“You’re about as romantic as a pair of handcuffs.”
As this Noirvember comes to an end, I thought it fitting that I write a piece celebrating two great noir titles. Of course, there were many to choose from as the decade of the 1940s produced a bevy of classics from the heyday of film noir. But rather than go for the standard, albeit classic picks, I thought a pair of noirs that stray ever so slightly from the beloved genre conventions was more in order. Not only do 1950’s Sunset Boulevard, from director Billy Wilder, and 1953’s The Big Heat, from director Fritz Lang, both contain some undeniable film noir DNA, but each film in its own way offers up a twist on the blueprint that made the genre as spectacular as it remains. Thankfully, the home video teams at both Criterion and Paramount agree and have each recently released newly restored versions of the films, much to the delight of film noir fans. So as the month concludes, it’s only fitting that we end another Noirvember with two of the greatest titles ever to come out of the genre.
Sunset Boulevard
In Sunset Boulevard, a young penniless screenwriter named Joe (William Holden) stumbles into the dark, but intoxicating world of a former silent screen star named Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Taken by the young man, and feeling that he’s the one who can help her launch her big comeback in the movies, Norma becomes obsessed with Joe, and the two soon find themselves in their own private world, which neither Norma’s butler Max (Erich Von Stroheim) nor Betty (Nancy Olson), a sympathetic studio secretary/budding screenwriter with a soft spot for Joe, can pull them out from.
There’s always been a belief that Sunset Boulevard has been somewhat unheralded as the quintessential noir, which it certainly is. The film is a prototypical noir tale that just so happens to be buried under one of the best commentaries ever made on Hollywood. But the noir shines through. Norma Desmond is the ultimate femme fatale in a way, while Joe, along with his haunting narration, is the kind of genre protagonist fans love. Sunset Boulevard continues to earn its noir stripes because of its L.A. setting. Yes, there’s crime in Sunset Boulevard, as well as passion, cynicism, and just enough belief to suggest that there is an escape from the darkness. This is especially true in the character of Betty, whom the film presents as the only symbol of hope in a beautiful, yet ultimately hopeless landscape. The world of Sunset Boulevard is one made of shadows, of which almost no one is ever able to truly escape. It’s fitting that this film comes from Wilder, who just six years earlier gave the film world another classic noir title with Double Indemnity, again showing the dark side of Los Angeles. Here, the director takes things even further with a story that’s both the stuff of haunting dreams and beautiful nightmares.
Sunset Boulevard also doesn’t get enough credit for being as twisted as it is for a big-budget studio experience. So much of what happens in Norma’s decaying mansion is the kind of stuff only the best gothic worlds are made up of. After all, when we first meet Norma, she’s planning a funeral for her recently departed monkey. From there, we’re trapped in her world just like Joe. We bear witness to a New Year’s Eve party where they’re the only guests, tour the mansion that’s totally devoid of locks, and get to know Max, her butler and former movie director/husband. It’s positively eerie the way Joe is moved into Norma’s home, essentially kidnapped into that world, with him being informed that his stuff has been moved from his apartment and into a room down the hall. When Joe begins to grow desperate over the fact that he may never leave that world, we grow desperate as well. The scene with Joe showing Betty the house says just how much he’s become a prisoner of that world. Betty tries to rescue him, of course, but it’s all in vain. Joe is the damsel trapped in the castle, and there’s no way out for him. There’s an obvious postmodern aspect of Sunset Boulevard being a comeback vehicle for Swanson, much like her character in the film was fighting for one of her own. Luckily, for the actress, she was the anti-Norma who actually managed to make it out of the noir darkness.
The Big Heat
In The Big Heat, a prominent big city detective named Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is troubled by the supposed suicide of a wealthy businessman. As he starts to investigate further, he finds the man’s death is linked to a powerful crime syndicate with ties all over the city. The closer Dave gets to the truth, the higher the personal stakes rise. Eventually, with the help of a gangster’s moll named Debby (Gloria Grahame) out for her own revenge, Dave fights to bring to justice those hiding in the shadows of corruption.
It’s hard to think of a more perfect noir opening than a man shooting himself dead and his widow immediately calling the big crime boss in town instead of the police. But those actions make for such an intriguing introduction into one of the most hard-hitting noirs ever to come out of the genre. Ford is great at playing the two sides of his character, the tough cop engaging with the seedy underworld as part of his job, and the home life that allows his true down-to-earth nature to come through. He’s matched well with Grahame, who is playful, mischievous, and really gives a jolt of energy to the film in the way the best kinds of femme fatales do. The rest of the cast go the extra mile to make the world of The Big Heat what it is. Jeanette Nolan is brilliant, keeping her cards firmly to her chest, and Jocelyn Brando is so warm as Dave’s wife, who emerges as the only bright light in the film. The brilliance of The Big Heat is that it’s so tightly and efficiently made, while also letting the story properly breathe. Lang never rushes the mechanics of the plot; he’ll know we’ll get there in due time. Instead, he’s more concerned for the characters and whether or not they’ll be able to survive the world he’s created.
The Big Heat takes a very hard turn before the first half of this 90 minute film is over, especially when it comes to the violence. Perhaps not since Richard Widmark pushed a wheelchair-bound woman down a flight of stairs has a film noir opted for such stark violence, which strips away at the glamour and romanticism of the genre. It’s a level of violence that speaks to the harshness of that world, which includes, among other things, the disfiguring of women. The death of a character who would normally be safe shocks us, as do the acts of Lee Marvin and Alexander Scourby, who are both so great as the heavies, it’s hard not to shudder a bit whenever they enter the room. It’s Ford’s film, however, and the actor really excels when he has to play broken, giving him some really great moments. The actor manages a somber quality matched by a determination that grows more and more dogged by the day. Debby shares in Dave’s determination, and seeing her taking charge in the film’s final act is such a great twist for the femme fatale. It’s exciting to see the kind of character known for little more than sensuality show her true survivalist nature, taking it so far that she actually turns into the hero by the film’s end.
According to Eddie Muller, 1944 was the prime year for the genre when titles such as Wilder’s Double Indemnityand Otto Preminger’s Laura came out, making their mark and solidifying film noir as one of the most prevalent and artful styles of film that had ever been produced. Some feel that the genre was on the way out when the 50s rolled around, ushering in more soapy, melodramatic fare. However, these two titles from a pair of filmmaking masters proved the genre was nowhere near finished. Rather than continue on about these two incredible films, however, I’d like to make my customary mention about the Film Noir Foundation. The San Francisco-based organization, headed by Muller himself, is a team of film historians and restorers who go to painstaking lengths to preserve and celebrate film noir through a variety of ways, not least of all their year-round film festival, Noir City. Please visit https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/ to learn more about the incredible group helping to keep film noir alive.
The Big Heat is now available on Blu-ray and DVD from The Criterion Collection. Sunset Boulevard is now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Paramount Home Video.
