198. Out Of The Past (1947)

Directed By Jacques Tourneur

Synopsis

Mitchum is minding his own business in Tahoe when along comes Kirk Douglas out of the past and so does a dame complicating his life to the point of death.

Review

Tourneur can hardly do wrong and he is in top shape here. Tourneur graduates to the A class of films here, after the brilliant Cat People and the quite good I Walked With A Zombie here is the more traditional fare of Noire that we have all learned to know and love... even if I am getting slightly tired of the formula.

And that is where Tourneur gives us a curve ball a lot of the tropes are still there but the formula is shifted in enough exciting ways to make the film look fresh. It is extremely well written and the acting by Mitchum and particularly Kirk Douglas is above reproach.

Tourneur seems to actually go out of his way to defy genre expectations and makes this a balm for someone who has been watching many noirs lately. And then there is the expert eye for light and shadows of the man. Highly Recommended.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Out of the Past was remade unofficially as Città violenta (1970) with Charles Bronson and officially as Against All Odds (1984) with Jeff Bridges and with Jane Greer as the mother of her original character in Out of the Past.