THE BIG CHAT |
Interview Series |
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Session with Alain Silver |
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Holding
a PhD in Film History and Film Production from UCLA, he is the lead
editor for Film Noir: the Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style
and Film Noir Reader 1 and 2. Alain Silver currently produces and
directs films in |
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This interview was held just after the publication of Film Noir Reader 3, published by Limelight Editions and edited by Alain Silver. Board moderator Maura Willheim opened the interview, presented here in its entirety. | ||||
More on all of the author's books | ||||
http://members.aol.com/alainsil/noir/ | ||||
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MAURA:
We would like to welcome you to the Dark Film Discussions forum.
First off, can we discuss for a few minutes the new Film Noir Reader 3,
that has just been published, that was in collaboration with Robert
Porfirio, and James Ursini? I am going to post all my questions in one
group, and you may answer them at your leisure, and in any order, for
the benefit of all the DFD posters. Everyone is then welcome to join in
the discussion, by submitting questions under your answers . . . first
come, first served. Have fun everybody and thanks again Alain for coming
aboard and best wishes on the success of this fine book! 1.
Film Noir Reader 3 is subtitled Interviews with Filmmakers of the
Classic Noir Period. What determining factors caused you to choose these
particular eight selectees originally to be interviewed? 2.
What are you most proud of about this compendium of interviews and
commentaries in Noir films? What caused you the most headaches or
difficulty in producing Film Noir Reader 3? 3.
Were there any surprises or revelations, even for you, in your
interviews with the most recent members of this select group of
directors, in 2001 . . . namely de Toth, Wise, and Boetticher? 4.
James Wong Howe's interview remarking on how differently he lit Burt
Lancaster in Come Back, Little Sheba as opposed to Sweet Smell of
Success fascinated me. After Howe what other cinematographers do you
personally most admire in the Noir tradition? 5.
Very seldom does one hear much discussed about the relationship of the
film score to the Noir sensibility. Is that why you included the very
informative and enlightening interview with noted composer Miklos Rozsa
in FNR3? ALAIN
SILVER (AJS):
Sorry to be late. I had a small problem with my monitor. Let
me answer question 1 to start. Question: 1.
Film Noir Reader 3 is subtitled Interviews with Filmmakers of the
Classic Noir Period. What determining factors caused you to choose these
particular eight selectees originally to be interviewed? These
were mostly selections of Bob Porfirio to help with his dissertation
research back in the 70s. He asked a lot of people and interviewed
everybody who said yes. 2.
What are you most proud of about this compendium of interviews and
commentaries in Noir films? What caused you the most headaches or
difficulty in producing Film Noir Reader 3? 2. I
had the most problems finding the chapter head illustrations, pictures
of obscure directors and others who worked in the classic. The biggest
overall problem was taken on by Jim Ursini, that is editing the hundreds
of pages of transcript, many of them free-form ramblings, of Bob's
original interviews into something more coherent and to the point. 3.
Were there any surprises or revelations, even for you, in your
interviews with the most recent members of this select group of
directors, in 2001 . . . namely de Toth, Wise, and Boetticher? 3. No
surprises really. Bob Wise needed a lot of leading questions to get him
to say something new. He's done hundreds of interviews and tends to fall
back--as do many older directors--on his tried-and-true stories. I
brought along a lot of photos and other materials. Andre doesn't need
any excuses to tell stories and did not need much prompting. Since I
have been on a DGA committee with both of them for years, I knew going
on how to proceed. Budd Boetticher was a phone interview (I had only met
him twice before) and he was quite resistant to any genre labels being
put on his pictures. I knew I would not get a full-length interview out
of him, but I spent an hour getting what little there is in the book.
Unlike Bob or Andre, Budd still had hopes of doing more pictures, which
can make one reluctant to talk about past films, as if one's career was
fossilized. Sadly for Budd, his career is now officially closed. 4.
James Wong Howe's interview remarking on how differently he lit Burt
Lancaster in Come Back, Little Sheba as opposed to Sweet Smell of
Success fascinated me. After Howe what other cinematographers do you
personally most admire in the Noir tradition? 4.
