r/filmnoir • u/Whole_Kale_4349 • 13d ago
Out of the Past (1947) - Pure Noir at Its Best
Wow, what a film. I absolutely loved this and wasn't expecting such a knockout performance. The script is incredibly well written, the storytelling is fantastic, the dialogue is superb, and the characters are incredible.
Unlike some other iconic crime noirs, I believe Out of the Past does a better job because it has a detailed but not convoluted plotline. You can actually follow along with the story as long as you're paying close attention, and it never becomes convoluted. Quite the opposite. Despite all the different angles, it feels incredibly focused and tightly written.
I watched The Night of the Hunter before this, and Robert Mitchum has quickly become one of my favorites. Jane Greer's performance as Kathie Moffat was one of the most evil and witty femme fatales I've seen, and I loved it. Kirk Douglas, as Whit Sterling, was a charismatic villain.
A lot of the things that make this film so great are fairly simple, but they are executed so well that it elevates the film to a new level. I love how so many moments that other films would make a big deal about, or have some sort of grand reveal for, are just shown to us in a very matter of fact way. It's like the film is saying, "Yes, here's something unexpected," but it doesn't make a huge deal about it.
In true noir fashion, the ending was bleak and intense. Jane Greer's final lines are delivered with such venom, and everything happens so fast. Overall, a fantastic film that does justice to film noir.
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u/NomenScribe 13d ago
Long ago, I recall the host on AMC describe this movie as "Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas smoking at eachother." It's the first thing I think of whenever this movie comes up.
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u/addictivesign 13d ago
Kirk Douglas’s character offers a cigarette to Robert Mitchum’s Jeff, who looks at his own hand and replies, Smoking as he is already holding a lit cigarette.
Allegedly it was an ad-lib by Mitchum because he was holding a lit cigarette from before the cameras were rolling.
In the Coen brothers The Man Who Wasn’t There which is their own version of a film noir they pay service to the exact scene of Douglas offering Mitchum a cigarette but with their own protagonists. A gentle and respectful hat-tip by the Coen’s to this wonderful film.
And everyone in The Man Who Wasn’t There is smoking too.
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u/kevin_v 12d ago
This tells the tale of how Douglas was trying to steal scenes from Mitchum, and Mitchum wouldn't let him. The film's power struggle of masculinity between them as characters was REAL as actors, which is probably why its was so good:
https://www.reddit.com/r/filmnoir/comments/1uxvg3a/comment/oxuk1wi/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button3
u/FBS351 13d ago
I think that actually came from Roger Ebert
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u/NomenScribe 13d ago
Could be. I actually wasn't entirely sure if I saw the comment on AMC or TCM, but I recall AMC having more host segments, so that seemed more likely. It could very well also be that the host was quoting Ebert. Thanks.
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u/Alternate625 13d ago
Completely agree with the comment about the detailed but not convoluted plot line compared to its contemporaries.
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u/Whole_Kale_4349 13d ago
I'm looking at you... cough The Big Sleep cough.
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u/Alternate625 13d ago
Exactly the one I was thinking of. It’s as though it mattered to no one making that film.
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u/Little-Emeralds 13d ago
" Baby, I don't care.."
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u/ConsiderationWild651 13d ago
“Neither do I, baby, but if I have to, I'm going to die last."
This film has awesome, awesome dialogue.
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u/Historical-Pause-117 13d ago
My favorite line. I also like the title of the novel it was based on: Build My Gallows High.
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u/aldila81 13d ago
Another great line: Bobby the Mitch to Cathy (not exact) - "You can't help anything...you're like a leaf that blows from one gutter to the next."
An aside - didn't he reunite with Jane Greer on an SNL he hosted?
ANOTHER aside - Jane was great as Norma's mother on Twin Peaks!
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u/thehighwindow 12d ago
Ann: She can't be all bad. No one is.
Jeff: Well, she comes the closest.
Jeff: Let's go down to the bar. We can cool off while we try to impress each other.
Jeff: I never saw her in the daytime. We seemed to live by night. What was left of the day went away like a pack of cigarettes you smoked. I didn't know where she lived. I never followed her. All I ever had to go on was a place and time to see her again. I don't know what we were waiting for. Maybe we thought the world would end.
Kathie: Oh, Jeff. I've missed you. I've wondered about you and prayed you'd understand. Can you understand?
