Kathie’s clowns

Out of the Past

(1947)

“A dame with a rod is like a guy with knitting needles.” It figures that the guy who says that early in a noir film is destined to be plugged by that dame—and he won’t be the last one, either.

Directed by Jacques Tourneur, this may be my favorite noir not starring Humphrey Bogart. Robert Mitchum fills the Bogart role—the not-altogether-honest man struggling to be better for the honest woman who loves him—and Kirk Douglas at his iciest as the crime boss whose trust he betrays (bad idea? ya think?).

And then there’s Jane Greer as the fatalest of femmes—this one makes Bridget O’Shaunessy seem like she just got out of girls’ school.

I actually saw the 1984 remake, Against All Odds, before I even knew this one existed; don’t you make that mistake.