Postcards From Shadowland’s Big Fat No.10

Alexandra Schmidt in Mother Kraus' jounrey to happiness mutter-krausens-fahrt-ins-gluck-schmidt — Alexandra Schmidt in ‘Mother Krause’s Journey to Happiness’ (1929)

all-about-eve-anne-baxter-bette-davis-marilyn-monroe-richard carlson-george sanders-celeste holm — Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s brilliant satire- All About Eve (1950) starring the inimitable Bette Davis as Margo Channing and Ann Baxter as the cunning Eve Harrington.

All's Quet on the Western Front — Director Lewis Milestone’s All’s Quiet on the Western Front-(1930) starring Lew Ayres

anatomy of murder scene — Otto Preminger’s riveting court room noir Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

battleship-potemkin-odessa-steps-sergei-eisenstein — Battleship Potemkin (1925) Sergei Eisenstein’s masterpiece about the great Russian naval mutiny.

Brute Force — Jule’s Dassin’s brutal noir masterpiece Brute Force (1947)

Cat-on-a-Hot-Tin-Roof-elizabeth-taylor-scene — Richard Brooks adaptation of Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

DameJudith:MrsDanvers — Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca 1940

janet-leigh-touch-of-evil-charlton-heston — Orson Welles’ film classic Touch of Evil (1958)

notre-dame-hunchbackLaughton — William Dieterle’s adaptation of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1939

kiss of death — Henry Hathaway’s disturbing noir classic Kiss of Death 1947

Laura — Otto Preminger’s quintessential noir Laura (1944)

Lee Remick in Experiment in Terror 1960 — Blake Edwards Experiment in Terror 1960

Earth Vs The Spider — Bert I. Gordon’s Earth Vs The Spider 1958

Dracula's Daughter — Lambert Hillyer’s understated yet powerfully erotic horror classic Dracula’s Daughter 1936

Linda darnell no way out — Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s taut and thought provoking social noir No Way Out 1950

little-caesar-edward-g-robinson — Mervyn LeRoy’s gangster odyssey Little Caesar 1931

Day the earth stood still robert wise — Robert Wise’s Science Fiction masterpiece The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

long dark hall — Reginald Beck and Anthony Bushell’s suspenseful The Long Dark Hall 1951

loretta-young-lon-chaney-laugh-clown-laugh — Herbert Brenon’s beautiful Laugh, Clown, Laugh 1928

m-peter-lorre- — Fritz Lang’s notorious psychological thriller M (1931)

Monday Nights with Oscar — Otto Preminger’s noir masterpiece about addiction The Man with the Golden Arm 1955

allison hayes Attack of the 50 foot woman — Nathan Juran’s iconic 50s campy sci-fi romp Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)

marsha-hunt-actress-raw-deal-john-ireland — Anthony Mann’s noir classic Raw Deal (1948)

Mother Joan of the Angels — Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s surreal and transcendent Mother Joan of the Angels 1961

Nancy Kelly in The Bad Seed — Mervyn LeRoy’s naughty tale about a child psychopath. The Bad Seed (1956)

naked kiss2 — Samuel Fuller’s irreverent noir gem The Naked Kiss (1964)

odd+man+out+1947 — Carol Reed’s intense noir thriller Odd Man Out (1947)

Norma Desmond — Billy Wilder’s iconic film noir masterwork of grand proportions Sunset Blvd (1950)

orphee-jean-marais — Jean Cocteau’s stunning Orpheus (1950) Orphée

outofthepas — Jacques Tourneur’s hauntingly mesmerizing noir Out of the Past (1947)

Peggy Cummings Gun Crazy — Joseph E. Lewis Gun Crazy or Deadly is the Female (1950)

penny_serenade — George Steven’s sadness and joyful Penny Serenade (1941)

frankenstein — James Whale’s campy take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein 1931

the+black+cat — Edgar G. Ulmer’s sadistic and transgressive journey into horror The Black Cat 1934

vampyr — Carl Theodor Dreyer’s masterful vision of quiet uncanny horror Vampyr (1932)

prowler-tale — Joseph Losey’s titillating noir The Prowler ((1951)

photo-Les-Diaboliques-1954-3 — Henri-Georges Clouzot’s brilliantly chilling Les-Diaboliques-1955

