On O List of Movie Reviews

(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)


Out of the Past (1947)

Rate: 7
Viewed: 8/06, 2/24

OutP
8/06: Everything was working out perfectly in Out of the Past until the final thirty minutes or so which caused it to crumble.

It was a perfect noir piece. Just a shame. It showed tautness before things got loose, losing sight of the objective. As a result, the ending is bland, predictable, and disappointing.

Out of the Past feels exactly like Casablanca: great writing, vintage dialogue, swift acting, delicious subtlety, and perfect characters. Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, and Jane Greer are excellent. Admittedly, I've never been a Robert Mitchum fan, but this one almost has me converted.

All in all, Out of the Past is a "should've been."

2/24: You've got to hand it to Robert Mitchum: nobody was better than him, of course, with the exception of Humphrey Bogart.

It's a matter of style. Both are unique and perfect for film noir. Well, I gave Out of the Past another chance and now raise my rating from '5' to '7'. It's still the same issue: that convoluted second half. What a mistake. The flashback technique was perfect as Geoffrey Homes' writing came off so well that's suitable to Robert Mitchum's taste. As soon as it's over, there went the film. It started getting more and more complicated for no reason. I therefore got lost for good. Of course, you could ask Robert Mitchum about it, and true to form, he'll nonchalantly say, "Two or three pages were lost in the mimeo department."

To fix the issue, I would've stayed with the flashback longer in order to deepen the chemistry between Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer. After getting out of it, the denouement could be short with a few setups. That's good enough for a film noir right there. There's no need to complicate matters any further. As the femme fatale, Kathie Moffat is certainly bad to the bone. By the way, when the deaf mute said yes to Ann at the end, I'm quite sure he didn't understand the question.

All in all, Out of the Past has all the right elements from the get-go only to be handled so badly during the second half.