ASK EDDIE - November 30, 2023

FNF prez Eddie Muller responds to film noir fan questions fielded by the Foundation's Director of Communications Anne Hockens. In this episode, we discuss NOIR CITY Xmas, Eddie’s adventures in securing films for our festivals, which noir has the most flashbacks, if you can use metrics to evaluate how noir a film is, and more. We wind up with some exciting news about our NOIR CITY festival schedule for 2024. On the cat front, Charlotte and Emily are background players until Charlotte decides she needs mum’s attention. Plus, Eddie discusses Tizzy’s TCM debut.
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This week’s questions:
1. I have been watching a lot of “Dragnet” (listening to the OTR version too) and “Adam 12” reruns. I have recognized actors in these episodes that are also in many noir movies. My question. Were these cameo actors answering casting calls or were they cast by the direction and/or favor of Jack Webb?
-Mike, Chicago, Illinois
2. I was watching “Passage to Marseille” with Humphrey Bogart and Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre and Claud Rains. What a cast. So anyway, I noticed an inordinate number of flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks etc. I think I counted four levels. I'm wondering if you know if there are any movies that beat this? Really liked this movie but the number of flashbacks boarded on being comical.
-Steve Valliere in Exeter New Hampshire
3. What are your thoughts about the censoring of a racial epithet spoken by Gene Hackman in “The French Connection” when the film screened on the Criterion Channel
-James
4. Finally just watched Howard Duff in "Shakedown" recently and while I was quite surprised how unscrupulous Duff's "Jack Early" was from the very beginning of the film, what was more intriguing was his character's "homme fatal" status. Is there any more blatant homme fatal in film noir?
-Joe on Long Island
5. Thanks to recent festivals at Cinema Ritrovato and MoMa, we're all Hugo Fregonese fans now. Can you talk about “Black Tuesday”, and when you think it may be available to watch on TCM and/or Blu-Ray?
-unsigned
6. I saw a film a long time ago on TV (1971) and I am trying to find the title and then hopefully view the movie somehow.
-Frank
7. I recently discovered the RUclips channel “Doctor Noir” created by Matthew Berger who helped establish Noir City-Boston. I was fascinated by how he has used metrics to analyze what is film noir based on the opinions of experts on the subject, given as he says, “No single, universally-agreed-upon definition of ‘film noir’ exists.” I was curious what you think of his methodology since the resulting lists of top noirs determined by it don’t contain any real surprises?
I just ordered his book Interrogating “Memory: Film Noir Spurs a Deep Dive into My Family History…and My Own” and can’t wait to read it.
-Michael, Post Falls ID
8. I’m learning about Noir as I’m watching, so forgive me if this has been asked before. As a viewer, it seems to me that the B noirs are more thrilling and often more creative than the A noirs. Is this purely subjective, or is it a thing?
-Melanie
9. What's the story behind the production of “Shed No Tears”? Despite the very noir-ish plot, the production offers few of the other hallmarks of film noir. Why isn't this film any better than it is? Is it simply a matter of Eagle-Lion being unable to afford a proper production? Did they just hire the wrong crew to make the film? Did they just assume that Ford and Vincent could carry the film?
-Dave and Fiona