There is a parody of this sort of scene in Altman's "The Player" (a scene

being shot on a set).  "Detour" has a couple of crummy hotel room scenes,

but I don't recall the soundtrack.



Chris Ames



> -----Original Message-----

> From: [log in to unmask] [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]

> Sent: Friday, November 12, 1999 9:14 AM

> To:   [log in to unmask]

> Subject:      QUERY: Iconic Noir Moments

>

> [please forgive cross-posting]

>

>

> help . . . i'm trapped in a generational bog and need help

> to extricate myself . . .  in talking about film noir to an intro

> to film class i tried to evoke recognition by alluding to

> an almost archetypal noir moment:

>

>    a single guy, perhaps wearing a trenchcoat, in a

>    crummy hotel room alone at night;   the hotel's neon

>    sign is just outside his window blinking on and off, the

>    light shining on him through the venetian blinds in the

>    window;  outside it is of course raining;    on the

>    soundtrack either a wailing saxophone and/or a voice

>    over narration talking, saying something bitter and

>    cynical on the order of  "everything seemed to be

>    swell,  until . . ."

>

> this iconic moment, so often parodied, seems indelibly

> impressed on my [our?] cinematic memories, but to most

> of my students it rang absolutely no bells . . . some recognized

> one or another detail, but the package as a whole meant

> nothing [and many of them didn't even know what a saxophone

> was] . . . so i determined to find one or two moments from

> classic noirs that i could show them and that would give

> them this useful touchstone . . .   but then, to my chagrin, i

> discovered that i could not off the top of my head think of

> a single moment in any film that really represented this

> scene . . . i could come up with lots of sequences that

> had one or two of the elements, but not a single one that

> gave me the whole package . . .

>

> is it possible that  there are no such moments? . . . that in

> fact this is just a parodic pastiche of elements that never

> in the original films came together in quite this way? . . . i really

> hope not  . . . . . .  so i'm asking for references to sequences

> in films, preferably [but not necessarily] films of  the forties

> and fifties, that embody all [or at least most] of these elements . . .

>

> all suggestions will be very much appreciated . . . thanks

>

> mike frank

>

> ----

> Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the

> University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu



----

Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the

University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu