Out of the Past

I was in San Francisco visiting my 90 year young mama, who, being a lifelong learner, took me to her Film Noir class at the Fromm Institute. The institute is a SF gem, a center for anyone with grey hair who wishes to learn about art, music, literature, history, politics, whatever.

At her class, I had the singular joy of viewing a film from...1947! OK, for those cynics who refuse to watch a film in black and white and consider the 40's the Age of the Dinosaurs (for example, my kids), get out and rent this oldie!

Film Noir got its name from two sources. The concept of "noir" implied a dark, mean-spirited, almost demonesque theme. In any good film noir, there had to be villains with very amoral, and immoral, values. The second meaning of noir concerned the marvelous use of black and whilte....shadows and shading to reflect the obscure, secretive nature of the protagonists.

That said, take a voyage back in time to an engaging thriller. Robert Mitchum plays the lead as the former private eye who wants to escape his past by running a gas station. Kirk Douglas, in one of his earliest roles, portrays the gangster who won't leave the private eye alone. After all, there are past grudges that must be resolved! Then there's the stunningly beautiful Jane Greer who dazzles in her role as the femme fatale.

Go back to a time when the film industry shined, when protagonists blew smoke in each others' eyes, when intrigue was a true art form. You'll be glued to the screen as the twisted plot unfolds, and as characters evolve.

They don't make 'em like that any more!