The 1950 Film Noir “Where The Sidewalk Ends” is a reunion of a sorts for classic Noir “Laura” from 1944. Bringing back the pairing of the intense Dana Andrews and gorgeous Gene Tierney alongside that movies director, Otto Preminger. The movie is based on the William L. Stuart novel “Night Cry”. The screenplay is provided by veteran writer and academy award winner Ben Hecht who’s credits include “Underworld” (1927), Scarface (1932) and Hitchcock’s “Spellbound” (1945) and “Notorious” (1946). The movie marks the end of a run of films Preminger made for 20th Century Fox. Often with one or both of the two leads. All three were very comfortable working together at this point. This is a very strong set up, but will that translate to good film? Let’s find out.
The Set Up
Andrews plays “Mark Dixon”, a tough police detective that constantly gets into trouble for his rough treatment of criminals. He is a driven man, whose father was a criminal and this has left him determined to prove he is a better man. One of the criminals he particularly wants to take down was somewhat of a protegee to his father, “Tommy Scalise” (Played by Gary Merrill). He spots the opportunity to do so after a man is murdered at a craps game hosted by Scalise. However, he points the finger at “Ken Paine” (played by Craig Stevens), a man that brought the murdered man to the venue. Dixon doesn’t buy it, but is sent by his boss to investigate Paine.
Dixon confronts Paine, but Paine turns it into a fist fight. After a punch from Dixon, Paine falls hitting his head and dies. Likely this is a result of the steel plate Paine has in his head from a war wound. Fearing the consequences Dixon attempts to cover up the accidental murder, while trying to pin it (and the original murder) on Scalise. However, Paine’s wife “Morgan” (Tierney) , who accompanied him to the craps game and her taxi driver father “Jiggs Taylor” (Played by Tom Tully) are drawn into it, with the evidence pointing to Jiggs as Paine’s killer. It’s down to Dixon to put things right.
Between Two Eras
As a film sitting right in the middle of the Film Noir period it’s no surprise to find the film has elements of both halves. Mixing the gritty hard boiled stories of the 40’s and more experimental and visually polished films of the 50’s. Like many Noirs from both periods though the focus is on one character torn between self interest and doing what is right. A classic dilemma for a movie protagonist, but rarely handled with such intensity as it is in Noir. This movie is an excellent example of doing the trope right. The more Dixon tries to dig himself out of the mess he is in, the worse things become.
The cinematography is worthy of special praise here. Right from the opening scene it is clear we are in a new era of Noir. We start with steps on a rainy sidewalk revealing the movie title. This is followed by shots of the city at night and Dixon riding with his partner to the Police Station. It’s all just the title sequence, but it’s also a mood setter that gets you anticipating the movie to come. The the rest of the film features a fair amount of location shooting that helps enhance it’s visual appeal. The set lighting has the usual Noir use of light and shadows. Here though it is kept relatively subtle so doesn’t detract from the events on screen. The soundtrack meanwhile is a fairly standard affair for the period. Occasionally it dabbles into more experimental territory but then firmly returns to it’s 40’s love theme hook. It works well enough anyway.
I didn’t know a man could hate so much.
Dixon’s character is a bit of a mixed bag, but grows on you over time with the film. Early on he’s a bit over the top in his tough guy cop routine. While he and his boss are grilling Scalise, Dixon is a bit over the top. He’s so desperate to rough up Scalise regardless of having just been demoted for such behavior. That sort of conduct it sets him up as quite hard to sympathise with. However, the accidental killing of Paine was truly not his fault. With everyone being aware of Dixon’s temper, you can understand why he’d resort to covering this up. Even in the face of it all though, he never loses site of his grudge against Scalise. He keeps trying to work the situation to his advantage. It’s only when he realises how similar he has become to the man (And his own father) that he decides to do the right thing.
The film features strong dialogue despite Dixon’s somewhat one dimensional start. The lead, Scalise, Morgan and Jiggs are all interesting characters and unsurprisingly Andrews and Tierney have strong on screen chemistry. On top of that the pacing is very well done and the plot is clever, though the grand finale show down with the gangsters was a little contrived in how it resolved. To be fair, Scalise was never the story, so it’s what happens after that where the film really climaxes. What I like the most about this film is that Dixon is frankly a jerk, but yet I still feel sympathy for him and can tell he has enough good in him to make things right in the end. It’s a very well constructed character and perfect for the genre.
Conclusion
Overall this is a quality Film Noir from a top director in the genre with an excellent cast and great cinematography. At the time it drew comparisons with 1944’s “Laura” (Due to the cast and director) and was found lacking and while I do prefer Laura, I can’t help but feel that was unfair on the movie. Dana Andrews was developing a lot of personal problems around this period (Alcoholism mostly) and becoming very frustrated with the studios, but he seems to have channeled it into one of the best performances of his career. All told I’m going to give this a strong 7/10. On a side note, let’s take a moment to remember that sixteen years later, Otto Preminger would play “Mr Freeze” in the Batman TV series. Mind blown, right?
So while “Noirvember” may be over (Meaning November, the month I traditionally watch and review Film Noir I haven’t seen yet), throughout the month I’ve been feeding amusing prompts to Stable Diffusion (An AI art generator) and it seems appropriate to cap off the month by sharing these. This is basically The Avengers and related Marvel Superheroes re-imagined as if the films were being made around 1950 and done for some unknown reason as a hybrid style with Film Noir. Yes it makes no sense whatsoever, especially as most of these heroes weren’t created until the 1960’s or later, but I thought it was fun. So let’s have a look at the cast.
Humphrey Bogart as Iron Man
Th
This is an obvious choice for me. The truth is Bogart is at 5’8”, actually a bit short for Tony Stark, but it doesn’t really matter since the kind of powerful, confident performances Humphrey put out there pretty much makes people just assume he was tall. Certainly I couldn’t pick anyone else for the role as the genius businessman and inventor turned Superhero alcoholic. Bogart of course is most famous for playing “Sam Spade” in the “Maltese Falcon” (1941) and “Rick Blaine” in “Casablanca” (1942), but appeared in many Noirs likely to be seen on top 10 and top 20 lists including “The Big Sleep” (1946), “Dark Passage” (1947) and “In a Lonely place” (1950). The man is a legend and one of the most famous actors of all time.
Glenn Ford as Captain America
Glenn Ford’s most famous Film Noir roles are “Gilda” (1946) and “The Big Heat” (1953). In both he played edgy determined characters that never gave up or backed down. Seems perfect for Captain America. Ford of course actually does have Superhero pedigree, having played Jonathan Kent in “Superman” (1978) and in that film became the man that gave Superman his moral foundation. Still not convinced? Well he also signed up for military service on three separate occasions, refused promotions offered (he thought) for his fame and not service and was frustrated at being kept out of combat.
Sterling Hayden as Thor
At an impressive 6’5” Sterling Hayden has the perfect frame to play the mighty Thor. His looks are just about right too. Hayden’s has strong Noir pedigree including: “The Asphalt Jungle” (1950) “Crime Wave” (1953), “The Come On” (1956) and most famously Stanley Kubrick’s “The Killing” (1956). Of those I have to admit to only having seen the first and the last, but I’ll get to the others soon enough! Sterling was also in the running for my Captain America, but I figured it wouldn’t make sense to cast someone as Cap in 1950 that had been a member of the Communist party (Albeit briefly).
Rita Hayworth as Black Widow
Naturally hair colour isn’t that obvious when it comes to black and white, but there are still a few actresses from the genre famous for their red hair and I wanted one of them for Black Widow. Lucille Ball dabbled in Film Noir with 1946’s “The Dark Corner” (1946), but as great as she is there really is only one actress that for the role, Gilda herself, Rita Hayworth. You can see the AI decided to give her red hair in one of the picture regardless of being in black and white and it looks great. Along with “Gilda” (1946) she was also in the Orson Welles’ classic “The Lady from Shanghai” (1947) and “Affair in Trinidad” (1952). If you don’t like the choice, put the blame on mame.
