Dragonknight’s review published on Letterboxd:
Film #30 of Project 40
”You know, maybe I was wrong and luck is like love. You have to go all the way to find it.”
Out of the Past offers everything that you may expect from a film noir of 40s: An intricate plot centering around an unsolvable mystery, characters who are trying to double cross each other, dark past, flashbacks, gloomy pictures, cigarette smoke, femme fatales and a pretty much frightening atmosphere. Jacques Tourneur orchestrates this complex collection with admirable skill and gives us a film that has all the elements of the great noir cinema, while Out of the Past is a quite underrated work in comparison to some of the more famous noirs of 40s but if you’re looking for a movie that contains most of the key features of noir cinema then this is the perfect choice.
The film features Robert Mitchum as the main character, Jeff Bailey. A man who owns a gas station in a distant small city and seemingly lives a normal life and the film’s story starts when something out of his past comes and breaks his peace. Mitchum is terrific as this complex and enigmatic character with a shadowy past who needs to handle his private romantic life and also get along with the mysterious events that are happening to him. The film’s plot evolves around unexpected surprises but Mitchum’s Jeff Bialey – a man who is getting surprised almost every minute – stays composed all the time and never loses his concentration and in fact manages to counter-surprise those who are crossing him. This makes the story quite fascinating to follow as nothing is what we think it is meaning that the whole thing is more like a twisty labyrinth of crosses and double crosses.
Out of the Past is a fine and entertaining movie, while Robert Mitchum is the heart and soul of the film but there is also a very young Kirk Douglas in the film who shows some of his exceptional talent when he is present on the screen. If you’re looking for a film with striking atmosphere, top class performances and a very well-written and well-organized plot then this is for you.