Noirish Posted by John Grant on July 8, 2018

I’m late posting this monthly listing because of (a)   this goddam deadline I’m facing; (b)   some computer shenanigans (which, after great expenditure of time and money, proved to be the responsibility of the mouse—sounds as if it should have been obvious, but in fact it was far from so); and   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on July 7, 2018

vt The Smiling Madame Beudet France / 38 minutes / bw silent / Colisée Dir: Germaine Dulac Pr: Charles Delac, Marcel Vandal Scr: André Obey Story: La Souriante Madame Beudet (1920 play) by Denys Amiel and André Obey Cine: A. Merrin Cast: Germaine Dermoz, Madeleine Guitty, Grisier (i.e., Yvette Grisi   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on July 5, 2018

A mystery thriller that constantly entertains yet somehow never quite detonates. Ten years ago McKenna Jordan was a bright young up-and-coming Assistant DA. Then two things happened in quick succession: she got involved in a controversial case where a white cop had killed a black man, and her best   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 30, 2018

***Over at Silver Screen Classics, Paul Batters has produced a great write-up (complete with clips) of a splendid movie that has great relevance to our own times. In The Book, where obviously I had space for only a brief account, I concluded of The Black Legion that “Politics and noir...   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 30, 2018

US / 101 minutes / color / Imperial Entertainment, Filmwerks Dir: Albert Pyun Pr: Gary Schmoeller, Tom Karnowski Scr: John Lowry Lamb, Robert McDonnell Cine: George Mooradian Cast: Charles Sheen, Michael Halsey, Ivana Mílíčevíć, Stephen McCole, Gary Lewis, Dave Anderson, Leigh Biagi, Phil McCall, Jo   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 27, 2018

Chicago charity worker and her self-obsessed workaholic husband Chris have a 12-year-old, Zoe. They’d have had more children except Heidi was, for medical reasons, forced into an emergency hysterectomy, so that was that. There are tensions — many of them over Chris’s hot workmate,   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 24, 2018

Welcome to the declining days of Italy’s fascist republic, with the invading allies having already occupied half the country. It’s not the easiest of times to be a cop, because the partisans want to kill you and the fascist bureaucracy will quite happily throw you to the wolves if they   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 23, 2018

US / 8 minutes / color / Warner Bros. Animation Dir: Douglas McCarthy Pr & Scr: Timothy Cahill, Julie McNally, Kathleen Helppie-Shipley Voice cast: Joe Alaskey, Bob Bergen, Greg Burson, Maurice La Marche, Tress MacNeille. A riff (obviously) on CASABLANCA (1942), with the central characters of t   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 21, 2018

A quarter of a century ago on a remote Kansas farm, a couple of days into 1985, Libby Day’s mother and two elder sisters were slaughtered in an In Cold Blood-style killing. Libby herself escaped into the winter’s night and, despite losing some digits to frostbite, survived to give the...   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 19, 2018

A train on the Chicago El clatters past the windows of the Independent News Service (INS). Within, investigative reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) is having his millionth stand-up row with his boss, agency manager Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland). Their problem is that the two men have entirely d   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 16, 2018

US / 69 minutes / bw / MGM Dir: W.S. Van Dyke Pr: Hunt Stromberg Scr: Bayard Veiller Cine: Merritt B. Gerstad Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Kay Francis, Madge Evans, William Bakewell, C. Aubrey Smith, Polly Moran, Alan Mowbray, Forrester Harvey, Charles Crockett, Henry Barrows, Sam McDaniel, Blue Washingt   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 14, 2018

***Off-topic galore, but this essay wot I wrote for the Center for Biological Diversity’s zine The Revelator seems to have stirred up some interest . . . Sharp and Pointed John Grant, author of Corrupted Science: Fraud, Ideology, and Politics in Science (revised & expanded), has a nice pie   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 13, 2018

A few years ago narcotics cop Elena Estes was drummed out of the force after a rash act of heroism on her part led to a colleague losing his life. Now she’s living off her very wealthy childhood friend Sean and vaguely assisting with the passel of horses he owns....   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 11, 2018

Someone is knocking off belly dancers and other fit young women in the city of Seattle, and draining a small quantity of blood from their brains. Investigative reporter Carl Kolchak, freshly arrived after having been run out of Las Vegas at the end of The Night Stalker, does what he...   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 10, 2018

***See Sharp Press, the publisher of my new book, Corrupted Science (Revised & Expanded), has just signed up with NetGalley, and Corrupted Science is one of the five books they’ve so far placed with the service. So, if you’d like to get stuck into Corrupted Science even before public   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 10, 2018

I’m in the process of assembling for the movie site Wonders in the Dark an essay on the Kolchak: The Night Stalker TV series, and thus I’m midway through watching the 20 episodes of the series. Also, as part of my brief, I’ve watched the two TV movies that preceded...   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 9, 2018

vt Die Nacht aus Gold; vt Golden Night France, WG / 79 minutes / color / Eurofrance, U.G.C., Société Française de Production, F.R.3, Maran Dir: Serge Moati Pr: Philippe Dussart Scr: Françoise Verny, Serge Moati Cine: André Neau Cast: Bernard Blier, Klaus Kinski, Marie Dubois, Jean-Luc Bideau, Charle   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 8, 2018

Aired February 14 1975 US / 50 minutes / color / Francy, Universal, ABC Dir: Don McDougall Pr: Cy Chermak Scr: Arthur Rowe Cine: Ronald W. Browne Cast: Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland, Ramon Bieri, Pippa Scott, Sorrell Booke, Victor Campos, Jack Grinnage, Erik Estrada, Carlos Romero, Udana Power, Sond   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 7, 2018

Aired January 17 1975 US / 51 minutes / color / Francy, Universal, ABC Dir: Robert Scheerer Pr: Cy Chermak Scr: Bill S. Ballinger, David Chase Cine: Ronald W. Browne Cast: Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland, John Marley, Pat Harrington, Katharine Woodville, Jamie Farr, Jack Grinnage, Barbara Rhoades, Jea   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on June 6, 2018

In Flint City, Iowa, there’s been a truly horrific sado-sexual murder of a child, and all the evidence seems to point to one of the most popular men in town, Terry Maitland, who’s coached everyone’s kids at baseball and often turned their lives around for the better. So FCPD detec   read more