Body Heat (1981): Kathleen Turner

     Written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan (in his directorial debut), Body Heat (1981) in an homage Neo-Noir that was heavily influenced by Double Indemnity (1944) and Out of the Past (1947). The story concerns a lawyer who gets involved in a sordid affair with a beautiful and wealthy married woman, and the subsequent plan that develops to kill her husband. The Film Noir feel and references are spot-on and the sensuality is palpable. Kathleen Turner is vibrant in a star-making role. William Hurt is excellent as the object of her love-games. The supporting cast is great as well, including Ted Danson, Mickey Rourke and Richard Crenna.

Body Heat. 1981: Kathleen Turner

Body Heat. 1981: Kathleen Turner

Body Heat. 1981: Kathleen Turner

Body Heat. 1981: Kathleen Turner and William Hurt

"Body Heat"- movie trailer

The Maltese Falcon (1941): Humphrey Bogart

     Directed by John Huston in his debut, based on the book by Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon (1941) is often cited as the first major Film Noir and routinely places near the top of the list of the greatest films of all time. The story concerns a private investigator who gets tied up in murder and deception centered around a valuable and highly desirable statue of a falcon. One classic scene runs after another… a true masterpiece. Humphrey Bogart is excellent as Sam Spade. Mary Astor is sleek as the Femme Fatale. Sydney Greenstreet is grandiose in his debut, and Peter Lorre is great as well. Gladys George and Elisha Cook, Jr. co-star. 

The Maltese Falcon. 1941: Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor

The Maltese Falcon. 1941: Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart

The Maltese Falcon. 1941: Mary Astor and Humphrey Bogart

The Maltese Falcon. 1941: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor and Peter Lorre

The Maltese Falcon. 1941: Humphrey Bogart and Elisha Cook

The Maltese Falcon. 1941: Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet

The Maltese Falcon. 1941: Humphrey Bogart and the Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon. 1941: Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor

The Maltese Falcon. 1941: Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart  

The Maltese Falcon. 1941: Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet

The Maltese Falcon. 1941: The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon. 1941

The Maltese Falcon. 1941

The Maltese Falcon. 1941: Humphrey Bogart  and the Maltese Falcon

"The Maltese Falcon"- movie trailer

The Third Man (1949): Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten

     Perhaps the best film Orson Welles appeared in that he didn't also direct, The Third Man (1949) has all the makings of a classic. Shot in post-WWII Vienna, the crisp black and white cinematography is superb and dramatic. The script is airtight, written by the great literary author Graham Greene. The cast and acting are all top notch. And the harsh, zither music soundtrack is cutting and unforgettable.

     American dime store novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) has just arrived in post-war Vienna, having been offered a job by his old friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles). He soon discovers that Harry had died the previous week, having been accidentally hit by a truck. After the accident, two friends carried Lime to the sidewalk, where he died...  

The Third Man. 1949: Joseph Cotten

     Martins, dissatisfied with the jumbled police work of the opposing forces in the city, conducts his own investigation... 

The Third Man. 1949: Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten

     He learns some horrible truths... 

The Third Man. 1949: Orson Welles

     that Harry Lime was involved in some pretty despicable business rackets, that there were three men, not two, at the accident site, and that it might not have been an accident after all... 

The Third Man. 1949: Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten

     Who was the third man?

The Third Man. 1949: Orson Welles

The Third Man. 1949: Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten

The Great Flamarion (1945): Erich Von Stroheim

     Told in flashback form, The Great Flamarion (1945) has a great sense of tone and mood, typical of the Noir-style films of the period. Directed by Anthony Mann, the film has wonderful timing and a good cast, including Mary Beth Hughes as the femme-fatale and Dan Duryea. Erich Von Stroheim is in a league of his own in the title role, however. He was born to play the hard-nosed, disinterested, infallible guy. Everything about him screamed it. From his posture and facial expressions to the harsh accent and tone of his voice, he seemed an impenetrable, stone wall that only the loveliest of ladies could break through or scale.

     Flamarion (Erich von Stroheim) is a traveling vaudeville performer whose talent is astounding skill and accuracy in acts of sharpshooting... 

The Great Flamarion. 1945: Erich Von Stroheim

     His assistants, Connie (Mary Beth Hughes) and Al (Dan Duryea), are a husband and wife team, who perform a skit as Flamarion shoots around them and at various items of their apparel... 

The Great Flamarion. 1945: Erich Von Stroheim

     Connie has grown sick of her husband's heavy drinking, however, and comes up with a scheme to get rid of him... 

The Great Flamarion. 1945: Erich Von Stroheim

     She convinces Flamarion that she is really in love with him. Reluctant and hesitant at first, Flamarion eventually caves in and reciprocates her love... 

The Great Flamarion. 1945: Erich Von Stroheim

     The scheming, seductive temptress persuades Flamarion into thinking that the only way for them to be together is for him to "accidentally" shoot her husband on stage... 

The Great Flamarion. 1945

     Blinded by love, Flamarion concedes and kills Al. After the investigation, Flamarion is cleared, but Connie has skipped town, leaving him with the realization that he has been double crossed and she was lying and using him all along. He must track her down to enact his revenge...

The Great Flamarion. 1945: Erich Von Stroheim

The Great Flamarion. 1945: Erich Von Stroheim

Dressed to Kill (1980): Brian De Palma, Angie Dickinson and Michael Caine

     Written and directed by Brian De Palma, Dressed to Kill (1980) is an elegant and masterful work. Full of the director's signature style elements, split-frames and strong sequences (including a wonderful scene in the Metropolitan Museum of Art), De Palma's talents are on full display. The story is great, concerning the murder of a woman, and the determination of her son and a prostitute who witnessed the slaying, to solve the crime. Angie Dickinson is the ill-fated heroine. Nancy Allen is a high-class call girl. Michael Caine is great as the psychiatrist. Dennis Franz in a tough cop, and Keith Gordon is great as the tech-savvy son.

Dressed to Kill. 1980: Angie Dickinson

Dressed to Kill. 1980: Michael Caine and Nancy Allen

Dressed to Kill. 1980

Dressed to Kill. 1980: Nancy Allen

Dressed to Kill. 1980: Nancy Allen

Dressed to Kill. 1980: Nancy Allen

Dressed to Kill. 1980: Nancy Allen

Dressed to Kill. 1980: Nancy Allen

Dressed to Kill. 1980: Michael Caine and Nancy Allen

The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949): Charles Laughton and Burgess Meredith

     Tense and intriguing, The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949) is a thriller that doesn't keep the viewer guessing, but rather leaves one wondering about that which is already known to be factual. Directed by Burgess Meredith (who also plays a supporting role), the film is based on Georges Simenon's 1931 novel "La Tete d-un homme." The whole cast is great, including Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone and Robert Hutton.

     A spoiled man (Robert Hutton) has a tough dilemma. His wife has found out about the woman for which he plans to leave her. She agrees to leave the new couple to their devices, but only if she is paid handsomely. The man knows he is in the will of his wealthy aunt, so he hires a psychotic killer named Johann Radek (Franchot Tone) to kill her so that he might collect the inheritance...

The Man on the Eiffel Tower. 1949

     Unfortunately, a desperate and legally blind burglar (Burgess Meredith) stumbles upon the murder just as it is taking place. His involvement is instrumental to the unfolding of the future events...

The Man on the Eiffel Tower. 1949

      Meanwhile, Paris' best detective, Jules Maigret (Charles Laughton), has been assigned to the case...

The Man on the Eiffel Tower. 1949

     Maigret gets more than he bargained for when Radek turns out to be an arrogant sociopath and basically admits to the crime, then taunts and challenges the detective to come up with a way to prove it...

The Man on the Eiffel Tower. 1949

     He leads the police on a series of chases that include the rooftops of Paris...

The Man on the Eiffel Tower. 1949

     as well as the Eiffel Tower itself, as the title suggests...

The Man on the Eiffel Tower. 1949

     Can Maigret find the proof he needs to send this psychopath to the guillotine?

The Man on the Eiffel Tower. 1949

The Man on the Eiffel Tower. 1949