| Out of the Past | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Jacques Tourneur |
| Produced by | Warren Duff |
| Written by | Daniel Mainwaring |
| Starring | Robert Mitchum Jane Greer Kirk Douglas |
| Music by | Roy Webb |
| Cinematography | Nicholas Musuraca |
| Editing by | Samuel E. Beetley |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 13, 1947 (United States) |
| Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Out of the Past (originally released in Britain as Build My Gallows High) 1947 is a film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur. The movie was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring (using the pseudonym Geoffrey Homes) from his novel Build My Gallows High (also written as Homes). Uncredited revisions were made by Frank Fenton and James M. Cain. The film features Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas, in which a small-town gas-station owner's mysterious past catches up with him.
In 1991, Out of the Past was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
The film is considered by film historians to be a superb example of film noir, due to its convoluted, dreamlike storyline and its chiaroscuro cinematography (cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca also shot Tourneur's Cat People).
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Plot
Jeff Bailey (Mitchum) seems to be a mundane gas station owner in Bridgeport, California. He is dating local girl Ann Miller (Virginia Huston) and lives a quiet life. Town lawman Jim is in love with Ann and unsure about Jeff, who is secretive about his past.
A stranger passing through town recognizes Jeff. He returns and tells Jeff that Whit Sterling has been looking for him. Jeff agrees to go to Lake Tahoe to meet Whit.
Before he leaves, Jeff begins to tell Ann about his mysterious past. His real name is Jeff Markham. He and partner Jack Fisher (Steve Brodie) worked as private investigators in New York. They took on a job for Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas), a rich gambler. The movie then flashes back to that time.
Whit hires Jeff to find his girlfriend, Kathie Moffett (Greer). She had run away after shooting Whit and stealing $40,000 from him. He wants her and the money returned. Jeff talks to Kathie's former maid, Eunice (Theresa Harris). He learns that she had packed for warm weather, was vaccinated, and left for Florida. Jeff knows that vaccinations aren't needed for Florida, but they are for Mexico. He tracks the luggage to Mexico City and learns that she had been there. From there, the trail leads to Acapulco.
Jeff finds Kathie there. At first he doesn't tell her that he's been hired to find her. They begin to fall in love. He tells her the truth, that Whit is alive and wants her back. She denies taking Whit’s money. They decide to run away together the next day.
Whit and his henchman Joe Stephanos (Paul Valentine) show up unexpectedly, having flown down to check up on Jeff. He lies to Whit that he hasn’t found Kathie yet, that she has caught a boat south. After Whit leaves, the lovers take a boat north.
They live as inconspicuously as possible in San Francisco, fearful of being found but thinking the odds are one in a million that anyone will spot them. But it happens. Jeff’s old partner, Fisher, spots him at a race track. Tracking the couple to a cabin in the woods, he demands the $40,000 in return for his silence. A fistfight breaks out that ends when Kathie fatally shoots the would-be blackmailer. She drives off, leaving Jeff to fend for himself. He finds her bank book and discovers a balance of $40,000.
The story flashes forward to Jeff and Ann. He tells her that he never saw Kathie again, but that Whit has sent for him. He arrives at Whit’s home in Lake Tahoe to discover that Kathie is living there. Rather than discussing the past, Whit says he wants to hire Jeff to recover some income tax records that a San Francisco lawyer, Leonard Eels (Ken Niles), is using to blackmail him. Jeff feels obliged to take the job.
He meets Eels' secretary, Meta Carson (Rhonda Fleming). She tells him Whit's plan to get the tax papers. Jeff feels certain he is being set up and tries to warn Eels that something is wrong. He returns later to find Eels dead. With Kathie's help, Whit had planned the murder of Eels and hoped to frame Jeff for it.
Kathie has lied to Whit that it was Jeff who killed Fisher. Among Eels' papers is an affidavit she signed that names Jeff as the killer. Jeff goes to Whit’s nightclub, slugs the manager and takes the papers.
Jeff returns to Bridgeport, where he goes fishing. Joe Stephanos has tracked him there and is about to shoot when Jeff's deaf young assistant from the gas station, The Kid, reels him in with a fishing rod and sends Stephanos off a cliff to his death.
