Film noir from the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s is maybe my favorite movie genre, or at least it’s my favorite genre tonight. If noir is new to you, here’s a very brief introduction:
Noir means black, in French. “Film noir” was (usually) filmed in black-and-white with ample shadows and minimal budget, and deals in ‘dark’ themes — the corruption of ordinary people.
It’s the ‘ordinary’ aspect that appeals to me. Instead of good or evil, naïve or cynical, brave or coward, characters in noir tend to have shades of grey, like you and I — so even in their quaint world without computers and cell phones, the people seem real.
In tonight’s movie, for example, the good guy has some bad in his past, and the bad guy has some genuine good. Furthering the feel of reality, we also see at least three cops breaking the law, which isn’t mentioned in the dialogue. Like real life, it simply goes without saying.
Kansas City Confidential (1952) opens with Jack Elam and Lee Van Cleef being recruited to join a masked gangster who’s planning a million-dollar robbery. They wear masks not only during the crime, but also while planning the heist and making their escape.
The mysterious masked mastermind explains what’s up with the masks:
“It’s a pat hand only because nobody can rat on you. You can’t even rat on each other, because you’ve never seen each other without those
masks. I’ve made you cop-proof and stool pigeon-proof, and it’s going to stay that way.”
After the robbery, we meet John Payne, an ex-con who’s suspected of being one of the bad guys. He’s arrested, beaten by the cops, smeared in the media, and fired from his job, and he’s understandably getting grumpy about all this.
“I know a sure cure for a nosebleed — a cold knife in the middle of the back.”
Here’s a warning, if you’re new to old movies: They’re a memento from a different era, so you’ll sometimes see flashes of racism, sexism, and an ‘absenteeism’ — often there are no black or otherwise ethnic characters, even in the background.
Much of Kansas City Confidential, despite the title, takes place in Mexico, but it wasn’t actually filmed there, so the movie’s Mexicans look like what they are — white guys with a dab of greasepaint and a fake accent. One of them sings “La Cucaracha.”
7/2/2020
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