tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post6594865141864750662..comments2024-01-11T05:02:32.321-05:00Comments on Goodfella's Movie Blog: #85: Journey Into Fear (Norman Foster, 1943)Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07134196370913749544noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-77477994376156738942010-01-27T21:54:26.789-05:002010-01-27T21:54:26.789-05:00There is certainly a thematic similarity with THE ...There is certainly a thematic similarity with THE STRANGER, and cinematically Welles' mark is to be seen throughout this work, which deserves inclusion on this countdown. JOURNEY is a claustrophobic piece with some experimental camera angles and some compelling set pieces. It's the "calm" before teh storm...ie. TOUCH OF EVIL, THE THIRD MAN.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-47498070958974810002010-01-26T12:35:17.207-05:002010-01-26T12:35:17.207-05:00Tony - Excellent response and much appreciated.
J...Tony - Excellent response and much appreciated.<br /><br />John - Yes, the Welles influence is certainly there, but I do think that Foster turned out some other excellent noirs without Welles involved, so I wouldn't completely discount his contribution.<br /><br />Samuel - Very interesting comparisons. There are certainly scenes (such as Tony pointed out) that just scream of being directed by Welles. But Foster was a very capable director himself, in my opinion, so I don't think that he was something along the lines of a puppet.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07134196370913749544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-4191088228439441432010-01-26T11:44:56.915-05:002010-01-26T11:44:56.915-05:00Dave, comparisons with The Thing From Another Worl...Dave, comparisons with The Thing From Another World and Poltergeist are more apt, since in all three cases a master auteur played the producer's role of supervising a director. It may be a simple matter in all cases of a creative producer telling the director what to do rather than taking over for him. Ironic as it may seem given the circumstances, it was Welles's job at the time.<br /><br />I haven't read the Ambler novel but I have read A Coffin for Dimitrios, also featuring Col. Haki, and I agree that Cotten et al got the tone right here.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-30334128793558213222010-01-26T07:46:14.231-05:002010-01-26T07:46:14.231-05:00This is the first film in your count down I have n...This is the first film in your count down I have not seen however; from your enthusiastic review and Tony's comments, I am going to have to add this one to my list.<br />Looking at Norman Foster's credits on IMDB it’s hard to believe, from yours and Tony's descriptions, that Foster rose to such heights on this rare occasion. Welles must have had some “influence” on this production.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01808503055317962289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578997264816756307.post-31273751633580448182010-01-26T01:01:25.825-05:002010-01-26T01:01:25.825-05:00A flawed gem, Journey Into Fear is in a class of i...A flawed gem, Journey Into Fear is in a class of its own, and reminds me of John Huston’s glorious Beat The Devil. Both movies have one guiding tenet: life is meant to be irreverent fun!<br /><br />Theres is no way Foster could have directed the beautiful opening shot before the credits that cranes up and peers into the window of a dingy hotel room at night and ends only after 80 seconds when the occupant leaves, or the magnificent climax on the outside ledges of another hotel at night during a rain-storm, which are both signature Welles.<br /><br />Despite the butchering by RKO hacks, Journey Into Fear survives as a fascinating noir satire with moody atmospherics, exotic locales, sexy dames, weird villains, politics, wisdom, philosophy, and a wry humor. Novelist Eric Ambler's sardonic humor was understood by Welles, who knew noir can be fun. <br /><br />Those familiar with Ambler's early novels, will know that the on-screen person of Joseph Cotton is a perfect fit for the typical Ambler hero: a timid middle-class everyman who becomes unwittingly embroiled in a nefarious and dangerous caper where he discovers guile and courage he never thought himself capable of, and after his adventure, is happy to return to the succour of a comfortable obscurity. Welles himself has a rollicking good-time hamming it up as a womanising Turkish intelligence officer. Dolores Del Rio is wonderful as a cabaret singer with sexy exotic charm, loyalty, and a calm worldly-wise aplomb: she is the perfect foil to the shy and unromantic Cotten.<br /><br />A connoisseur’s film: for those who rejoice in its eccentricities, wit, and romantic melodrama, while lamenting what has been lost to the barbarians.Tony D'Ambrahttp://filmsnoir.netnoreply@blogger.com