This semester, your favorite blog writer, that’s me in case you were wondering, is taking a post modern film history class to fulfil the obligatory 3 credit hour art requisite for my major. Each week in class, we get lectured on a specific post modern film genre, or movement, then we watch one of the quintessential films of that genre or movement. Seeing how I am on a never-ending quest to find material to write about on this blog and the fact that I want to get the most mileage of my exorborant tuition fees, I figured I could kill two bird with one stone and write a weekly review of the movie I watch in film history class. So, away we go!

This weeks film movement subject was Film Noir, which my professor informs me, is not a film genre, but it is a film style with it’s iconic German expressionism style lighting, heavy shadowing, and claustrophobia inducing vertical and horizontal visual compositions. Indeed, Film Noir has an interesting visual style to look at, but my professor neglected to inform the class of another important attribute of Film Noir: the stories are long, boring and make no fucking sense at all! (Let’s be honest for a second here: tell me that you didn’t want to die of absolute boredom when you made the foolish, but well meaning, attempt to watch such snore fests such as the “Maltese Falcon” or ” The Big Sleep.”)

However, my professor, I believe, made the perfect choice of choosing “Double Indemnity” as the quintessential example of Film Noir. Unlike the two movies I listed above, “Double Indemnity” is not a long, drawn out, nonsensical detective story. It is a long, drawn out, boring, nonsensical story about an insurance salesman. It’s a small difference, sure, but it makes all the difference in the world to me.

Fred McMurray plays the corrupted insurance salesman who crumbles under the deadly spell of the glamorous Barbara Stanwick. I never knew that the sedate and loveable Mr Douglas from “My Three Sons” had such a mighty impressive acting range, which apparently included, for this movie, “total fucking sleazebag”.”

Though there were a few scenes in the film where the lighting had made him look like, at least to me, a dead ringer of the actor Dennis Quaid. (My trusty “jareddriskill senses”are tingling! Could a modern remake of “Double Indemnity” could be the comeback vechile that Dennis Quaid is so eagarly waiting for? Better yet, I think he should star in a modern adaptation of “My Three Sons!” Dennis, baby, have your people call my people. )

I would be amiss if I didn’t mention the lovely Ms Stanwick. Barbara Stanwick represents a bygone era of glamorous sex appeal. Sure a woman of her looks would be rejected in hollywood today because she doesn’t look like a lethargic, plastic injected, fuck toy. But that’s the point! She may have looked average by today’s standards, but she used her natural charms (and the tight cashmere sweaters that the producers no doubtedly made her wear) to successfully seduce not only Fred MacMurray’s character, but every red blooded male (and sensible footwear wearing females) who happen to watch her on screen. Half way through the film, I found myself projecting mental messages across time and the barrier between reality and fiction to Barbara Stanwick’s character: “Don’t worry honey, if Fred MacMurray chickens out, you can count on me to help you murder your lousy husband.”

Damn, she was that good.

next week on the syllabus: Italian Neorealism and “Bicycle Thieves.”

jareddriskill