Jeff returns to Whit's home, only to find that Kathie has killed him. She tells Jeff that he must leave with her or be arrested for killing three men -- Fisher, Eels and now Whit. Jeff agrees, but makes a private phone call before they go. They come upon a police roadblock. Kathie realizes Jeff has double-crossed her. She shoots him with a small revolver. The police fire on their car, killing both.
Just after Jeff's funeral, Ann asks the young man from the gas station, The Kid, if it was true that Jeff was going away with Kathie. The Kid indicates that he was. Ann drives off with Jim, who still loves her. The Kid lied because he knew that's what Jeff would have wanted.
Cast
- Robert Mitchum as Jeff Bailey
- Jane Greer as Kathie Moffat
- Kirk Douglas as Whit Sterling
- Rhonda Fleming as Meta Carson
- Richard Webb as Jimmy
- Steve Brodie as Jack Fisher
- Virginia Huston as Ann Miller
- Paul Valentine as Joe Stephanos
- Dickie Moore as The Kid
- Ken Niles as Leonard Eels
Critical reception
Film critic Bosley Crowther wrote, "However, as we say, it's very snappy and quite intriguingly played by a cast that has been well and smartly directed by Jacques Tourneur. Robert Mitchum is magnificently cheeky and self-assured as the tangled 'private eye,' consuming an astronomical number of cigarettes in displaying his nonchalance. And Jane Greer is very sleek as his Delilah, Kirk Douglas is crisp as a big crook and Richard Webb, Virginia Huston, Rhonda Fleming and Dickie Moore are picturesque in other roles. If only we had some way of knowing what's going on in the last half of this film, we might get more pleasure from it. As it is, the challenge is worth a try."[1]
The staff at Variety wrote, "Out of the Past is a hardboiled melodrama [from the novel by Geoffrey Homes] strong on characterization. Direction by Jacques Tourneur pays close attention to mood development, achieving realistic flavor that is further emphasized by real life settings and topnotch lensing by Nicholas Musuraca...Mitchum gives a very strong account of himself. Jane Greer as the baby-faced, charming killer is another lending potent interest. Kirk Douglas, the gangster, is believable and Paul Valentine makes role of henchman stand out. Rhonda Fleming is in briefly but effectively."[2]
More recently, film critic Roger Ebert wrote, "Out of the Past is one of the greatest of all film noirs, the story of a man who tries to break with his past and his weakness and start over again in a town, with a new job and a new girl. The movie stars Robert Mitchum, whose weary eyes and laconic voice, whose very presence as a violent man wrapped in indifference, made him an archetypal noir actor. The story opens before we've even seen him, as trouble comes to town looking for him. A man from his past has seen him pumping gas, and now his old life reaches out and pulls him back."[3]
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 96% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on twenty-four reviews.[4]
Adaptations
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 Jane Greer as the mother of her original character in Out of the Past.
Honors
| Classic-era film noirs in the National Film Registry | |
|---|---|
| 1940-49 |
The Maltese Falcon | Shadow of a Doubt | Laura | Double Indemnity | Mildred Pierce | Detour |
References
- ^ Crowther, Bosley (November 26, 1947). "Out of the Past (1947)". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=9500E0DE1E3AE233A25755C2A9679D946693D6CF. Retrieved February 1, 2008.
- ^ "Out of the Past Review". Variety (Reed Business Information). 1947. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117793803.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0. Retrieved February 1, 2008.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (July 18, 2004). "Out of the Past (1947)". Chicago Sun-Times (Sun-Times Media Group). http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040718/REVIEWS08/407180301/1023. Retrieved February 1, 2008.
- ^ "Out of the Past". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/out_of_the_past/. Retrieved November 23, 2009.
External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Out of the Past |
- Out of the Past at the Internet Movie Database
- Out of the Past at Allmovie
- Out of the Past at the TCM Movie Database
- Out of the Past at Eric Enders.com
- Out of the Past at Film Site by Tim Dirks
- Out of the Past film clip at You Tube
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