Obviously, John Alton is preeminent among the cameramen of that. His
book--Painting with Light--which was out of print for 40 years before
the recent reissue by U.C. Press, influenced a lot of my early thinking
about visual analysis of films, not just noir. Jim Ursini's interview
with John Seitz was also done long ago, so unfortunately our questions
were not always the best--but Seitz's work with John Farrow at Paramount
is fully as impressive and prototypically noir as the pictures with
Billy Wilder. 5.
Very seldom does one hear much discussed about the relationship of the
film score to the Noir sensibility. Is that why you included the very
informative and enlightening interview with noted composer Miklos Rozsa
in FNR3? 5.
While selecting Rozsa was Bob Porfirio's doing back in the 70s, it was
one of the interviews that most intrigued me when I first heard Bob's
list of who he had on tape. I have produced several Rozsa albums for two
labels (the now-defunct JOHN
SUHR:
I was a teenager when Phil Karlson was in my town directing The
Phenix City Story, as the town is just across the river (I'm in AJS:
I'm not a big Karlson fan. I like JOHN
SUHR:
IMDb lists Crane Wilbur as the scriptwriter. The facts were
loosely portrayed. There was no "little black girl thrown on the
lawn" and I don't think John Patterson got in any fistfights. I
thought the script was AJS:
Several people doctored the Mainwaring script (see his interview
in FNR3 for more pointed comments). Like other
"sensationalist" noir, it was doctored again after shooting.
Perhaps that's why the result is a little uneven. JOHN
SUHR:
This is a first for me and others as well, and I appreciate your
taking the time to answer questions and I look forward to reading your
book. MARC
AKA SAMSKAG:
Hi Alain. Here's my question: What are your favorite sub-genre
film noirs like: 1.
Women's Pictures, ex: Mildred Pierce 2.
Sci-fi Pictures, ex: The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers & I Married
A Monster From Outer Space 3.
Thriller Pictures, ex: The Uninvited & The Haunting Regards. AJS:
1. Reckless Moment 2.
This is noir sub-genre? I like Body Snatchers, but if I have to pick 50s
sci-fi, I'll take The Thing. 3. If
you mean quasi-supernatural, obviously Night has a Thousand Eyes; but,
also most of the Lewton productions, particularly (apologies to Bob
Wise) Tourneur's I Walked with A Zombie. CARL
TAIT:
Hello, Prof. Silver, and thanks very much for joining us. A few
questions: 1. Why was the ending of "Kiss Me Deadly" shortened
before release? Since the change introduced a critical ambiguity not
present in the original, the modification seems atypical of AJS:
1. In discussing it
with those persons at MGM/UA who finally restored it, the best that
anyone could determine was that the MIKE
SIEGEL:
Are you saying that the ending [of Kiss Me Deadly] was not
censored by the Kefauver Commission, as I think one of your grad
students has written? AJS:
I didn't know I had any grad students, but as far as I know there
was absolutely no censorship involved, the opinions of everyone from
Robin Wood on down notwithstanding. All the original 35mm prints had the
full ending. The negative was damaged sometime before the 16mm prints
were struck--and since they were often used in film school screenings,
the legend of censorship was born. As Aldrich often commented, he had
more problems with Madie Comfort holding the microphone that with
anything else in KMD including the ending. MIKE
SIEGEL:
Whoops! I thought you were Glenn Ericksen's prof at UCLA. Good
night; a great evening, Alain! mac: . . . from the film journal Images:
http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue02/infocus/kissdead.htm AJS:
And those who want a sleazier context, I did a longer version of
this for Femme Fatale magazine. JOHN
SUHR:
Do you like noir spoofs? I enjoyed Steve Martin's Dead Men
Don’t Wear Plaid, which showed that he understood the genre, then I'm
equally crazy about all the Leslie Nielsen's Naked Gun movies. I also
consider AJS:
I am not generally a spoof fan--but some from the era such as My
Favorite Brunette and Siodmak's Fly by Night (which I know some would
argue is not a spoof) are quite interesting. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
is okay and odd in that it is Rozsa's last score, but in a digital era,
it now seems like a lot of work for some small laughs. JAY
McINTYRE:
Is there a reason why No Man of Her Own and The Web aren't listed
in the Film Noir Encyclopedia? If there is a fourth edition of FNR will
they be listed? Thanks. AJS:
There were a lot of editorial choices made, and not all were a
consensus of the four editors. Jim Ursini went through the same process
in the third edition essay of additional titles and, when we disagreed,
I deferred to his choices. We've been asked to do a fourth edition but
neither of us is terribly enthusiastic about (that being Jim Ursini and
me, as Elizabeth Ward and Carl Macek have retired from the fray and Bob
Porfirio doesn't have enough spare time.) We'll decide in a couple of
months. ALAN
RODE: Two
questions for Mr. Alain Silver. 1. I recently viewed an American Cinema
PBS program on film noir where Paul Schrader, among others, claimed that
film noir is a genre bounded by a finite time period (1940-1960) or an
era that is long over and cannot be recaptured. I note that your Film
Noir Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style includes both film
noirs from what you refer to as the “classic period” up to 1960 and
other “neo-noirs” such as AJS:
1. Before there was an Encyclopedia, Schrader, JESSE
TODD DOCKERY:
As a genre, Film Noir seems to have garnered more
"legitimate" academic respect than the conventions of Horror
and Science Fiction, even though the practice of the latter two genres
have continued to evolve from the inception of cinema into the present.
What qualities have provided Film Noir its seemingly more validated
critical approval? AJS:
A French name. I am perfectly serious. Also it is hard to create
a really awful or lead illustration for a book or article on film noir
(and here I am thinking of the cover of the first edition of my book on
vampire film). Finally, film noir is American, and American film
dominated the prewar world cinema. What could be better for French and
British critics to argue over. MIKE
SIEGEL:
Dr. Silver, 1. I’m a neurologist (noirologist?) with an
interest in how films noirs have dealt with amnesia, particularly the
kind after head injury. Repression amnesia--e.g. Spellbound, The
Locket--is psychological and I don’t want to go there. Could you give
me some guidance into choices for best film illustrations? I am planning
to use the recent Memento and Street of Chance. 2. WW
II caused much of the societal change that is reflected in the classic
noir cycle. Yet, there were noir films and style before WW II and the
fiction that spawned the screenplays for many seminal films noirs were
written prewar. While I realize it’s hard to ignore such a world and
humanity-changing event, I wonder if you could speculate on the shape
noir would have taken if the war had not occurred. 3.
Forgetting SINGLE instances or favorites, whose work in your opinion
best embodies the essence of film noir: Director? Actor/Actress?
Cinematographer? Screenwriter? AJS:
First, a personal note: as a neurologist, you can probably
understand why I don't think a Ph.D. rates a "Dr." salutation;
but, thanks anyway. Also, while I have lectured occasionally, I escaped
from academia many years ago, so I am not a Professor either. 1.
I’m a neurologist (noirologist?) with an interest in how films noirs
have dealt with amnesia, particularly the kind after head injury.
Repression amnesia--e.g. Spellbound, The Locket--is psychological and I
don’t want to go there. Could you give me some guidance into choices
for best film illustrations? I am planning to use the recent Memento and
Street of Chance. 1.
This may be too long to answer completely right now (there are a few
others in the queue), but I would recommend Somewhere in the Night.
There are also amnesia aspects (either style or partial memory loss) in
many other pictures. Most of the other Woolrich adaptations do not have
the weaknesses of carried over into Street of Chance from Black Curtain,
the novel. The lost time aspects of Big Clock (which I meant to write
earlier in that personal favorite question, not Big Night) Ride the Pink
Horse, and Dark Corner, even Buzz's confusion in the otherwise pretty
mediocre Blue Dahlia are, for me, more interesting than most of the
straight amnesia stories. Although, if one would have taken the core
premise of Black Curtain and thrown away the bad Woolrich, it might have
been a much better result. 2. WW
II caused much of the societal change that is reflected in the classic
noir cycle. Yet, there were noir films and style before WW II and the
fiction that spawned the screenplays for many seminal films noirs were
written prewar. While I realize it’s hard to ignore such a world and
humanity-changing event, I wonder if you could speculate on the shape
noir would have taken if the war had not occurred. 2.
