Out of the Past (1947)

On every level it is the ultimate noir movie. I am a lifelong fan.

This movie is an ideal launching pad into the "noir" genre. No need to bore folks with the necessary elements of film noir, simply watch and enjoy. My only issue with the film is a slight confusion, possibly a continuity issue. When jeff travels to SF to acquire the tax records, I found some confusion in the death location of Eels. Jeff and Meta visit Ells and leave. They go to a new location, Meta gets out, Jeff stays behind and stakes it out. Eventually Eels body is discovered in the building by Jeff BUT they had left him at the previous location. How did Eels get from his residence to the Mason building? Am I missing something? Otherwise, a brilliant film.

Copyright 25 November 1947 by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Palace: 25 November 1947. U.S. release: 13 November 1947. U.K. release: 26 January 1948. Australian release: 27 May 1948. Length: 8,852 feet. 98 minutes.U.K. release title: Build My Gallows High.SYNOPSIS: In the little town of Bridgeport, California, Jeff Bailey runs a gas station with the assistance of a mute boy, Jimmy, and courts Ann. Joe Stefanos drives into town and informs Jeff that Whit Sterling, a racketeer, wants to see him. Jeff relates his life's story to Ann as they drive to Sterling's Lake Tahoe mansion. As a private detective named Jeff Markham, he was hired to find Sterling's mistress, Kathie Moffett, who had shot Sterling and escaped with $40,000. NOTES: Dick Powell was announced to star in "Build My Gallows High" after completing "Johnny O'Clock".Locations: Reno, Nevada; Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Los Angeles, California; Mexico City, Acapulco, Mexico.COMMENT: A suspenseful, if somewhat complicated detective thriller, scripted by Daniel Mainwaring from his own novel "Build My Gallows High". The dialogue is laconically witty and Jacques Tourneur's direction builds up atmosphere and suspense with praiseworthy agility. Photography (Nicholas Musuraca) and art direction (Albert S. D'Agostino, Jack Okey) are further plus factors, and performances are most capable. In short, a superior thriller.OTHER VIEWS: I wrote the first draft and then went on to something else. Producer Warren Duff put Frank Fenton, and then James M. Cain on it, and Cain threw away my script and wrote a completely new one. They paid him twenty or thirty thousand and it had nothing to do with my novel or anything. He took it out of the country and set the whole thing in the city. Duff didn't like it and called me back, and I made some changes and did the final. That's the way things used to work. As for Dore Schary, he didn't like anything that was in progress at the studio when he was appointed chief of production. He tried to get rid of them all. He just threw them out without any decent publicity. – Daniel Mainwaring. Bob (Mitchum) is a marvelous actor and was so considerate of me. I am very fond of him. On the other hand, Kirk is a more physical actor. He bruised my arms grabbing me, and my face was roundly slapped. How he did Champion without maiming his partner is a miracle. – Jane Greer.AVAILABLE on a superb Warner's DVD.

Out of the Past is as film noir as it gets. It's story is dark, told with the help of plenty of flashbacks, betrayals happen left and right, we've got a femme fatale to lead the main man astray, and lots of death. The story is one of deceit, and it's a good one at that. Robert Mitchum's Jeff Bailey, Jane Greer's Kathie Moffat and Kirk Douglas' Whit Sterling are a fantastic trio here. Jeff is a likable lead and Kathie is the aforementioned femme fatale seductress. The story centers around them for the most part, occasionally going back to the present with Jeff and his current girlfriend. Something I really enjoyed from this film was how deep the stories were in both the past and present segments. Typically with these noir films you get a lengthy trip to the past with a less than substantial present segment that's usually there as a set up for the past story to be told. But here you get a good mix of both, with the past taking up the beginning of the film and the present drama taking up the latter half. Of course, the film doesn't really end well for anybody, but I applaud it for sticking to its dark tone. Whit Sterling doesn't appear very often, but when he does he steals the show. He has a great presence about him and his inclusion in the film makes sense (he's usually the one setting anything in motion). I also enjoyed the conclusion with Anne, where The Kid lies to her saying that Jeff had been planning to leave with Kathie the whole time. It's a nice end for the character and it makes The Kid; who definitely has his share of moments throughout the film, feel a little more fleshed out and complex. The cinematography here is also great. Shadows fill scenes and you feel their presence in almost every frame. Cuts are clean and keep up with continuity from previous shots, although I did notice some minor adjustments here and there for one scene, but it wasn't bad. As I said in the beginning, Out of the Past is a pure noir film. It follows practically every trope in the genre, but it handles them extremely well and tells an interesting story that doesn't get stale. It's characters are fleshed out and believable, and every death is meaningful. Definitely worth your time.