FILM NOIR: THE ACTOR: VILLAINS AND VICTIMS

Many actors of the Thirties and the War years underwent major alterations in their screen personae in order to fit the new fashion (no more heroic padding in the shoulders of men's jackets); and younger actors who became permanent fixtures of the cycle were forever rooted in this cinema netherw...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inFilm comment Vol. 10; no. 6; p. 27
Main Author Cohen, Mitchell S
Format Magazine Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Film at Lincoln Center, Inc 01.11.1974
Subjects
Actors
Endangered & extinct species
Film noir
Genre
Heroism & heroes
Motion pictures
Murders & murder attempts
Prose
War
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Many actors of the Thirties and the War years underwent major alterations in their screen personae in order to fit the new fashion (no more heroic padding in the shoulders of men's jackets); and younger actors who became permanent fixtures of the cycle were forever rooted in this cinema netherworld by the force of their presence in it. To moviegoers accustomed to seeing Dick Powell crooning to Ruby Keeler in Busby Berkeley musicals, it must have been startling to see him as Marlowe in MURDER MY SWEET: his pretty-boy face grizzled under a perpetual five o'clock shadow, his colorless voice-over narration suiting the stripped-down nature of Chandler's prose.
ISSN:0015-119X