Now really who could speculate on this? Noir was born out of fascist
oppression. Am I to suppose if there had been no war, the fascists would
have killed off the noir creators? 3.
Forgetting SINGLE instances or favorites, whose work in your opinion
best embodies the essence of film noir: Director? Actor/Actress?
Cinematographer? Screenwriter? 3.
Director? Hard choice, but I'll have to go with Aldrich then Siodmak and
Farrow Actor/Actress? May surprise some: Robert Ryan/Gloria Grahame
Cinematographer? No surprise here, Alton Screenwriter? W.R. Burnett with
honorable mention to Sam Fuller and Bezzerides MIKE
SIEGEL:
1. I'll settle on Alain and skip the honorifics. 2.
Unless I'm mistaken, they all got here before the war. Unless you mean
killed by the fascists here
. . . Thanks for your candor and sense of humor. AJS:
1. That's how we do it in 2.
Unless I'm mistaken, they all got here before the war. Unless you mean
killed by the fascists here
. . . Thanks for your candor and sense of humor. 2.
Nothing so arcane, I'm afraid. I was thinking more along the lines of
Kevin Brownlow's mockumentary, It Happened Here, that postulated what
England would be like if the Germans had successfully invaded [it]. So
what would noir have been without the émigrés and the war? Nonexistent
or never defined, I have to think. mac:
Good evening, Mr. Silver, welcome, and thank you for visiting
this forum. After doing a bit of Web research on you, I was surprised to
discover that not only are you an author, you are also a poet, actor,
producer, and director. Bravo! Which one of these pursuits gives you the
most pleasure and why? When do you anticipate the completion of your
productions AJS:
I am not much of an actor. I just finished a polish on a novel
version of 1577 last week and will be sending it out soon. I have pulled
the script while I wait to see what happens with that. I am working on
the Conrad script next (Storm and Dust) then we'll see on the Payton. I
also have a concept involving Leigh Brackett, Faulkner, the making of
Big Sleep, and the Hawks/Zanuck croquet tournaments in development. As
you may guess from the above, I prefer writing (aside from a couple of
scenes I wrote for Beat), but have not had anything actually shot with
professional actors since a Showtime movie four years ago. mac:
(quote) "Make sure you put all the gun shots and all the
tits in it." http://www.lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/alain_silver.htm
Merci, Monsieur! Best regards on your future endeavors! AJS:
Seems like you've encountered some of my earlier comments. Thanks
for paying attention. JOHN
SUHR:
As a critic, do you think some see *more* in films than the
writer intended? I haven't had the pleasure of reading your book or your
reviews but I have read others through the years. After viewing the
actual films, being familiar with the actors true personae and
considering the simpler times in which some were written, I sometimes
feel that SOME reviewers see infinitely more *facets*, twists, turns and
subtle messages than the writer or director ever dreamed of, or had a
clue to their being. Similarly, The Beatles once said that they recorded
a lot of balderdash lyrics, pure nonsense and there were psychologists
all over the world ANALYZING what they were trying to say. They would
roll in the floor laughing at the interpretations. Likewise, especially
in the "B" genre of low budgets and low-paid writers and
multiple script changes, edits and other curve-balls that occur in
filming--do you consider that some more "in-depth" reviews see
subtleties and assumed *messages* that never existed in the original
creation of the films. I would even suggest that certain ad-libbed
nuances by individual actors could change the overall tone of the film
like the twist of a Rubik’s Cube. In a nutshell--I believe that many
films we love are simpler stories closer to the surface plot than some
reviewer with zeal for the title may assume. What do you think? AJS:
The simple answer is I don't care what anyone intended. What I
see in films is what I believe the phenomenological author intended.
