Category Archives: James M. Cain

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982)

Posted on 15 May 2012 by

Imagine a 40s Hollywood movie shot in gorgeous black and white, backed by a swelling Miklos Rozsa score and costumed by Edith Head. Add a dream cast featuring Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Lana Turner, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Noir, James M. Cain, Los Angeles, Noir on Tuesday, Philip Marlowe, Private Eye, Raymond Chandler, Scene of the crime, Tuesday's Forgotten Film | 44 Comments

Femme Fatale (2002) – Tuesday’s Overlooked Film

Posted on 27 March 2012 by

This supremely seductive thriller – part cine-literate film essay, part heist movie – offers the possibility of redemption for even the unlikeliest past offender, which seems entirely appropriate because Femme Fatale was a box office bomb, but it really does … Continue reading →

Posted in Brian de Palma, Film Noir, James M. Cain, Paris, Scene of the crime, Tuesday's Forgotten Film | 32 Comments

Maniac (1963) – Tuesday’s Forgotten Film

Posted on 13 December 2011 by

In the movies it seems that the ‘Rural South’, irrespective of where it may actually be in the world, is synonymous with savage attitudes and retrograde customs; an atavistic haven where old customs die-hard; and where outsiders, usually from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Noir, France, Hammer Studios, James M. Cain, Jimmy Sangster, Tuesday's Forgotten Film | 15 Comments

MILDRED PIERCE (1941) by James M. Cain

Posted on 10 December 2011 by

In what I hope is not a sign of encroaching old age, I recently picked up my James M. Cain omnibus to refresh my memory of Mildred Pierce before sitting down to watch the new HBO mini-series adaptation starring Kate … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Noir, James M. Cain, Michael Curtiz, Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge 2011 | 6 Comments