtful commentary on the scholarship on this
film. Harvey focuses on how director Marshall weakens the potential
power of Chandler's screenplay by comparing the finished film with
Chandler's actual screenplay directions. Harvey addresses stories
about Chandler's drinking during the writing of the screenplay,
...
read more
Eric Harvey, a Junior at Reed College, responds to Episode 50: The
Blue Dahlia with a thoughtful commentary on the scholarship on this
film. Harvey focuses on how director Marshall weakens the potential
power of Chandler's screenplay by comparing the finished film with
Chandler's actual screenplay directions. Harvey addresses stories
about Chandler's drinking during the writing of the screenplay,
with a special focus on James Naremore's recent scholarship on
Chandler's "lack of an ending" for The Blue Dahlia. Harvey
concludes by addressing the role of the Breen Office and the Navy
and pointing out how censorship forced key changes to the final
film, all contrary to Chandler's original vision for the story.
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Tue November 24 2009
Eric Harvey, a Junior at Reed College, responds to Episode 50: The
Blue Dahlia with a thoughtful commentary on the scholarship on this
film. Harvey fo...
read more
Eric Harvey, a Junior at Reed College, responds to Episode 50: The
Blue Dahlia with a thoughtful commentary on the scholarship on this
film. Harvey focuses on how director Marshall weakens the potential
power of Chandler's screenplay by comparing the finished film with
Chandler's actual screenplay directions. Harvey addresses stories
about Chandler's drinking during the writing of the screenplay,
...
read more
Eric Harvey, a Junior at Reed College, responds to Episode 50: The
Blue Dahlia with a thoughtful commentary on the scholarship on this
film. Harvey focuses on how director Marshall weakens the potential
power of Chandler's screenplay by comparing the finished film with
Chandler's actual screenplay directions. Harvey addresses stories
about Chandler's drinking during the writing of the screenplay,
with a special focus on James Naremore's recent scholarship on
Chandler's "lack of an ending" for The Blue Dahlia. Harvey
concludes by addressing the role of the Breen Office and the Navy
and pointing out how censorship forced key changes to the final
film, all contrary to Chandler's original vision for the story.
read less
Sat November 07 2009
A script by Raymond Chandler. Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd, and William
Bendix in leading roles. Costumes by the great Edith Head, and
cinematography by L...
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A script by Raymond Chandler. Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd, and William
Bendix in leading roles. Costumes by the great Edith Head, and
cinematography by Lionel Lindon, who had been nominated for best
cinematography just the year before for the Oscar sensation GOING
MY WAY. In short, THE BLUE DAHLIA seems to have everything going
itâs way. Why, then, does the film fail to deliver the emotional
impact ...
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A script by Raymond Chandler. Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd, and William
Bendix in leading roles. Costumes by the great Edith Head, and
cinematography by Lionel Lindon, who had been nominated for best
cinematography just the year before for the Oscar sensation GOING
MY WAY. In short, THE BLUE DAHLIA seems to have everything going
itâs way. Why, then, does the film fail to deliver the emotional
impact of near contemporary titles like THE KILLERS or THE BIG
SLEEP? To frame an answer to this question, we must first displace
the many frames through which we have become accustomed to viewing
the filmâmost notably Producer John Housemanâs apocryphal account
of how Chandlerâs alcoholism impacted the screenplay. If we divest
ourselves of these frames and really focus on the film, we see that
Chandlerâs script rescues, rather than compromises, this movie.
THE BLUE DAHLIA is more a victim of an identity crisis, a film
unable for reasons of censorship and limited artistic vision to
commit fully to the noir worldview that came home full force in
1946. And thus, as a marginal success, itâs a film that can teach
us a great deal about how noir came to be both a dominant Hollywood
style and a philosophical stance.
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Mon August 24 2009
In this episode, guest investigator Jeffrey Peters (Associate
Professor of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of
Kentucky), leads a pane...
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In this episode, guest investigator Jeffrey Peters (Associate
Professor of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of
Kentucky), leads a panel of five undergraduate students from his
Honors Program course "French Film Noir" in a discussion of
Jean-Luc Godard's 1964 BAND OF OUTSIDERS (Bande à part), starring
Anna Karina, Sami Frey, and Claude Brasseur. Jeff is a specialist
in early modern...
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In this episode, guest investigator Jeffrey Peters (Associate
Professor of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of
Kentucky), leads a panel of five undergraduate students from his
Honors Program course "French Film Noir" in a discussion of
Jean-Luc Godard's 1964 BAND OF OUTSIDERS (Bande à part), starring
Anna Karina, Sami Frey, and Claude Brasseur. Jeff is a specialist
in early modern French literature and culture, poetics and
rhetoric, and film studies, and former chair of the Division of
French and Italian at UK. He is joined by Honor students Bethany
Futrell, Jesseca Johnson, Ryan Palmer, Nick Purol, and Daniel
Robbins. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to
the podcast, please visit Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
at http://outofthepast.libsyn.com.
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Fri December 26 2008
Clute and Edwards welcome guest investigator Megan Abbott , the
reigning Dark Dame of Noir. Megan is the author of a superb
nonfiction study of hardbo...
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Clute and Edwards welcome guest investigator Megan Abbott , the
reigning Dark Dame of Noir. Megan is the author of a superb
nonfiction study of hardboiled and noir protagonists entitled THE
STREET WAS MINE, and three gut-wrenching throwback crime novels:
DIE A LITTLE, THE SONG IS YOU, and QUEENPIN. The first title is
scheduled to be released as a United Artists feature film in 2010,
with Jessica B...
read more
Clute and Edwards welcome guest investigator Megan Abbott , the
reigning Dark Dame of Noir. Megan is the author of a superb
nonfiction study of hardboiled and noir protagonists entitled THE
STREET WAS MINE, and three gut-wrenching throwback crime novels:
DIE A LITTLE, THE SONG IS YOU, and QUEENPIN. The first title is
scheduled to be released as a United Artists feature film in 2010,
with Jessica Biel in the lead role. Megan's choice for this episode
is the 1950 Nicholas Ray film IN A LONELY PLACE, starring Humphrey
Bogart and Gloria Grahame. To learn more about Megan's work, visit
www.meganabbott.com. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and
Edwards, of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode,
or make a donation to the podcast, please visit Out of the Past:
Investigating Film Noir at http://outofthepast.libsyn.com.
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Tue August 12 2008
Howard Rodman and Mike White are this episodeâs guest
investigators. Rodman and White discuss Jean-Pierre Melvilleâs
great 1956 film, Bob Le Flambeu...
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Howard Rodman and Mike White are this episodeâs guest
investigators. Rodman and White discuss Jean-Pierre Melvilleâs
great 1956 film, Bob Le Flambeur. Howard Rodman is a screenwriter,
novelist and USC film professor. His most recent screen credits
include Savage Grace and August. Mike White is the publisher and
editors of Cahiers du Cinemart, an obscure and obtuse film magazine
from Detroit. Vis...
read more
Howard Rodman and Mike White are this episodeâs guest
investigators. Rodman and White discuss Jean-Pierre Melvilleâs
great 1956 film, Bob Le Flambeur. Howard Rodman is a screenwriter,
novelist and USC film professor. His most recent screen credits
include Savage Grace and August. Mike White is the publisher and
editors of Cahiers du Cinemart, an obscure and obtuse film magazine
from Detroit. Visit Mikeâs website at impossiblefunky.com. This
podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards, of
www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a
donation to the podcast, please visit Out of the Past:
Investigating Film Noir at http://outofthepast.libsyn.com.
read less