I am
weeks late in touting the glories of the latest issue of Noir City. But I’ll make
it up to you with some bonus material, howzabout that?
You
may recall that with this edition I became Editor-in-Chief of the Film Noir Foundation’s
magazine. It’s a doozy of a debut issue if I do say so myself, thanks in large part
to a stem-to-stern redesign courtesy of my estimable colleague Michael Kronenberg.
(My input on his sweeping visual changes basically consisted of me saying, “Damn,
that looks great.”)
The
content on those gorgeous pages is terrific, too, beginning with Imogen Sara
Smith’s two-part cover story on the extraordinary life and films of Jose
Giovanni. We also welcome two Twitter luminaries to the magazine: Farran Smith
Nehme (aka the Self-Styled Siren) with a look at noir’s favorite cad Zachary
Scott; and Nora Fiore—the one and only Nitrate Diva—brought us a stunning look
at the overlap of film noir and advertising aimed at women in the 1940s.
There’s
also a suite of articles on one of my favorite films of last year, Motherless
Brooklyn (including an interview with writer/producer/director/star Edward
Norton); Ray Banks on the many big-screen iterations of Patricia Highsmith’s
Tom Ripley; a fun and inventive 5 Favorites from the gifted poet Chelsey
Minnis; and more.
I
pitched in by interviewing Bill Duke, whose name appears on many modern noir
films as both actor (American Gigolo, The Limey) and director (A Rage in Harlem
and Deep Cover, which for me remains one of the best crime films of the 1990s).
Hearing the deep laughter of a man who has scared the bejesus out of me for
decades was a treat.
I
also spoke to author Sam Wasson about his latest book The Big Goodbye:
Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood. (Plus I review this essential look
at the definitive modern noir.) And here’s where we come to the bonus material.
Whenever
I interview someone, I strive to act like a professional. Sometimes I can’t
pull it off. I began my conversation by gushing over Sam Wasson’s previous book
Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art. This history of
improvisational comedy is easily one of my favorite books of recent years, a wonderful,
daft experiment in capturing the uncapturable that shouldn’t succeed, yet does.
So our interview about the greatest contemporary noir film kicked off with some
in-depth conversation about improv—
Sam
Wasson: I think it’s one of the best things a person can do, because it touches
all aspects. It touches psychotherapy, spirituality, community, art, politics,
in all the best ways possible. It’s the closest I come to religion.
As
well as the surprising overlap between the two subjects—
Sam
Wasson: It’s so funny to talk about noir in the context of improv because I
really look at improv and noir as good and evil. The good and evil Americas,
actually. Noir is like the bad America, and improv is like the American ideal.
Talking about inherently American frames of mind, improv is the American frame
of mind and the enemy of all of that, the nightmare of all of that, is the noir
frame of mind. So as much as I love one, I love the other, because they go
together.
No
wonder we got along so well.
To
receive Noir City, just contribute to the FNF. For a taste of what you’ll be getting,
several stories from the previous issue are now available online, including my “Noir or Not?” essay on The Lost Weekend. And speaking of me elsewhere …
One More—Actually, Two More Things
Rosemarie
and I, in our guise as Renee Patrick, appeared on the latest episode of the
classic movie podcast Old Hollywood Realness. The subject of this special
quarantine edition: Rear Window. Join us as we join our friends Philip and
Kathleen to discuss Edith Head, Alfred Hitchcock, and what the neighbors are up
to.
