What happens when you take the jaded fatalism of noir and mix it with the character-first focus of classic melodrama? Two fantastic films of the 1940s, Leave Her to Heaven and Mildred Pierce, each of which involves a self-absorbed young woman destroying her family in pursuit of her own slice of the American dream.

Recommendations:

Tristan - Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani

Fred - Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans & Earrings of Madame de...

Written & Produced by Tristan Johnson & Fred Pelzer

A Strange Phantom Production

Music by Kevin MacLeod.

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July 1944. Los Angeles. Enter Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson, high atop a looming stairwell, clad only in a towel. Enter the femme fatale, as we know her, into classic Hollywood. Counter-balancing the icy-cold Phyllis Dietrichson is a no-less chilly, but far more sympathetic waitress named Stella, drawn from a comparatively minor Otto Preminger film. Both women slot neatly into the developing vision of women who pull over-eager protagonists into their wake, but their stories unfold in starkly different fashions. Join us as we look at Double Indemnity and Fallen Angel.

Recommendations:

Tristan - Thief & The Last of the Mohicans

Fred - Electra, My Love & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Written & Produced by Tristan Johnson & Fred Pelzer

A Strange Phantom Production

Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Learn more about us or follow us on Letterboxd

Before noir reached American shores, it was festering in Europe in the shadow of fascism. The femme fatale was no different, her need for advancement intersecting with the oppressive environment swallowing the continent. Tonight we'll be looking at three different examples of the proto femme fatale as it crosses over with poetic realism and neorealism - and two of them come from that noir ur-text, The Postman Always Rings Twice. By comparing La Bete Humaine (1938), The Last Turning (1939), & Ossessione (1943) we can take a snapshot of the femme fatale right before the noir era kicks off and becomes the archetype we know and love today.

Recommendations:

Tristan - One Way Passage

Fred - Barbie

Written & Produced by Tristan Johnson & Fred Pelzer

A Strange Phantom Production

Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Learn more about us or follow us on Letterboxd

We look back to the prehistory of noir and the early days of cinema to find the origins of the femme fatale on the silver screen. A tale as old as time - in this case, all the way back to Greek myth. In today's episode we delve into three films from the tail end of silent cinema and the start of the sound era - Pandora's Box, The Blue Angel, & La Chienne - to examine the fallen woman and see how she foretells the fatale's form.

Recommendations:

Tristan - Deadloch

Fred - Queen of Earth

Written & Produced by Tristan Johnson & Fred Pelzer

A Strange Phantom Production

Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Learn more about us or follow us on Letterboxd

The Femme Fatale occupies a titanic place in the history of cinema, especially in the first half of the 20th century. She goes by many names and takes even more forms. The Chanteuse. The Fallen Woman. The Boss’s Wife. Sometimes she is wicked. Sometimes she’s just in a bad way. Invariably, she is tied to the downfall, or at least temptation, of a male protagonist. In narrative terms, she is a disruptive force. Trouble with a capital T.

So grab a drink and settle in. For the next twenty four weeks, we’ll be examining some of cinema’s grand dames, tracing the evolution of the femme fatale from silent cinema to today, looking for footprints from designer heels deep in the celluloid dirt.

Recommendations:

Tristan - Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Fred - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Written & Produced by Tristan Johnson & Fred Pelzer

A Strange Phantom Production

Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Learn more about us or follow us on Letterboxd

We're back with another season to tackle an additional core element of film noir - the femme fatale. Get a little taste before the new season starts in Noirvember.

As we get ready to launch our next season of noir samplings, we make a quick return visit to season 1's private eye, specifically Marlowe, as he makes his triumphant(?) theatrical return with Neil Jordan's Marlowe. We continue the old man Marlowe routine by connecting this film back to 1998's Poodle Springs, a Marlowe adaptation directed by Bob Rafelson for HBO and starring James Caan in the titular role. What else is left to say about an over the hill PI? Let's find out.

Recommendations:

Tristan - At Land

Fred - sex, lies, and videotape; Cool Hand Luke

Written & Produced by Tristan Johnson & Fred Pelzer

A Strange Phantom Production

Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Learn more about us or follow us on Letterboxd

Every case must come to an end, and sometimes you even get to wrap it up in a neat little bow. Over these 20 episodes and 41 movies we've tracked the private eye across decades and state lines, cultural movements and cinematic epochs. But some things have stayed mostly the same - a wrong that needs righting, a flatfoot who can't help taking the case, and a daily rate, plus expenses. And maybe that's enough, for a world gone as screwy as ours.

Written & Produced by Tristan Johnson & Fred Pelzer

A Strange Phantom Production

Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Learn more about us or follow us on Letterboxd