This ensemble heist film, based on the novel by
W.R. Burnett, starred Sterling Hayden, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, and James Whitmore. Oh yeah, and some no-name actress named Marilyn Monroe (her name wasn't on the poster because she wasn't as big as all those other guys). I see this film as the
Ocean's Eleven of its day: a bunch of big name actors star in a movie about a group of people trying to steal stuff.
What did you think of the movie? In what ways was it noir? In what ways did it deviate from the usual noir conventions?
What did you learn from this film that will help you write your own screenplays?
What worked for you in the film? What did not?
And I keep writing to make this post be as long as the long poster to the left. Just a little bit longer ... a little longer ....
There. Now, comment!
I really liked this move. I think it's my favorite out of all the others we've watched in class. The plot was awesome and it had nifty characters that I actually liked. It was also cool to see a film that Marilyn Monroe was before she was big.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I didn't like though, was the ending. I feel like there either should have been a little more or a little less.
That's interesting that you say, "A little more or a little less". I feel like there is much to be learned by elaborating more deeply on that comment as you are commenting on a story decision and in this class, we learn to be strong storytellers. What would "a little more" look like? What would "a little less" look like? How does this observation help you become a better writer?
Deletei super agree with your comment on Marilyn (: but she did do quite a few more films before this one, so she actually was a little bigger then you think, she just had a smaller role in this movie rather then her big main role movies that she did about two to three years after then this one.
DeleteI also didn't like the ending as much. I loved the rest of the film. It was very noir but took it's own path at the same time. I agree with Josh about the Ocean's Eleven aspect of it. 5/5.
ReplyDeleteI tried to post yesterday but doing this is a challenge when you only have your phone.
ReplyDeleteI feel that some how that if they would of shown the jewels more then people would of been more interested in the film. The acting I think could of been better as well. The only actors I liked were Gus and Alfanzo, the rest were ehh... not so great.
So this is one of my all time favorite movies that i have watched in the pass because of Marilyn. Shes a huge acting role model to me. I deffinetly fan girled over Marilyn the whole time so it was actually fun to wait for her scenes (: Marilyn always amazes me with her acting and that is what makes me love watching her films even if she isnt a huge role. Its really cool learning that one of my loved movies was a film noir.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it was definitely my favorite as well.
Deletei liked that there were different stories going on in this movie
ReplyDeleteTell me more about this, Hayden. Why do you like the different stories? What did you learn about writing from this? What made the stories work together well rather than just be confusing?
Deletei thought it was really cool how they had that really cheesy explosive when they were trying to open the vault. When i saw that i though to myself they must of had a good budget for there time cause all the films i seen around that time they didnt have any explosives
ReplyDelete