{"id":661,"date":"2015-11-05T09:30:31","date_gmt":"2015-11-05T15:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/?p=661"},"modified":"2015-11-05T10:58:43","modified_gmt":"2015-11-05T16:58:43","slug":"enter-the-webb-the-actor-in-fox-film-noir-classics-laura-and-the-dark-corner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/2015\/11\/05\/enter-the-webb-the-actor-in-fox-film-noir-classics-laura-and-the-dark-corner\/","title":{"rendered":"Enter the Webb: The Actor in Fox Film Noir classics Laura, and The Dark Corner."},"content":{"rendered":"You may recognize aspects of a Film Noir classic with or without knowing the formal definition of this genre. One source defines Film Noir as \u201ca style of film-making developed in the 1940s, with a plot involving suspense, mystery, crime, and corruption, and a bleak, often shadowy, setting, or a film in this style. Film noir begins as the French appreciation of an American genre: the thriller or mystery film with a disillusioned or neurotic hero afraid of the world, the city, the night, and femmes fatales. \u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/libproxy.library.unt.edu\/login?url=http:\/\/search.credoreference.com\/content\/entry\/penguineng\/film_noir\/0\" target=\"_blank\">Allen<\/a>). Both films discussed in this post, as well as other Film Noir classics, are available at the UNT Media Library collection.\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><strong><em>Laura<\/em> (1944) <a href=\"http:\/\/iii.library.unt.edu\/record=b3633486~S6\" target=\"_blank\">UNT Media Library DVD<span class=\"small\"> 9636 \u00a0<\/span> <\/a><\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.tcm.com\/mediaroom\/video\/954774\/Laura-Re-issue-Trailer-.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-738\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2015\/10\/LauraTCMdbImage-400x148.png\" alt=\"LauraTCMdbImage\" width=\"354\" height=\"131\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2015\/10\/LauraTCMdbImage-400x148.png 400w, https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2015\/10\/LauraTCMdbImage.png 424w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/><\/a><sup>\r\nClick image for<em> Laura<\/em> TCM trailer page<\/sup>\r\n\r\nFemme fatales and cynics are common characters in Film Noir. Enter <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/person\/203076|33317\/Clifton-Webb\/\" target=\"_blank\">Clifton Webb <\/a>as Waldo Lydecker, the eloquent cynic with a dark side, in<a href=\"http:\/\/iii.library.unt.edu\/record=b3633486~S6\" target=\"_blank\"><em> Laura<\/em> (1944)<\/a>. \u00a0Webb may steal scenes but never truly<em> gets the girl<\/em>. The dark humor and self \u2013absorption of Webb\u2019s characters understandably frustrates others. \u00a0Cool Detective Mark McPherson, played by Dana Andrews, immerses himself in Laura\u2019s case both professionally and personally. Gene Tierney is believably cast as multi-talented Laura, who captivates almost every one.\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><strong><em>Dark Corner<\/em> (1946) <a href=\"http:\/\/iii.library.unt.edu\/record=b4277200~S6\" target=\"_blank\">UNT Media Library DVD <span class=\"small\">14533 \u00a0<\/span> <\/a><\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.tcm.com\/mediaroom\/video\/224491\/Dark-Corner-The-Original-Trailer-.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"246\" height=\"163\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-739\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2015\/10\/DarkCornerTCMdbIMageSqaure.png\" alt=\"DarkCornerTCMdbIMageSqaure\" \/><\/a>\r\n<sup>Click image for <em>Dark Corner<\/em> TCM trailer page.<\/sup>\r\n\r\n<em><a href=\"http:\/\/iii.library.unt.edu\/record=b4277200~S6\" target=\"_blank\">The Dark Corner (1946)<\/a><\/em>, is more obscure than <strong><em>Laura (1944<\/em>)<\/strong>. The pleasant surprise for me was the female lead played by Lucille Ball. She is not a femme fatale, but a partner. The lead, Bradford Galt, played by Mark Stevens, is another cynic but when you learn more about his past, you get it. Clifton Webb appears yet again, this time as Hardy Cathcart. It is not a risky choice because it is pretty much typecasting. \u00a0As in Laura, he wants to add the women he admires to his collection of valuables, but he seems more vulnerable because his betrayal is less perceived and more real. In Film Noir, you may find characters who are seemingly devoid of morals faced off with prominent characters who may share the cynicism but not to the point of unapologetic violence. \u2018\u201cThere goes my last lead. I feel all dead inside. I&#8217;m backed up in a dark corner and I don&#8217;t know who&#8217;s hitting me.\u201d (qtd. in <a href=\"https:\/\/libproxy.library.unt.edu\/login?url=http:\/\/search.credoreference.com\/content\/entry\/mcffilm\/despair_and_desperation\/0\" target=\"_blank\">Nowlan<\/a>).