Edward G. Robinson as The Incredible Hulk
I wanted Edward G to factor in somewhere along the line and I thought it’d a fun choice for the Hulk so here we are. Although more famous for his gangster movies of the 1930’s (Especially “Little Caesar” (1931)), Robinson appeared in quite a few Film Noirs, including one of my personal favourites “Scarlett Street” (1945). He also appeared opposite Orson Welles in “The Stranger” (1956) and had a supporting role in one of the most famous Noirs of all time (Indeed number one on many lists), “Double Indemnity” (1944). Robinson often plays intelligent vulnerable men with a dark burden and aggressive angry men out to prove themselves. Works pretty well in the role for me
Dana Andrews as Hawkeye
Dana’s most famous Noir is “Laura” (1944), but he appeared in several including “Fallen Angel” (1945) and “Where the Sidewalk Ends” (1950). On top of that he was the protagonist in the Horror classic “Night of the Demon” (1957) and played Lt. Ted Stryker in the movie “Zero Hour!” (1957), a mostly forgotten movie outside the fact it was remade into a comedy in 1980, that comedy would be called “Airplane!”. Yes, he was the original Stryker. Andrews definitely deserves a spot on the team. Hawkeye is as good as any.
James Cagney as Nick Fury
Art AI’s can’t do eyepatches to save their uh… programming. But anyway when casting Nick Fury (The original Nick Fury, not the “Ultimate” version, who was basically always Sam Jackson even before the movies), I wanted a veteran that would be a bit older than the rest of the cast and play the elder statesman. Cagney is perfect. Not only is he one of the greatest on screen badasses in movie history he managed to find his way into a couple of Film Noirs late in his career. The fantastic “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” (1950) and the absolute classic “White Heat” (1949). It’s a shame the AI couldn’t do the picture any better, but you try getting one to draw an eye patch on someone!
Harry Belafonte as Falcon
The truth is there isn’t a huge amount of choice for black Film Noir stars, but there are a couple of really good ones . The first is Harry Belafonte, primarily a musician but also a pretty good actor. He starred in and produced the Film Noir classic “Odds Against Tomorrow” (1959) and the often overlooked post apocalyptic drama “The World, the Flesh and the Devil” (1959). Outside of his music and acting careers Belafonte was an important member of the civil rights movement, making him the perfect person for Falcon. I have no idea why the AI drew a rocket ship on that last picture, but I still like the picture.
Lauren Bacall as The Scarlet Witch
I decided not to go with a natural red head for Scarlet Witch as I really wanted to get a role for Lauren Bacall and I figured she’d look good dressed as Wanda. The AI generated pictures seem to agree so I feel it was a good move. Lauren of course is most famous for her work with Humphrey Bogart (So I should probably have cast her as Pepper Potts, but I needed a Wanda), including the classics “To Have and to Have Not” (1944), “The Big Sleep” (1946) and “Dark Passage” (1947).
Orson Welles as THANOS
Could it be anybody else? Orson Welles is perhaps the ultimate movie villain actor. This is why when casting the voice of “Unicron” in “Transformers the Movie” (1986) there was only ever one choice. But his villains in Film Noir include “Professor Charles Rankin” in “The Stranger” (1946), the legendary “Harry Lime” in “The Third Man” (1949) and “Captain Hank Quinlan” in “Touch of Evil” (1958). Three of the most memorable villains in the genre. So Naturally only he could be Thanos and it helps that he sort of has the right look for the character too. These pictures sort of show degrees of morph between Thanos and Welles but they all look cool.
Sidney Poitier as Black Panther
This is another obvious one. cis a legend whose most famous film is the neo-noir “In the Heat of the Night” from 1967. However, he was actually in a couple of proper Film Noirs (i.e. ones between 1940-1959) too, ” No Way Out” (1950) and “Edge of the City” (1957). While not the first black actor in Hollywood to lead a mainstream movie (That would be Sam Lucas way back in 1914) he was arguably the first to become a true movie star. For decades he was the symbol of what could be achieved by a talented and determined black actor and he inspired generations of actors that followed in his footsteps. Oh and he wasn’t just dealing with racial prejudice, in an era ruled by musicals he couldn’t sing due to being tone deaf.
Barbara Stanwyck as The Wasp
You can’t do Film Noir casting without having Barbara Stanwyck involved somewhere. I haven’t actually cast Ant Man (Maybe if I do a part two some time), but back in the 80’s when I was regularly reading Marvel comics I preferred The Wasp anyway. Barbara is most famous for being the most famous of all femme fatale in “Double Indemnity” (1944), but she has appeared in a large number of Film Noirs including: “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” (1946), “The Two Mrs. Carrolls” (1947), “Sorry, Wrong Number” (1948), “The File on Thelma Jordon” (1949), “Clash by Night” (1952) and “Witness to Murder” (1954). If there is a Queen of Noir it is Barbara Stanwyck. I think part of what made her so great was her ability to play broken and flawed women and if you know the comics, you know that does somewhat resemble The Wasp.
