Under "Film Noir" on You Tube, another movie that shows up:
Behind Green Lights
1946
In an early scene, we're inside a police station and the Camera moves from one group of people to another, each is dealing with some problem or other. In about the second interaction we see, a policeman is speaking to an African American man who's wearing suit and tie plus fedora hat -- like most of the other men in the movie.
policeman:
"Your wife can't 'steal' your car -- that's community property!"
citizen:
"Yeah, I know Chief -- but she done took it out of the community!"
I burst out laughing. (Is this a funny noir?) That "out of the community" actor (Nick Stewart) was beautiful: he got every bit of value from his one line -- great!
As I listened to this movie I realized I could watch it again, and listen more carefully and specifically, and write down great lines and turns of phrase: it's full of them. There are two other movies that I have always thought a person could do this with:
Out of the Past (1947)
and
Sweet Smell of Success (1957).
In Behind Green Lights I noticed the phrases:
"giving him the business"
and
"laying it on thick."
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment