Chance's Corner: Noirvember

It's that time of the year again! No, it's not Christmas, although the Hallmark Channel insists it is. It's Noirvember! Noirvember is a month, designated by the film community, that celebrates the genre of films known as film noir. By definition, film noir is a style of film that is marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace, and they are usually shot in an expressionistic black and white style. Films that are generally considered to be film noir were made between 1944-1954, but several noirs have been made after that period, and they are generally known as neo-noir. I've been celebrating this month (I actually celebrate all year) by watching a few of my favorites, and here is one of them:

Ride the Pink Horse (1947)

Lucky Gagin (Robert Montgomery) rides into San Pablo, New Mexico with a mean look on his mug. He walks into a bus stop, past a neon-tinged welcome sign, and puts a slip of paper in a locker. He takes the locker key and then buys himself a stick of gum to chew. It seemingly means nothing, until Gagin spits the gum into his hand, wraps it around the key, and then sticks the key behind a large map in the bus terminal. We're only a few minutes in, but the mystery has already been laid out without a single word being said or a shot being fired. It only gets better from here.

Ride the Pink Horse is the second film noir directed by auteur director Robert Montgomery. His first was the highly experimental Lady in the Lake, based on Raymond Chandler's bestselling novel, which was shot entirely in a point of view style. That technique made the film come off a little stiff, but I appreciate what Montgomery was trying to achieve. This time, Montgomery sticks with more conventional camera techniques, but he still pushes the boundaries of what a film noir can be. For instance, Ride the Pink Horse ditches the film noir staple of being set in some grimy urban sprawl, and instead sets its focus on the dusty streets of the American West, which has been described as a post-war phenomenon.

What I really like about Ride the Pink Horse is that it's not clean cut. Gagin ain't so lucky, and his morals are a little dubious. You're not sure what direction he'll go in, but thankfully he has the enigmatic Pila (Wanda Hendrix), the loyal Pancho (Thomas Gomez) and the "flag waving" Retz (Art Smith) to help him escape the clutches of a scheming femme fatale (Andrea King) and her deaf crime boss beau (Fred Clark). Yes, the film itself may be a little dubious, too, seeing that Wanda Hendrix is playing a Mexican girl that Gagin likes to call Sitting Bull, but Gagin grows out of that as he comes to respect her. They're friendship is really touching, and I was left a little misty eyed at the end. And let's not forget that Thomas Gomez's performance lead him to be the first Hispanic-American to be nominated for an Academy Award, so that kind of makes up for the minor indiscretions!

If you ever run across Ride the Pink Horse, I definitely recommend that you check it out, but if you can't get your hands on it, here are a few other film noirs I would suggest watching to celebrate Noirvember.