Seance — Bryan Forbes’ compelling suspense thriller Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)

Seven Chances — Buster Keaton’s fantastic Seven Chances (1925)

SCARFACE (1932) — Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson’s SCARFACE (1932)

sparrows-mary-pickford — William Beaudine’s haunting Sparrows (1926)

Bride of Frankestein — James Whales even campier and finest work The Bride of Frankenstein 1935

streetcar-named-desire-leigh-brando — Elia Kazan’s volatile theme of desolation and passion based on Tennessee William’s play A Streetcar Named Desire 1951

SUNSET BOULEVARD — some more divine SUNSET BOULEVARD 1950

the nymph ward shock corridor — Samuel Fuller’s edgy Shock Corridor (1963)

old-dark-house-karloff-stuart — Jame’s Whale’s The Old Dark House 1932

They-Live-By-Night — Nicholas Ray’s incredibly beautiful film noir journey They Live By Night (1948)

Theo and Eleanor — Robert Wise’s uncompromising ghost story adapted from Shirley Jackson’s novel The Haunting (1963)

white-heat-james-cagney-600x450 — Raoul Walsh’s iconic crime thriller White Heat (1949)

Reccuring Iconography in Classic Noir, Suspense & Horror: Stairs…

battleship-potemkin the steps — Battleship Potemkin 1925- Sergei Eisenstein known for his montage framing and editing offers up the epic dramatization of the social uprising in Russia, which brought about a grim massacre with an iconic scene of the baby carriage plummeting down the great stone steps.

Caligari — Dr. Caligari’s somnambulist, Cesare (Conrad Veidt) ascends the abstraction of a stairway to nowhere…in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

nosferatu+stairs — F.W. Murnau’s 1922 masterpiece of shadow and light. With subtle prominence, the silhouette of the stair rails makes cogent the sinister outline of Max Schreck’s Nosferatu all the more.

blackmail 1929 — Alfred Hitchcock’s crime thriller Blackmail (1929).

She 1935 — She 1935 Irving Pichel and Lansing C Holden’s fantastical saga based on H. Rider Haggard’s novel about an ancient esoteric civilization reigned over by the cruel high priestess She who must be obeyed, upon the steps by the secret eternal flame of everlasting youth! with an intoxicating score by Max Steiner.

she-1935-color-vs-black-white- — Again in 1935, SHE was released in both B&W and a gorgeous colorized version. I’ll be doing a larger overview of the film very soon. Using images from both.
Steps upon steps, leading to divinity, or leading to death?

queen of spades the staircase — Thorold Dickinson’s hauntingly sinister fable- The Queen of Spades 1949- See the intricate network of elaborate stairs that wind within the vast manor house, which lead to the infamous lady who bet her soul away to the devil in order to win at a game of cards.

Notorious — In Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946) Cary Grant carries Ingrid Bergman to safety down the moonlit stone steps.

Charlie Chaplin in City Lights 1931.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho 1960.

Jack Clayton’s The Innocents 1961 starring Deborah Kerr.

Notorious end shot — In notorious (1946) Claude Rains stands alone facing his fate up those moonlit stone steps…the end scene.

Siodmak’s The Spiral Staircase 1946 Ethel Barrymore, Dorothy Maguire, & Elsa Lanchester.

Douglas Sirk’s Thunder on the Hill 1951 starring Claudette Colbert.

Lewis Allen’s The Uninvited 1945- Stars Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey.

The Picture of Dorian Gray 1945 with George Sanders and Hurd Hatfield.

MORE TO COME!!!!!!!

I’ll be heading back up the ‘steps’ here at the drive-in, be well- MonsterGirl!

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