Notes From Noir City 2010:
Marilyn Monroe Film Noir
Double Bill
Marilyn Monroe film noir was the theme for Sunday night's double bill, though it was only a bit part in the first one.The Asphalt Jungle (1950), is a true gem, directed by John Huston. The film has one intensely dramatic scene after another. The characterizations and inter-dynamics amongst them are brilliant. Plus, the film noir scenery is gorgeous, and I would enjoy watching this film even with no soundtrack. Though it's a story about a big, intricately planned jewel heist gone amuck, it has a sweet side story between ruffian Dix Handley (Sterling Hayden) and the mentally unstable Doll (Jean Hagen) and their strange interdependence. As an odd side note, Doc, the mastermind of the heist (Sam Jaffe), and Emmerich (Louis Calhern), the double crossing financier of the heist, both have a weakness for very young women, which contributes to each's undoing. For anyone who strives to direct films, this one bears repeated viewing.
Niagra (1953) is Marilyn Monroe film noir in Technicolor. Set at a little motel overlooking Niagra Falls, the waterfalls themselves permeate nearly every scene until by film's end, you feel like you need to towel off.Rose Loomis (Marilyn Monroe) is the scene stopping femme fatale who is making her much older husband, George Loomis (Joseph Cotton) utterly miserable. And boy does he look terrible, his entire body showing his mental torture. I think there's one scene where he actually smiles, presumably after a little lovemaking with his cheating wife, and it's almost heartbreaking how foolishly happy and unrecognizable he looks, if only for a fleeting moment. Polly (Jean Peters) is the young woman who gets sucked into the couple's maelstrom and then desperately tries to scramble out again. The film is almost over the top with the constantly plunging falls, Marilyn's swiveling hips, and Polly's overly boisterous husband and his overly boisterous boss. Two of my favorite scenes involve the soundtrack: the squish squash of George's wet shoes, which belonged to Rose's dead lover, as he appears hiding in the bushes. The other is the sound of the church bells playing "Kiss Me", rife with double meaning for the two timing and doomed Rose.
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