What others see is the same for them. Critics suggest readings, which
(if properly done) enrich the experience. But, ideally no one should
read what any critic has to say before seeing the film. Of course, who
has the time to see everything--hence reviewers. As a producer, what I
see in a script are possibilities: scenes from which a talented director
and actors might create dramatic (or comic) moments and stitch those
together into a compelling narrative. I can also tell you that, no
matter how well intentioned or talented those involved may be, those
possibilities are more often missed than realized. MIKE
SIEGEL:
Dr. Silver, as a physician, I see a big difference between
illness and character flaws. I have the idea that films like Double Life
and Leave Her to Heaven are tragedies rather than film noir because they
deal with unfortunate pathology, rather than garden variety human
foibles to which we are ALL prone. Your thoughts? Thanks for your time
and cordiality. AJS:
I don't think the sociopathic character (Leave Her to Heaven) is
the best type of narrative core for noir--but how is compulsive behavior
necessarily tragic AND why are noir and tragedy mutually exclusive? The
compulsions of the actor in Double Life are akin to those of the con man
in Reckless Moment. The core of noir is the realization, whether through
mischance or error, that fate has looked unfavorably on you. Some noir
figures meet that fate tragically, some don't. CYNTHIA:
Thanks Mr. Silver, Dark Marc, Monica and everybody who made this
possible! This was awesome and adds to my enjoyment of more films. I
read all this in awe. I have millions of questions but none better than
those asked. Thank you, thank you, thank you! MAURA:
Whenever this After Hours Noir Joint closes . . . just want to
say thank you again, Alain Silver, for stopping in and indulging us!
Much appreciation for your time expended and all the in-depth answers. AJS:
You're all most welcome--sorry that my typing could not keep pace
with your questions, which were quite thoughtful. Since it is early here
on the west coast, I will go back and pick up comments on a couple of
the threads. I will post a URL below, should anyone want to see my
bibliography page--which does have links to the online pieces at Images
magazine and the Film Noir Reader One site (http://members.aol.com/alainsil/biblio.htm). JESSE:
What's the fate of BEAT? I'd read about this film some time ago
ignorant, of Mr. silver's involvement. Since I was kicking around
Burroughs's name here recently, I wonder what the deal is on its
completion/distribution. Seemed like a novel idea for a film to me . . . AJS:
There is now a domestic deal for video with Lion's Gate. All that
is required is for one of my rather dispirited (for very good reason)
fellow producers to get together with me and/or the post-production
supervisor and assemble the elements needed for delivery. In
anticipation of that, I just put the Web site back up on one of my
servers and will try to update it when I know the release date. mac:
Has your book on Roger Corman been published yet? I haven't seen
it in bookstores. (http://members.aol.com/alainsil/biblio.htm) AJS:
I actually have a call in to one of the Silman-James' editors,
who keep telling me any day now, because a guy who loaned us stills in
1999 would like to get them back. Jim Ursini and I turned in the
manuscript in March of 2000, and that is a long time to publication for
Silman-James but pretty standard for Overlook. By the way, I don't know
what the cover will look like, I just cobbled that one together to have
something on the page. mac:
What literature on film noir do you highly regard and recommend;
i.e., what's on your library shelves? Which writers who have critiqued,
analyzed, or celebrated noir do you admire? AJS:
We pretty much covered that through 1992 in the essay in the
Encyclopedia, third edition. Since then, I like the informal style of
anthologies--even a pastiche like Big Book of Noir over Jim Naremore's
Something More than Night. I do refer to the French book by Patrick
Brion every so often, but it's even more expensive than The Noir Style. mac:
Thanks for the info and for your much appreciated time and
patience. Signing off from ALAN:
Mr. Silver, What is your opinion on the noir films of Anthony
Mann. Some of his early work with Eagle-Lion including Raw Deal, He
Walked By Night (with or for Werker), T-Men, The Black Book (histonoir?),
and Strange Impersonation are impressive. Do you attribute the relative
merit of some these films more to Mann or John Alton? Regards. AJS:
I think Anthony Mann is a great director, better than many of the
others I have cited this evening; but The Naked Spur and El Cid (far
removed from John Alton) are not film noir. Certainly Raw Deal and T-Men
are significant. All the noir films are worth seeing, but none of them
are as good as Devil's Doorway. ALAN: Dr. Silver, thanks for the great feedback. I loved The Naked Spur and The Far North by Mann. Will have to see Devils Doorway ASAP. Regards. |
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Alain Silver's interview was copied and archived by mac. Maura Willheim led the interview before the board was opened to question and answer session. | ||||
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