November 18th: OUT OF THE PAST (Jacques Tourneur, 1947)

A private eye is hired by a gangster to locate the missing girlfriend who betrayed him.

Born in France but raised in the United States, Jacques Tourneur made his name directing low budget, atmospheric horror films for producer Val Lewton at RKO Studios, with two hugely influential works in Cat People and I Walked With A Zombie. His success graduated him to "A" pictures with and bigger stars like Gregory Peck. Hedy Lamaar, and Dana Andrews.

Screenwriter Daniel Mainwaring (Invasion Of The Body Snatchers) adapted his own book Build My Gallows High, a script which was subsequently rewritten by other writers, including prominent crime novelist James M. Cain (Double Indemnity).

The lead role was passed on by such names as Humphrey Bogart and John Garfield, before being given to Robert Mitchum, who had until this point appeared mainly in western and war films. Also in the cast is Kirk Douglas (like Mitchum, on the brink of stardom), and in the memorable femme fatale role, Jane Greer.

The film was shot all over California including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Lake Tahoe, the Sierra Nevada mountains. Additional work was done in Reno, Acapulco, and New York City. Behind the camera was cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca (a previous Tourneur collaborator), master of shadow and one of the key figures in creating the look of film noir. The musical score was composed by Roy Webb (Cat People, Hitchcock's Notorious).

Out Of The Past notably deviates from the film noir template in how many of its scenes do not take place in the typical gritty urban environment at night, but instead in a small town, a lake retreat, coastal Mexico, etc. Regardless, its bleak worldview, morally compromised characters, copious amounts of cigarette smoke and labyrinthine plotting are all hallmarks of the genre.

Released to good reviews, the film was a moderate success. It is regarded as one of the pinnacles not just of noir, but of all films in the 1940s. In 1991 is was selected by the Library Of Congress for preservation. A remake titled Against All Odds was made in 1984 with Jeff Bridges and James Woods.

Running time is approx. 90 minutes.