What is the Sexiest Film Noir? [An exchange between David Lehman and Suzanne Lummis]

Suzanne Lummis

For the chemistry between Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, as “Slim,” the drifter who’s been living by her wits and an occasional lifted wallet, and Harry “Steve” Morgan, expatriate American with a fishing boat for hire, and for their subtly charged exchanges, that’d be To Have and Have Not.  And, of course, it includes perhaps the most sexually electric lines of dialog on film—certainly from that era—beautifully delivered by Bacall in her low, sly, silky voice: “You know you don’t have to act with me, Steve. You don’t have to say anything, you don’t have to do anything. Or, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don’t you Steve…”

Director Howard Hawks, together with the writers, primarily Jules Furthman, William Faulkner, and some contributions from Papa himself, pulled apart and re-imagined Ernest Hemingway’s story, setting it in the French territory of Martinique during the Nazi occupation of France.  So, in this 1944 movie the balmy island paradise becomes a microcosmic setting for the global battle between good and bottomless evil, while the evolution of the script involved a dance between the Production Code people and the writers.  The censors curtailed what the movie-makers could show, and the writers kept striving to outwit them with smoky, sultry dialog.  Amidst this battle, and this dance, Bacall, the young actress in her first role, and Bogart, by now a star, were falling in love. Does it come across on camera? Does it ever. 

Small wonder that shortly after this movie wrapped, Bogart ended his fraught, unhappy marriage, and Bogart/Bacall became one of the most celebrated couples in Hollywood history. 

If some know To Have and Have Not only from the "...you know how to whistle" line, c'mon now. Take the time to see the whole movie.  Like Casablanca, it charts the evolution of a laissez-faire type of guy coming into his own sense of moral conscience. However, it includes some flavors Casablanca does not. 

David Lehman

Many would say Out of the Past should get the award for sexual heat. Three reasons are Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. Greer is as fatal as cyanide without the after odor of almonds, and the dialogue is hot. For example,

Kathie (Jane Greer): Did you miss me?
Jeff (Robert Mitchum): No more than I would miss my eyes.

 

While I would divide my own vote between Out of the Past and Double Indemnity, I would also register my admiration for the sexuality of Gun Crazy (1950). Joseph H. Lewis directed, and the script was written by MacKinlay Kantor and the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo. The leading characters, Bart (John Dall) and Laurie (Peggy Cummins), seem young and ordinary; they’re not stars on the magnitude of Mitchum or Barbara Stanwyck, and you can see in them younger versions of yourself. There’s all that phallic imagery, all the guns, and how comfortable she is handling one. It’s significant that Dahl is a pacifist before sharpshooter Cummins casts her spell over him. She is the “bad” one, and it is the power of the fatal female not only to corrupt her partner but to bring out the manly beast in him. The partnership between hero and heroine is a bond which they can’t dissolve, try as they might. They are in it till death do them part. They go on a robbery spree, though they know it will lead to a fatal end after, of course, one last job. They can’t help themselves. Their very desperation adds to the sexual energy between them.

This is the eleventh in a series on film noir. Click here to see the others.

Comments

[Jeffrey Bryant]

Great choices. To Have and Have Not is one of my favorites and not only sexy but in a sustained way, with Bacall's every glance and gesture drips sexuality. The phallic imagery re Gun Crazy is so true now that David mentions it...I'll have to revisit. I think Lana Turner's first appearance in Postman ranks up there with Stanwyck's. It's all those first appearances in great noirs - mutual casing up and down and edits between reactions...if you as the viewer aren't replicating one or the other character's facial reaction yourself while watching then there's not much hope for you. Maybe both characters are equally alluring!

I think perhaps Laura has, for me, revealed itself over time to be one of the oddly un-sexiest of noirs notwithstanding the central character's exquisite beauty and the general cinematic atmosphere. Tierney has moments in her career (mostly I think in Leave Her to Heaven), but despite her magnetism attracting the three male leads (Lydecker's being very distinct from Carpenter and McPherson) she comes off cold to me. The film has many other elements (music of course) and should be sexier than it is when put together. It seems to be one of those classics that has more in the way of reputation for sexiness than delivery. Anyway I like your selections and again agree strongly about Slim.

[Suzanne Lummis]

Jeffrey, thank you for this latest of your well-considered comments and observations. Interesting -- your take on "Laura." Many like that movie, but... I've never figured out why. I can't abide it, at least I can't abide the part I've seen. I've started watching it twice and stopped twice. To me, it doesn't feel like noir just a slow-moving, painfully dated movie. It doesn't unfold on the city streets, right? I'm watching it thinking 'why am I trapped in this freaking well-appointed mansion, with these boring people!?' And I do Not like Dana Andrews. That Guy Can't Act.

[Steven]

Hey, this day is too much good for me, since this time I am reading this enormous informative article here at my home. Thanks a lot for massive hard work. HDfriday