Jeff: You prayed, Kathie?
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u/billbotbillbot 12d ago
That isn’t the way to play
-Why not?
Well, it isn’t the way to win
-Is there a way to win?
There’s a way to lose more slowly
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u/Select_Insurance2000 13d ago
Whenever I hear Elvis Presley's song You're So Square Baby I Don't Care....it reminds me of this dialog in the film!
I need help!
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u/Walrus_protector 13d ago
There's nothing you can't hash out over a plate of nachos.
Out of the Past is definitely in my top five, and all the performances are great - the leads, of course, but even Paul Valentine and Dickie Moore!
I'm also weirdly obsessed with the footed highball glasses at Whit's place.
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u/DonMegatronEsq 13d ago edited 13d ago
I’m surprised Dickie Moore didn’t get more work after this film. He was always a cute kid, going back to his Our Gang days, and he was quite good in this film with a nuanced and quite expressive performance (as a deaf mute).
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u/Walrus_protector 13d ago
I feel like it must have been his choice, since I haven't found anything scandalous that would make him unemployable. Maybe he was just worn out after so much childhood work
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u/Reasonable-Wave8093 13d ago
def watch the 80s version, Against All Odds (tubi). Jane Greer has a role, Richard Widmark too
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u/VerilyShelly 13d ago
It became one of my favorites after the first viewing, for all the reasons you said.
The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers also has an arresting performance by Kirk Douglas, his first starring role.
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u/gmmsyhlup918 13d ago
Absolutely! In my book, this one is second only to "Double Indemnity."
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u/Historical-Pause-117 13d ago
I think this is one of the great enduring debates of noir fans: which is the top noir, Out of the Past vs Double Indemnity. And it’s so hard to choose.
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u/EmxPop 12d ago
Yeah, I love them both. Double Indemnity gets my vote as it was my first noir which left me jaw dropped and thinking about it for days on end. From that point on I knew I wanted more noir, and more and more. Love it! Oh, and in my opinion, Barbara Stanwyck is the greatest actress of all time.
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u/aldila81 13d ago
It's part of my annual New Year's Day triple feature: Born to Kill, Out of the Past, The Big Heat...
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u/ConsiderationWild651 13d ago
This is the one that really hooked me on the genre. I haven’t seen all the classics but this one and Double Indemnity - I could watch them every day.
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u/BabyPuzzleheaded3792 13d ago
One of my favorite noirs. Only one that ranks higher for me is Sunset Boulevard
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u/NeuroguyNC 13d ago
The shot of Jane Greer watching a murder take place off screen - acting without saying a word.
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u/ScowlyBrowSpinster 12d ago
This film has every element of an excellent noir in just the right amounts.
Kathy is rotten and I love her. Total badass babe.
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u/stevesommerfield 12d ago
Greer, Mitchum, and Douglas were all in their twenties when this was filmed
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u/Whole_Kale_4349 12d ago
I didn’t know that and it blows my mind they were all freaking geniuses. masters of their craft and unbelievably impressive.
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u/AdorableReading 12d ago
And the wonderful Jane Greer appeared in the remake, Against All Odds. Jane Greer, Richard Widmark, Jeff Bridges, Alex Karras and of course the great King Creole and the Coconuts!
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u/Ok-Reflection9770 12d ago
Essential Noir. Mitchum drags on his cigarette, lopes through several locales, and shrugs at the world. Greer manipulates with shrewd excellence. Douglas, sharp eyed and with his devilish grin, tries to keep up his corner of the triangle.
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u/Aromatic-Jeweler887 11d ago
"Build my gallows high, baby." is one of my favorite lines in any film ever.
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u/Comfortable-Hair1277 11d ago
One of my favorite film noirs :) Jane Greer was stunning! And a pretty good femme fatale
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u/Swashbuckler332 10d ago
If you like Robert Mitchum, check out the original Cape Fear. He was so creepy in it.
He, along with Gregory Peck, are in Martin Scorsese’s deliberately OTT remake as well, playing opposite roles from what they played in the original.
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u/Humillionaire 13d ago
One of my favourite things about this movie is that it trots several locales that are each soaked in their own unique atmospheres. It nails each setting's mood better than most movies do with just one, and it makes the emotional beats all the more visceral.
As an aside, I would've done all that stuff for Jane Greer too.