Noir Nook: Femme Entrances – Part 2

Noir Nook: Femme Entrances – Part 2

Last month I offered four women who have given us some of the best performances in film noir: Cora Smith (Lana Turner) in When the postman rings twice (1946), Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) in double compensation (1944), Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer) in From the past (1947) and Alice Reed (Joan Bennett) in woman in the window (1944). This month I’m wrapping up this series with four more noir femmes with memorable performances.

Rita Hayworth a guild (1946)

The history of guild has a range of themes and several moving parts, including jealousy, revenge, passion and a “tungsten cartel” (whatever that is) – but at its core is the fine line between love and hate. In the title role, Rita Hayworth plays the mysterious Gilda, whose past is almost entirely unknown to us, except that we know she was once a Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford), right-hand man of casino owner Ballin Mundson (George Macready). We find out when Ballin returns from a trip with a new woman: Gilda. And it’s Gilda’s reunion with Johnny that sets the backdrop for her legendary performance. Johnny arrives at Ballin’s house, eager to see his boss after his absence. As Ballin opens the door to his bedroom, we – along with Johnny – hear the sultry strains of a woman’s voice vocalizing to a vinyl record. As Johnny’s face begins to recognize itself, Ballin calls out, “Gilda. Are you decent?” Our gaze is drawn into the room where Gilda suddenly sits up from below the camera, tossing back her mane of hair and smiling, asks, “Me?” Then she sees Johnny as he emerges from the shadows, and her smile fades. “Sure,” she says, pulling her dress up to cover one shoulder. “I’m decent.” It’s an introduction that will practically take your breath away.

Ava Gardner a The murderers (1946)

The murderers begins with two hitmen chasing down ex-boxer Ole Andersson (Burt Lancaster) and fatally shooting him in his bed. The rest of the film focuses on an insurance investigator’s (Edmund O’Brien) attempts to find out who killed Ole and why. As the story develops through a series of flashbacks, we meet Ole, his girlfriend Lilly Harmon (Virginia Christine, later the pitchwoman for Folgers Coffee), his best friend (Sam Levene), and Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner), the wife who steals his heart. More than 30 minutes into the film we meet Kitty when Ole and Lilly are attending a party. Upon arrival, they are greeted by the clang of piano keys and shown to the shindig’s host, Kitty, who sits on the piano bench with her back to us. She’s wearing a silky black one-shoulder dress, and even before we see her face, we suspect she’s something special. Mind you, her appearance isn’t flashy at all — it’s short and low-key. When introduced to Ole and Lilly, Kitty turns to them, gives them a friendly smile, says a simple “hello,” then turns away. The exchange lasts less than five seconds, but Ole is drawn to her like he’s made of steel, and Kitty has magnets sewn into the hem of her dress. (And in the same amount of time, Lilly knows her relationship with Ole is over.)

Peggy Cummins in gun crazy (1950)

gun crazy tells the story of Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins) and Bart Tare (John Dall), hapless lovers à la Bonnie and Clyde who are good gunners, fall madly in love and go on a crime spree. The film’s plot begins when Bart returns home after military service and meets up with two childhood friends to attend a local carnival. When the trio pays a visit to a sniper show – which is right down the alley from gun enthusiast Bart – he gets his first glimpse of Laurie. Before she enters, she is introduced to the crowd by Packy (Berry Kroeger), the carnival’s owner and manager, who teases her quite a bit, calling her “the famous, the dangerous, the beautiful… straight from London, England, and naming the capitals.” of the continent…so attractive, so dangerous, so beautiful to look at!” Then we hear a series of gunshots and see smoke from the gunshots – and on screen comes Laurie, dressed in a western outfit and holding a gun in each hand. With a sultry gaze, she surveys the crowd, spots Bart (leaning excitedly forward in his seat with a grinning face), points a gun at him, and pulls the trigger. Bart is addicted.

Jean Wallace a The big station wagon (1955)

One of my favorite noirs The big station wagon Cornel Wilde stars as Leonard Diamond, a principled detective determined to take down local mob boss Mr. Brown (Richard Conte). Jean Wallace is Susan Lowell, a frail, unstable socialite who is not only Mr. Brown’s mistress but also the object of Diamond’s long-distance desire. We meet Susan in the bowels of a boxing arena early in the film. Dressed in a strapless black cocktail dress and heels and accompanied by the sounds of the roaring crowd, Susan runs in and out of the shadows; We soon see that she is being hunted by two men – Mingo (Earl Holliman) and Fante (Lee Van Cleef), who are minions of Mr. Brown. After she manages to avoid them for a while, she eventually gets trapped, with a man on either side and Mingo holding on to her arm. Susan begs them to let her go, but they refuse. (“Mr. Brown’s already upset. We lost you for two minutes.”) Susan promises she won’t run away, and Mingo lets go of her arm. When he does, Susan unhesitatingly smacks him in the face with her purse, sniffs haughtily, and walks away, head held high. It may not be the first female appearance you think of, but it’s one you won’t forget.

And that’s it! Do you have favorite femme entrances? Let me know!

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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: