by Rosalie Lewis“There’s no sign of the morning coming; you’ve been left on your own like a rainbow in the dark,” belts Ronnie James Dio in his 1983 metal anthem. His colorful evocation conjures the atmosphere of dread and tarnished dreams film noir is known for. Elsewhere in the song, he mentions “an image caught in time,” perhaps like one of many moments lost like tears in rain.
Despite the category literally being named after darkness, lots of film noir titles incorporate color. Today, I’ll recommend titles and perhaps you will find your own rainbow connection. Am I having fun with this concept? Yes. Yes, I am.
Scarlet Street (1945, directed by Fritz Lang, available on many streaming services)
It seems fitting to begin with a film about an artist. Edward G. Robinson stars as Christopher Cross (not that one), a man who works a retail job but paints in his spare time. He’s a sad bastard type who resents his wife and his life. When he encounters Kitty (Joan Bennett) being beat up on the street, he intervenes and she takes an interest in him. Not the kind of interest he’s got in her, though—she’s looking to make a buck and he’s looking to make something that rhymes with that. Dan Duryea plays Kitty’s scumbag boyfriend who gets involved in a racket of selling Chris’s paintings, mistakenly thinking he’s some big time artiste. Of course things unravel from there, this is a noir after all. The sad get sadder and the bad get badder. When watching, see if you can find the connection this movie has with
Basic Instinct.
The Burnt Orange Heresy (2020, directed by Giuseppe Capotondi, available for online rental)
I swear not all of my picks are about artists but I’m trying to go in rainbow color order and this one also happens to be anchored in the world of art. This is, as you can tell by the release date, a neo noir. Some might argue that the movie adaptation lacks some of the characteristic noir flourishes; nonetheless, its source material is a book by hardboiled novelist Charles Willeford and therefore it counts in my mind. The cast is pretty wild – Mick Jagger, Elizabeth Debicki, and Donald Sutherland all play supporting roles and Claes Bang is our lead. He’s a pill popping art critic, and his moral scruples are about equivalent to his own artistic talent (which is to say, lacking). When an opportunity arises to profile a reclusive yet legendary midcentury artist (Sutherland), he doesn’t hesitate to exploit the moment.
I wanted to like this movie more than I did—the dialogue and concept are good and Debicki’s a joy to watch as always. It feels like the director, who earned his stripes on music videos by the likes of Mel C and Our Lady Peace, doesn’t quite have a handle on the tone. There’s an arch black comedy in here somewhere but it certainly doesn’t come through in this telling. He also could have gone full Patricia Highsmith and leaned into the European beauty concealing rotten motives, but alas, none of the visuals are quite that stunning. That said, I still think this is worth checking out even if it doesn’t quite live up to its promise.
The Clouded Yellow (1950, directed by Ralph Thomas and available on YouTube as of this writing)
This movie stars Jean Simmons (not the KISS one, sorry Patrick) and Trevor Howard, and it’s the film debut of writer Janet Green. If you ever want to watch a movie about a former secret service agent taking a temp job cataloging butterflies at a country estate, this is the movie for you. Jean Simmons is the supposedly “muddled” young woman he should watch out for, but I bet you can guess how that goes. When someone ends up dead, Howard gets to flex his secret service muscles and help the prime suspect escape what appears to be a frame job. It took a while to get going but the last act of this movie doesn’t hold back. Genuine thrills to be had, good chase scenes, and a little “cut your hair to disguise yourself” thrown in to complete the trifecta. I really enjoyed this movie, which has fewer than 500 views on Letterboxd. It’s just waiting to be discovered!
Green for Danger (1946, directed by Sidney Gilliat and streaming on Criterion Channel)
After starting with a double dose of art movies, we’re doubling up on Trevor Howard now. Our setting now is a hospital during World War II, and the hospital staff have Nazi air raids to contend with in addition to the regular bumps and scrapes. When a man dies on the operating table one night, it seems like a freak accident. But one person is convinced it’s murder, and thus the investigation begins.
I suspect Rian Johnson has seen this movie, because the character of Inspector Cockrill (played by Alastair Sim) seems to share some common DNA with Benoit Blanc. There’s a compelling group of suspects, including the aforementioned Howard as the one who administered the anesthesia as well as a number of other doctors and nurses who were attending. This movie also features the earliest version I’ve seen of an actual record scratch interrupting the action of a moment and a grand pronouncement being made—so that’s fun! I have to mention the rest of the cast, who have excellent chemistry and a fair amount of flirtation going on among them. Megs Jenkins, Sally Gray, Leo Genn, Judy Campbell, and Rosamund John each contribute something meaningful to the proceedings and you might find your loyalties and suspicions shifting as the film goes on.
The Blue Gardenia (1953, directed by Fritz Lang and streaming on Amazon Prime)
Ooooh I loved this movie, which was my first noir of the month and a first time watch for me! Based on a novella by Vera Caspary (who authored
Laura), this movie centers the experience of a young woman named Norah (Anne Baxter) who goes on a date with an obnoxious playboy (Raymond Burr) even though it’s out of character for her to do so. Way too many drinks later, things spiral out of control and when she wakes up at his apartment in the middle of the night she runs away in shame. She wouldn’t want to remember that night even if she could. Unfortunately, remembering suddenly becomes quite important when it turns out a crime took place in his apartment the night she was there, and evidence seems to point her direction. Will she remember before the police catch up to her?
Besides the story, which has a good hook and progressive gender leanings for its time, this movie also has a stellar supporting cast including Richard Conte, Nat King Cole, Ann Sothern, and Jeff Donnell. Plus, the DP Nicholas Musaraca basically invented noir cinematography and this movie is shot impeccably. I also wanted to basically move into the tiki bar from which the movie takes its name—bartender, put it on my tab!
Purple Noon (1960, directed by Rene Clement and streaming on Kanopy)
Before Andrew Scott or Matt Damon portrayed Tom Ripley, a gorgeous young Alain Delon inhabited the role in this film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s
The Talented Mr. Ripley. Sun soaked and sinister, it traces the now familiar story beats of a con artist who becomes obsessed with living the good life by any means necessary. He weasels his way into the lives of Philippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) and Marge Duval (Marie Laforet), casually commits murder, and cavorts around the continent under assumed identities. What a guy!
As far as faithfulness to the source material, the 1999 movie comes closest; but I will watch just about anything based on a Highsmith artifact and especially when it features Alain Delon shirtless for large stretches of time. Call me shallow, the man is beautiful. Speaking of beautiful, the cinematographer is Henri Decae, who also photographed
The 400 Blows and
Le Samourai. What more could you ask for?
Honorable Mentions
Not all of these movies are colors of the rainbow, but you should still watch them:
•
Ride the Pink Horse
• Black Angel
• White Heat
• Jackie Brown
• The Crimson Kimono
• Red Rock West
• Blue Velvet
• The Blue Dahlia
• Blue Ruin
• Devil in a Blue Dress
• Le Cercle Rouge
• The Man With the Golden Arm
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