Out of the Past: Adventures in Film Noir [Paperback]

Barry Gifford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 8, 2000

For both the film buff and the general moviegoer a handbook that unlocks the secrets of a hundred noir movies

"Gifford knows his noir. The essays are better than some of the films he writes about." - Elmore Leonard

For a tour of noir cinema this handbook is the perfect companion and Barry Gifford is an ideal guide. His choice selection of films exposes the menacing, moody, and oftentimes violent underbelly of this dark movie genre that occupies a favorite niche in American popular culture.

Some are classics, some are little known and seldom seen, but all, once viewed, are deeply remembered by aficionados of noir. Gifford's roll call of unforgettables includes these, and more: The Asphalt Jungle, Body and Soul, Body Heat, Charley Varrick, Chinatown, The Devil Thumbs a Ride, D.O.A., Double Indemnity, High Sierra, Key Largo, Kiss of Death, Mean Streets, Mildred Pierce, Mr. Majestyk, Out of the Past, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Strangers on a Train, White Heat, along with several noir classics from Europe -- Repulsion, The Hidden Room, Shoot the Piano Player, The 400 Blows, Odd Man Out.

Gifford identifies the directors and names the many noir stars, the greats and not-so-greats who were cast in the indelible roles of hoods, B-girls, psychopaths, grifters, gumshoes, waifs, tarts, femme fatales, mobsters, molls, and ex-cons.

In an introduction novelists Edward Gorman and Dow Mossman applaud Gifford's selections and his insights: "The movies discussed here range from the lowest of the B's to the biggest of the A's, and this book is going to make you want to run out and locate every one of them (and good luck to you; finding The Devil Thumbs a Ride could take you a lifetime). Through Barry Gifford's eyes we begin to see their similarities and their value. What Andrew Sarris did for the mainstream film in The American Cinema, Barry does here for the crime film."

With a connoisseur's insight and an offbeat sensitivity perfectly tailored to his subjects, Gifford's brief essays cover a hundred of the noir buff's favorites. His highly polished impressions take the reader through five decades of noir to find both the heart and the art of the plotline.

Barry Gifford is a poet, novelist, and playwright. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Among his books is Hotel Room Trilogy (University Press of Mississippi).

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For both the film buff and the general moviegoer, a handbook that unlocks the secrets of a hundred noir movies

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi; Revised edition (December 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157806290X
• ISBN-13: 978-1578062904
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #920,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Punchy Prose to Motivate any Film Buff, May 25, 2001

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Out of the Past: Adventures in Film Noir (Paperback)

Novelist, playwright, essayist, and screenwriter (Lost Highway) Gifford here presents a newly titled edition of his 1988 book The Devil Thumbs A Ride. The book is a guide to approximately 120 films "about corruption and crime," which, if not exactly noir, are at least noirish in their bleak and melancholy outlook. These range from 1933's The Island of Lost Souls to 1988's House of Games, although the majority of the films are from the '40s-'50s. That particularly rich period of the early '70s is also well-covered, with essays on Badlands, Chinatown, The Getaway, Get Carter, and Mean Streets. The chief joy, and distinguishing feature, of this book is that Gifford writes about each movie with the enthusiasm and expertise of a real fan and the crisp prose of an accomplished writer. Rarely does he indulge in the obvious observation or criticism, rather he's at his best when he gives it to the reader straight, capturing the tone of the film in a punchy paragraph. He'll also motivate you to take a second look at apparent junk (Elvis' 1958 King Creole is the best example) with a new perspective, and rent forgotten or overlooked gems like 1978's Straight Time, and 1980's Tom Horn. Each entry gives you an incentive to watch the movie, although be forewarned--he does tend to give the entire plot. Sometimes the essays focus on the careers and roles of leading and supporting actors rather than the film itself, subjects Gifford makes as compelling as the actual films. The one pity is that this new edition doesn't include any films released since its original publication (films like One False Move, Reservoir Dogs, and The Limey come to mind, as well as recent remakes of classics like The Getaway and Cape Fear). Gifford does toss in a few British and French films to make things a little more inclusive, but it would be nice to see him move further afield with something like Kurosawa's 1949 film, Stray Dog or even Chungking Express. But this is perhaps more a case of being greedy than an actual criticism of what is there.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Criticism The Way It Should Be Done, February 20, 2001

By 

R. W. Rasband (Heber City, UT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Out of the Past: Adventures in Film Noir (Paperback)

This is a reprint of Gifford's 1988 book The Devil Thumbs a Ride and Other Unforgettable Movies. There's a new entry on Mamet's "House of Games" and the author has removed his review of David Lynch's "Blue Velvet", possibly because of his subsequent collaborations with the director on "Wild at Heart" and "Lost Highway." Gifford writes pithy, enthusiastic reviews of over 100 noir movies, and he makes you want to see every one. There's no pedantry or showing-off here; just witty, informed opinions that really matter. He's also a real writer (of poetry and fiction), not just a critic, so each short essay can be just as entertaining as watching the movie itself. Film buffs should order this immediately.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique approach to film noir critiques, April 29, 2002

By 

LGwriter "SharpWitGuy" (Astoria, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Out of the Past: Adventures in Film Noir (Paperback)

Gifford is multi-talented, having published poetry, fiction (both short and novel-length) and non-fiction, as well as collaborating on screenplays based on two of his novels (Wild at Heart and Perdita Durango, aka Dance with the Devil) and on a screenplay based on a play he wrote (Hotel Room).

He's a noir kinda guy in pretty much all his writing and here he dives into over 100 films with short (i.e., about two pages max) writeups of some of his favorite movies, some of which are typically film noir and some of which are not. For example, you wouldn't usually call Island of Lost Souls, 1933 with Charles Laughton, film noir, but Gifford here is driving home his perspective which deals with the dark side of the cinema--those films that deal with corruption and desperation in all their manifestations.

Probably the most valuable aspect of this book is that you find out something about films that very few other reviewers write about. The original title of this book (this is a revised version, published in 2000) was called The Devil Thumbs a Ride and Gifford here supplies some pretty trenchant comments about that film (with one of the most evil characters in film noir ever, done up right by ultra tough guy Lawrence Tierney) and other obscure yet important works in the genre.

Cul-de-Sac by Polanski is included--hard to find, but definitely one of the director's better films. The Mean Season (which I found weak) is included. Shack Out on 101 (has anyone actually seen this film?) is included. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. You get the idea.

Gifford obviously does not confine himself to suspense/mystery, but embraces films in all genres and lets fly with some strong opinions about all of them. You may not agree with everything he says (I sure don't!) but what he has to say is intriguing and definitely worth a look.