Robert Mitchum as Doctor Strange
Another actor that I simply had to include is Robert Mitchum, but it helped that he actually looks perfect for the part of Doctor Strange. At 6’1” he is no Asgardian but tall enough to look imposing and Mitchum’s intense features and world weary eyes really make me thinks of the Sorcerer Supreme (Which will always be Doctor Strange as far as I’m concerned). Mitchum’s biggest Noir roles are “Out of the Past” (1947) and “Night of the Hunter” (1955), but he appeared in a huge number including: “Crossfire” (1947), The Big Steal (1949), Where Danger Lives (1950), The Racket (1951), Macao (1952) and Angel Face (1952). He also took on the mantle of Phillip Marlowe in the 1970’s with “Farwell My Lovely” (1975) and “The Big Sleep” (1978).
Peter Lorre as Loki
Peter Lorre is another legendary Film Noir actor and I couldn’t help but feel he would actually be perfect as Loki (At least if you ignore that he is 5’3”). If anyone was born to play a trickster god it is probably Lorre. The AI seemed to agree because it did a great job with him. Peter’s first villainous role of note was in a sort of Proto-Noir, the Fritz Lang masterpiece “M” (1931), but he went on to appear in what many consider the first official Noir “Stranger on the Third Floor” (1940) and followed that up with the “The Maltese Falcon” (1941) and “Casablanca” (1942) along with a several more Noirs over the next decade. On top of this, he is in one of my favourite comedies of all time “Arsenic and Old Lace” (1944).
Sydney Greenstreet as Odin
After I cast Peter Lorre as Loki really it was no decision at all to cast Sydney Greenstreet as Odin. Though I have to admit he also looks a bit like Prince Vultan from Flash Gordon here, but I’m happy with it. Sydney of course appeared alongside Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre in The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca. After the success of those movies the studio naturally tried to pair as many of them together again as possible and so Sydney went on to do “The Mask of Dimitrious” (1944) and “Three Strangers” (1946) with Lorre and “Conflict” (1945) with Bogart.
Robert Ryan as Red Skull.
Another Film Noir regular, though he played a mixture of protagonist and antagonist I thought he would make a good Red Skull. I’m not sure if these pictures are still recognisable as Ryan but they do look pretty cool. Ryan’s noirs include: Crossfire (1947), “The Set Up” (1949), Clash By Night (1952), and “Odds Against Tomorrow” (1959). His characters were often brash, bitter and aggressive. Not the perfect fit for Red Skull but it’ll do.
Richard Conte as The Kingpin
I really wanted to throw another villain into the mix and one that made a lot of sense to me is Richard Conte as The Kingpin. Conte has played several evil mob bosses over the years perhaps more famously in “The Godfather” (1972) as Don Corleone’s rival, Barzini. But he also played crime bosses in the Film Noir’s “Cry of the City” and “The Big Combo” (1955). All of which make him the perfect pick for this role. His other Noir’s include “Somewhere in the Night” (1946) and “The Sleeping City” (1950), “The Blue Gardenia” (1953), “The Big Tip off” (1955).
John Garfield as Spider-Man
Last but not least, I had to add a Spider-Man. Even though he is my favourite superhero, he wasn’t my focus for this little exercise in AI creativity. However I felt that John Garfield would be a good pick (especially given he shares a surname with an actual Spider-Man actor). Garfield was an actor famous for playing brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. Not that Spidey is really a brooder, but can be pretty rebellious and is definitely working-class. His roles in Film Noir include “The Postman Always Rings Twice” (1946), “Body and Soul” (1947), “Force of Evil” (1948) and “Jigsaw” (1949).
Marvel Noir movie poster, apparently for a new hero called “Marnorr”.
That’s All Folks
I hope this was an amusing bit of randomness for you. I figure whether you enjoy Film Noir, AI Art or Marvel Superheroes there is something here to amuse you. I didn’t originally intend to make this a post, but after generating so many imagines I thought it would be nice to share
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