Out of the Past (1957)
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer and Kirk Douglas
97 minutes
My oh my... this is a true film noir...
In the beginning of this story, a shady looking character drives into a gas station in the middle of no where. He’s looking for the owner of the gas station, Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum), and waits after talking to the deaf boy that works there. The shady character and Bailey meet and Bailey is told to go to Lake Taho to meet Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas).
Bailey, who has a swell girlfriend called Ann (Rhonda Fleming) takes her along for the ride to Taho and explains his mysterious past. We then are taken back in time via flashback.
Many years ago Jeff Markham (his name before he changed it) was a detective and he accepted an assignment from Sterling to find and bring back his girlfriend, Kathie (Jane Greer). Kathie had shot Sterling and supposedly stole $40,000 from him.
Markham tracks Kathie down in Acapulco where he falls head over heals in love with her. They run away back to America and hide together but eventually Markham’s old partner spots them and blackmails him. The partner is murdered by Kathie, who runs away from Markham. Markham ends up at the gas station which brings us back to the present situation in the story.
The second half of the movie has Markham taking one more assignment by Sterling and that is to recover some income tax records from a man called Eels, that is blackmailing Sterling. Eels is murder and Markham is sure to take the blame for this... will he be able to prove his innocence and return to a “normal” life?
Out of the Past is a very good movie if you’re into this kind of genre (film noir). I was slightly surprised at the pace that the second half moves at. There’s a lot of stuff to absorb and the ending lingers in your mind.
This film has an exceptional femme fatale (Kathie) and Mitchum’s character falls for her beauty very quickly. We know from Markham’s confessional voice over that he knew he was a sucker. Kathie throughout the whole movie manipulates Markham and Sterling... when she meets Markham again she looks at him so convincingly and says, “Can’t you ever feel sorry for me?” Lady, after what you put this man through, I don’t see any reason why he should feel any sympathy for you...
I enjoyed the language used in this movie. There’s a lot of sexist language as the word “dame” is used frequently. “You’re a real cute package,” was one line that I got a laugh out of.
Another moment in the film that got me laughing was how Mitchum would so casually smoke a cigarette right next to the gas pump at the gas station.
This movie has a lot of strong performances from all of the characters. The only complaint that I have would be Mitchum’s trench coat. I don’t think this specific style of trench coat will ever become popular again...
Besides the trench coat, I’d give this film 4 stars out of 5.
