NOIR CITY: CHICAGO 8
Music
Box Theatre, Chicago, IL
Friday,
August 19th – Thursday, August 25th, 2016
Sunday
evening, Film Noir Foundation Director Alan K. Rode was pleased to present a
pair of original 35mm prints struck by a very cooperative Universal Pictures.
The two obscure features share a kinship beyond the parent studio since the
films actually were conceived as one anthology directed by Julien Duvivier (PÉPÉ LE MOKO [1937]).
Reduced
to a three-segment anthology by Universal after audience test screenings, FLESH AND FANTASY (1943, Universal
Pictures, 94m) unfurls with a surreal structure common to each story, with
dreams and reality intertwined. The first episode involves a reflection on
inner beauty during Mardi Gras night in New Orleans. Henrietta (Betty Field)
must get past her self-loathing if Michael (Robert Cummings) ever is to notice
her. Thanks to a mask provided by a man of mystery (Edgar Barrier), Henrietta
finds the courage to face what was holding her back. The segment instantly brings
to mind various TWILIGHT ZONE episodes, as do the subsequent stories.
The
following segment features the dependable Edward G. Robinson as Marshall Tyler,
who in a moment of fate is traumatized by a palm reading conducted by Septimus
Podgers (Thomas Mitchell), who predicts Tyler will kill! The camerawork by
Stanley Cortez and Paul Ivano brings a noir
architecture to this second story, with a sense of entrapment following the
Robinson character, whose tormentor proves to be his own dark side,
externalized thanks to the gloomy suggestion of Podgers. Haunting imagery
pushes Tyler to the limit in sequences that anticipate the closing moments of SCARLET STREET (1945), in which
Robinson's defeated Christopher Cross is condemned to an eternity of lonely
streets and incessant voices.
The
second segment segues nicely into the final episode, with tightrope walker Paul
Gaspar (Charles Boyer) afraid to perform the most dangerous component of his
circus act after he dreams of falling. The safety net's dramatic removal before
Gaspar performs is emphasized as to suggest the need for the net is largely
psychological. In further noir terms,
the third segment implies that past transgressions have a stubborn way of
following people. En route from London to New York by ship, Gaspar meets Joan
Stanley (Barbara Stanwyck), the apparent embodiment of his dream woman, but
perhaps an unattainable one for reasons that are at first imprecise.
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| FLESH AND FANTASY (1943) |
The
best-received segment of the original anthology would be excised by Universal
and converted into DESTINY (1944,
Universal Pictures, 65m). Director Reginald Le Borg was commissioned to expand
the Julien Duvivier episode that originally opened FLESH AND FANTASY. In what begins in overly familiar territory for noir fans, cynical ex-con Cliff Banks
(Alan Curtis, PHANTOM LADY [1944])
finds himself on the run in LA, albeit through no fault of his own. He blames
his troubles on his uncanny ability to take up with the wrong dames, like the
sexy frame possessed by night club singer Phyllis Prager (Vivian Austin).
Events take a significant turn when Banks encounters Jane Broderick (Gloria
Jean), a kind woman who can "see" despite her blindness and seems to
be the miraculous antidote to what ails Banks. She even has a calming effect on
animals known to be frightened of humans.
Banks
finds redemption when he embraces the theme persistent in both films: without faith in the basic goodness of other
people, there is no basis for existence. Also significant is the healing power
represented by the blind woman in a pastoral rural environment, which stands
diametrically opposed to the oppressive chaos of the urban world rich with duplicitous
types such as Marie (Minna Gombell) and Sam (Frank Fenton). DESTINY certainly stands as a
progenitor of ON DANGEROUS GROUND
(1951) by way of distinct settings that clash.
 |
| DESTINY (1944) |
Though
generally I am opposed to studio meddling, I can understand Universal's enthusiasm
with the potential of what was originally a 30-minute sequence. I wish I could evaluate
the original FLESH AND FANTASY
screened to test audiences, but today all that can be determined is DESTINY is unusually touching for a
crime film laced with noir elements,
and the edited version of the original film plays well enough at just over 90
minutes.
The
remaining schedule:
NOIR CITY: CHICAGO 8
