Étreinte du passé
Réalisation:
Jacques TourneurPhotographie:
Nicholas MusuracaMusique:
Roy WebbActeurs·trices:
Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming, Richard Webb, Steve Brodie, Virginia Huston, Paul Valentine, Dickie Moore, Frank Wilcox (plus)Résumés(1)
Jeff Bailey est un homme paisible qui partage son temps entre sa station-service et Ann, sa fiancée. Mais lorsqu’un homme de main de son ancien employé débarque, le passé de Jeff refait soudain surface. Il y a des années de cela, Jeff était détective privé pour le compte de Whit Sterling, un joueur professionnel louche. Il fut chargé de retrouver Kathie Moffat, une jeune femme partie au Mexique après avoir volé 40 000 dollars à Sterling. Pourtant cynique et farouche, Jeff succomba aux charmes de la jeune femme et ils entamèrent une liaison passionnelle. Malgré le danger, ils prirent alors la fuite. (LaCinetek)
(plus)Critiques (4)
A great genre piece with excellent dialogs and some snappy one-liners from Mitchum in the main role. Unexpectedly experimental in terms of form. The narration alternates in terms of type and tempo, unraveling the story down to its core and a surprising ending. P.S.: Good old Kirk Douglas rocks in this, one of his first movie roles.
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The first half is a supreme example of classic noir, where the narrative on two levels is completely immersive and the characters act unpredictably, yet logically and inevitably. In the second half, when the plot moves purely into the present, the script runs out of steam and the direction gets a bit stale, but for the dramatic and again logical climax, the plus points go back to the filmmakers. Definitely a must-have textbook for enthusiasts.
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I've probably seen so many film noir movies lately that I need to take a break from them. This genre has always fascinated me a lot, and I would like to write something in it someday, but "Out of the Past" is not as great as I thought. I was expecting something slightly different from Tourneur because his previous films amazed me. It's a good noir film, but it's not as amazing as I thought.
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