The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

Oscar Noir: 1940s Writing Nominees from Hollywood's Dark Side

Week 1: The Maltese Falcon

Monday, May 10, 2010

One of the cool things about living in L.A. is that there are a lot of opportunities to see tributes to the film industry.  This year, AMPAS is celebrating the Oscar writing nominees that fall into the category of Film Noir.  I've been interested in watching different movies that are the genre of Film Noir, but never actually sat down to do so, so I was excited enough about this event to get a series pass, which allows me to see all 15 weeks of the event.  At $5.00 per evening, which is quite a deal already, it's a great price, and I get to see the movies on a bigger screen than my home TV.  My thoughts will all be from the point of view of someone's first viewing, as I haven't seen any of the films on the list.  

Each week has a short and a cartoon before the movie.  During the previews, we saw that we would get to see an episode of "Captain Marvel" every week, starting next week.  Cool!  Sadly, I think that I will have only seen the cartoons before the nights that they're shown.  Such is my TV addict life. :)

Short:  "How to Be a Detective" (1936) starring Robert Benchley

Robert Benchley talks about how to be a good detective, then promptly shows how much he sucks at it.  You gotta love old-fashioned humor.

Cartoon:  "How to Be a Detective" (1952) starring Goofy

It's Goofy, hello!  Those darn weasels.

Main Feature: "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) written and directed by John Huston.

• The book "The Maltese Falcon" was written by Dashiell Hammett, and since Mr. Hammett is no longer alive, the Academy invited his family to be there, including his granddaughter.  
• The movie was introduced by Lawrence Kasdan, famed writer of "The Empire Strikes Back", "Return of the Jedi", "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Silverado".  
• Mr. Kasdan said that he had seen the movie over 25 times, and each time notices something new.  He talked about some of his favorite lines in the movie, but I didn't know any of them yet.  Perhaps I would have been more interested had I already watched the film, because I found myself wishing Mr. Kasdan would stop talking about the film and show it already. To be fair, though, I think that I was tired and didn't want to fall asleep next to the guy with the not-so-fresh breath, for fear that I'd wake up with him breathing on my face.
• Not surprisingly, this evening was sold out.  There was a long line outside with people wanting to buy tickets.  Why wouldn't it be, though?  This is probably the most famous of all of the genre.
• Bogart at his best.  Loved him, loved Sam Spade.
• I can see why this film was nominated for its writing.  The dialogue was quick-paced and witty, and there were a few twists in the plot.
• Mary Astor was also fun as the not-very-truthful femme fatale, Brigid O'Shaughnessy.  I am glad that Mr. Kasdan talked about the script a bit, so that I could understand a bit of what was going on.  People were laughing so much that I don't think that I heard everything they said, but at least I kinda knew what was going to be stated.
• Peter Lorre was fantastic as Joel Cairo.  I loved his character, and he had me giggling with almost every word he said.
• Sydney Greenstreet was great as The Fat Man, whose last name was Gutman.  ;)  I liked his very hearty laugh.
• I waited this long to see this movie why?!  I want to see that again!

I left before the panel discussion regarding the Film Noir genre because I was tired and it was late.  In the lobby, various works of art were on display for the Chuck Jones exhibit, which is set to open this Friday.  The framed items still had post-it notes stuck to them with the titles, probably so that they'd know where all of the descriptions would be placed.  Sketches included such cartoons as "Feed The Kitty" and "Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century", and "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi".  I love Chuck Jones.  I'm looking forward to seeing the full exhibit next week when I'm there.  They also had The Maltese Falcon prop and script on display, as well as the posters for some of the films that will be shown in the series.  Unfortunately, photography of the exhibits is not allowed, or you'd be seeing a lot of pictures here right now. :)

Next Up:  "Shadow of a Doubt"