\r\n\r\nThere are other parallels and topics to explore with this series, but I will stop there. I am not a film expert, just a fan. I do find many of these films to be a fascinating glimpse into America\u2019s cultural past. I often happen upon one of these &#8220;classics&#8221; by accident or references in film history books.You can film many film books in the library as well. \u00a0 If you are interested in browsing for similar films at the Media Library, you can do a Subject Search in the <a href=\"http:\/\/iii.library.unt.edu\/search~S6\/X\" target=\"_blank\">UNT Media Library Catalog<\/a> for <a href=\"http:\/\/iii.library.unt.edu\/search\/?searchtype=d&amp;SORT=D&amp;searcharg=Film%20noir%7C\" target=\"_blank\">Film Noir\u00a0<\/a> The trailers and the film profile pages give you a generous overview of the plot. If you check out these films, I do hope you find them worth your time.\r\n\r\n<strong><em>Resources:<\/em><\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><sub><span class=\"small\"><a href=\"https:\/\/libproxy.library.unt.edu\/login?url=http:\/\/search.credoreference.com\/content\/entry\/penguineng\/film_noir\/0\" target=\"_blank\">Film Noir<\/a>. (2007). In R. Allen (Ed.), <i>The penguin English Dictionary<\/i>. London, United Kingdom: Penguin. Retrieved from https:\/\/libproxy.library.unt.edu\/login?url=http:\/\/search.credoreference.com\/content\/entry\/penguineng\/film_noir\/0<\/span><\/sub><\/li>\r\n\t<li><sub><span class=\"small\"><a href=\"https:\/\/libproxy.library.unt.edu\/login?url=http:\/\/search.credoreference.com\/content\/entry\/mcffilm\/despair_and_desperation\/0\">Despair and desperation<\/a>. (2013). In R. Nowlan &amp; G. Nowlan, <i>Film quotations: 11,000 lines spoken on screen, arranged by subject, and indexed<\/i>. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.\u00a0Retrieved from https:\/\/libproxy.library.unt.edu\/login?url=http:\/\/search.credoreference.com\/content\/entry\/mcffilm\/despair_and_desperation\/0 <\/span><\/sub><\/li>\r\n\t<li><sub><span class=\"small\">Preminger, O., Dratler, J., Hoffenstein, S., Reinhardt, B., Tierney, G., Andrews, D., Price, V., &#8230; Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Inc. (2005).<a href=\"http:\/\/iii.library.unt.edu\/record=b3633486~S6\" target=\"_blank\"> <i>Laura<\/i>. <\/a>Beverly Hills, CA: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.\r\n<\/span><span class=\"small\"><strong>UNT Media Library <a href=\"http:\/\/iii.library.unt.edu\/record=b3633486~S6\" target=\"_blank\">DVD 9636<\/a> \u00a0<\/strong> Series:<a href=\"http:\/\/iii.library.unt.edu\/search~S6?\/jFox+film+noir+%3B\/jfox+film+noir\/-3,-1,0,B\/browse\" target=\"_blank\"> Fox film noir; 1<\/a><\/span><\/sub><\/li>\r\n\t<li><sub><span class=\"small\">Hathaway, H., Dratler, J., Schoenfeld, B. C., Kohlmar, F., Ball, L., Webb, C., Bendix, W., &#8230; Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Inc.,. (2005). <a href=\"http:\/\/iii.library.unt.edu\/record=b4277200~S6\" target=\"_blank\"><i>The dark corner<\/i>.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"small\"><strong> UNT Media Library <a href=\"http:\/\/iii.library.unt.edu\/record=b4277200~S6\" target=\"_blank\">DVD 14533<\/a><\/strong> \u00a0Series: <a href=\"http:\/\/iii.library.unt.edu\/search~S6?\/jFox+film+noir+%3B\/jfox+film+noir\/-3,-1,0,B\/browse\" target=\"_blank\">Fox film noir; 10 <\/a><\/span><\/sub><\/li>\r\n\t<li><span class=\"small\"><sub> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/81004\/Laura\/\" target=\"_blank\">Laura <\/a>(1944), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/72284\/The-Dark-Corner\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Dark Corner<\/a> (1946) and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/person\/203076|33317\/Clifton-Webb\/\" target=\"_blank\">Clifton Webb<\/a>\u00a0 profiles. Turner Classic Movie Database (TCMdb) at: <\/sub><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/\" target=\"_blank\"><sub>http:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/<\/sub> <\/a><\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nHappy #Noirvember!\r\n\r\n<strong><sub>~ Lilly Ramin (@lillylibrarian)<\/sub><\/strong>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You may recognize aspects of a Film Noir classic with or without knowing the formal definition of this genre. One source defines Film Noir as \u201ca style of film-making developed in the 1940s, with a plot involving suspense, mystery, crime, and corruption, and a bleak, often shadowy, setting, or a film in this style. Film&#8230;  <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/2015\/11\/05\/enter-the-webb-the-actor-in-fox-film-noir-classics-laura-and-the-dark-corner\/\" class=\"more-link\" title=\"Read Enter the Webb: The Actor in Fox Film Noir classics Laura, and The Dark Corner.\">Read more &raquo;<\/a>","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13],"tags":[40],"class_list":["post-661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-recommendations","tag-film-noir"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5CjJ3-aF","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":765,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions\/765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}