Bad Girls

 

I’m late, I know but I saw 8 clients yesterday and with 20 minutes of paperwork, I didn’t get home until 9:30pm. I forget how draining it can be to listen. Anyhoo, I decided to talk about Bad Girls of which there are so, so many especially in the Film Noir genre which I love. There are way too many to choose from but I picked the first 3 that came into my head…

1. THE MALTESE FALCON-1941

This is considered one of the first…and one of the best Film Noirs that is a must see. You have Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, a PI  whose life is turned inside out when a beautiful woman, played so well by Mary Astor, comes to him for help. From there, Spade meets all sorts of characters who are all after a priceless artifact called the Maltese Falcon, aka a big black bird. The thugs are Peter Lorre, Elisha Cook Jr and the big guy ( in more ways than one), Sydney Greenstreet who slithers onto the screen with a quiet-voiced charm. Unfortunately, the baddest Character of all has worked her way into Sam’s heart. Well acted, well written and directed with the moody black & white photography used to the best affect, it’s so good that I can’t recommend it enough.

2. DOUBLE INDEMNITY-1945

I have spoken about this film before and was going to choose other film but, it’s Barbara Stanwyck. She should have won the Oscar for her deft portrayal of one nasty femme fatale who wants her old geezer husband to die so she can collect the insurance policy. Enter Fred MacMurray, a hard edged, insurance agent whose head goes “BOING!” as soon as he sees the ankle bracelet on the shapely leg of  Phyllis (Stanwyck) who moves around her prey like a cat with a mouse. They soon hatch a plan to collect double the money based on the indemnity clause that he “sells” to her unsuspecting spouse. While they enjoy being slutty, his boss and friend Edward G. Robinson, suspects this insurance to be one nasty piece of work. From her severe blond wig to MacMurray’s sly talk, it’s another must see gem with top notch performances, direction and cinematography that is a killer.

3. DETOUR-1945

I just watched this Film Noir “B” film that stars Tom Neal as a hapless pianist working in bars when he should be with. Symphony orchestra. He has a good thing going with a sweet gal with a pretty voice but she’s fed up and decides to head to Hollywood hoping to make it big. He decides to go across country to meet with her but he has no money so he hitchhikes, he is soon picked up by a man in a caddy and they start talking and get along well. When it starts to rain, Tom pulls over to put the top up while the owner of the car appears asleep. He keeps  nudging him to help but the man doesn’t move. When he opens the passenger’s door, the man falls out and drops out hitting his head on a rock. So what does the dumb oaf do? He freaks and drags the man out and buries him but not before taking his money and his car. When he pulls over to put gas in the car, he sees a young girl hitching and offers to drive her. Well, what a bad move that is because, before he met the dead man, the dead man picked up a hitch hiker who scratched his face…who’s that nasty girl? Yup, the one Tom picked up is the nasty gal with the nails. This gal is on to Tom and blackmails him. Tom is not the brightest piece of wood and lets her wreathe her plan in her irritating voice that’s perfect for her role. It’s a really good film with some fun acting especially the nasty Ann Savage. 

Tom Neal is pretty damn good as the hapless oaf who, in reality was a real a hole who was involved in a big scandal involving, Barbara Payton( a B style actress) and her fiancé, Franchot Tone ( a really good actor who should be known more). Barbara was seeing both of them culminating in a fistfight between Neal and Tone. Unfortunately, for Tone, Neal was a boxer and smashed Tom’s skull creating major surgery due to head trauma. Neal and Payton did not work out ( big surprise) and Tom Neal remarried. She was found with a bullet in the back of her head and Neal was up for murder but, he was charged with involuntary manslaughter. Once he was out of prison, he lived only. Few months later before dying of a heart attack.

So what Femme Fatale caught your fancy?