Noir Nook: Femme Entrances | Classic Movie Hub Blog

Noir Nook: Femme Entrances

Recently, while visiting When the postman rings twice (1946) on TCM, I tweeted about Lana Turner’s first appearance in the film and said it was one of the best screen performances of all time. One of my followers suggested I do a poll to collect opinions on other contenders for this title and I thought the idea was great! So, this month of Noir Nook, I’m turning the spotlight on what I consider to be four of the greatest female performances in film noir; Next month I’ll wrap up this series with a look at four more. Let me know what you think of these choices, and tell me if you have any others that should be considered!

Lana Turner in When the postman rings twice (1946)

Turner plays Cora Smith, the wife of a roadside diner who teams up with drifter Frank Chambers (John Garfield) to murder her husband (Cecil Kellaway). Cora is many things – frustrated, sexy, ambitious, smart. And she knows how to enter a room. We first meet Cora shortly after Frank’s not-so-lucky arrival at the diner, as he waits for his burger to finish cooking. A lipstick falls to the ground and Frank traces his way to a pair of chamois that literally takes his breath away. Along with the audience, Frank’s gaze travels up to see Cora, dressed all in white, in shorts, top and turban, reaching out for the lipstick that Frank got. After recovering from his initial shock, Frank cheekily tricks Cora into coming over to get the item and she does, sauntering effortlessly across the floor before returning to the door, applying the lipstick, Frank one gives her a disdainful look and retreats back into her house. Of all the female performances on my list, Coras is my absolute favorite.

Barbara Stanwyck a double compensation (1944)

In my favorite noir, Barbara Stanwyck plays the deadly and duplicitous Phyllis Dietrichson, who teams with insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) to murder her husband (Tom Powers). If any of this sounds familiar to you, it’s because of the source materials for both When the postman rings twice and double compensation were novels by James M. Cain, both stories based on a real-life murder case from the 1920s. Phyllis’ entrance comes when Walter stops by her house to get a car insurance extension from Mr. Dietrichson. The mister isn’t home, but Phyllis is, as Walter finds out when she appears at the top of a flight of stairs. She’s wearing only a towel – she’s been sunning herself – and while modestly holding back in the shade at first, steps forward hesitantly when Walter introduces himself, and a little more interested when he explains that he’s from an insurance company. “Is there anything I can do?” she asks. Her honeyed voice combined with her bare shoulders and legs makes Walter stutter and stutter and crack a few bad jokes, but Phyllis is in complete control. We can practically see the wheels turning as she instructs her maid to lead Walter into the living room while she gets dressed. When we see her again, she comes down the stairs and we get a close-up of Phyllis’ heels and her “butterfly from an anklet” – and we get an idea of why Walter can’t (or won’t) resist her.

Jane Greer a From the past (1947)

From the past, which many consider the epitome of noir, stars Robert Mitchum as private dick Jeff Markham, Kirk Douglas as Whit Sterling, a ruthless but cunning gangster, and Jane Greer as Kathie Moffat, Whit’s mistress who flees after she shoots him and – allegedly – stolen $40,000. Whit hires Jeff to find Kathie, but the private cock gets more than he bargained for when he finds her. Our first glimpse of Kathie comes from Mexico, where Jeff has followed her trail and where he waits patiently in a dimly lit local coffee shop day after day. “And then I saw her,” Jeff recalls from the off, “and I knew why Whit didn’t bother with those forty grand.” What we – and Jeff – see is Kathie walking into the cafe, all in white Dressed from her wide-brimmed hat to her high-heeled shoes, a flowy fitted dress and a clutch purse that looks to all the world like some kind of sophisticated, untouchable angel. She sits wordlessly at a table next to Jeff and lights a cigarette. And Jeff is drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

Joan Bennett in The woman in the window (1944)

Edward G. Robinson plays Professor Richard Wanley, who early in the film bids farewell to his wife and children (one of whom is played by Bobby Blake, later best known as TV) for a summer away. beret). Later, on his way to meet friends at his club, Wanley is fascinated by the portrait of a beautiful dark-haired woman in a shop window. The woman in the painting is Alice Reed (Joan Bennett), and she enters after Wanley leaves the club and is once again attracted to the painting. Looking at it, he suddenly sees the image of another woman reflected in the shop window and realizes that it is the subject of the painting that seems to have come to life. He turns and sees Alice Reed standing next to him, who reveals that she posed for the painting and admits that she visits the shop front to watch people’s faces as they look at the painting. Moments later, just before they walk off together, she grabs Wanley by the arms and informs him, “I’m not married, I have nothing to do with you, and one drink is all I care about.” Unfortunately for Wanley, that is noir and his future with Alice doesn’t end with a drink.

Visit the Noir Nook next month for my next four female appearances!

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– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Karen’s Noir Nook articles here.

Karen Burroughs Hannsberry is the author of the blog Shadows and Satin, which focuses on films and performers from the film noir and pre-Code eras, and is the editor-in-chief of The Dark Sides, a bi-monthly newsletter dedicated to film noir. Karen is also the author of two books on film noir – Femme Noir: The Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. You can follow Karen on Twitter at @TheDarkPages.
If you are interested in learning more about Karen’s books, you can read more about them on Amazon here: