Look what Hollywood did to Big Shot

You’ve seen the movie. Now read the story on which it is based. Illustrations are from the movie

Big Shot

By Vicki Baum

BRANDT, THE SHARPSHOOTER, sat in his van, playing a game of checkers with himself. That was how he always spent the half-hour preceding his appearance. The game soothed him and steadied his hands. He raised his head irritably as the door was pulled open, and the stable smell and circus noises came surging in.

"What's wrong?" he asked, unfriendly.

"An accident," stammered the stable master. "They want you."

Brandt jumped up.

"Rodini—" the stable master said.

"A fall—?" asked Brandt.

"Broke his neck. Killed on the spot. Please come—"

"He drank too much," said Brandt.

Deadly honor in free noirs

TONIGHT’S FREE NOIR DOUBLE BILL

shows

Dishonored Lady (1947) 
starring Hedy Lamarr 

and 

The Great Flamarion (1945)

starring Erich von Stroheim

Both lead actors had touches of tragedy, partly self-inflicted, to their Hollywood careers. 

Roll the film.

Welcome to another free double bill of film noir

A Noirishing Feast Awaits

Come with me . . . 

TONIGHT’S  (from 8.30pm Friday, Hollywood time) double feature of film noir presents The Strange Woman (1946) and D.O.A.(1949) Both are good-quality prints and ad-free during their running times. In the tradition of cinemas past, the main feature D.O.A. will run second. Links to the films follow the reviews.

Grab your popcorn as I, your humble projectionist, crank up the projector for the first reel of The Strange Woman.

Hurry, the movie's about to start

It's Movie Time

WELCOME to our first of 15 evenings of FREE double-feature film noir.

Entry is free, but first a little housekeeping. All the films are in the public domain which means they are free to watch. But they must have been uploaded for internet viewing. I have chosen good-quality prints. In some cases, that unfortunately means intrusive ads. If you find an ad-free print of equal quality of any of the films, please let me know. The film link will be at the end of the review.

The main feature – tonight Algiers 1938 – will be reviewed first and without further ado.

30 Free Films Noir Emerge from the Dark Past

Welcome to your personal cinema

LET's venture back in time to the suburban cinema of 70 and 80 years ago.

        The seats are long rows of canvas industrially stapled to wooden supports. Your bottom finds the seats comfortable though they are unappealing to your eye.

        The projectionist, perched above in his booth, shines the reels of film onto the screen. For one silver coin, you will be treated to a newsreel of drama and comedy, a serial with a cliff-hanging ending, and two feature films. Black and white films, of course. Both noir.

        In 15 screenings, I will discuss 30 noir films, all in the public domain. All free to view.

Aussie progressives choose long hard roads

Seventy years of Left activism in Australia

Far Left In Australia Since 1945, editors Jon Piccini, Evan Smith and Matthew Worley, Routledge, London and New York, 2019. 

Book review by Bernie Dowling

THIS book, written for popular as well as academic readers, is officially due out next year, so I guess this is a preview rather than a review.

Copies appear to be available now from the publisher’s website. 

The site does not have a graphic of the cover and I copied the one above from the national library records. The publisher could update with a different cover but I am betting on the banner of the defunct Builder’s Labourers’ Federation – now part of the CMFEU – will fly on the front of this book.

As well as constituting a preview, my musings are largely based on background material and a review of a Beta copy by Wollongong academic Rowan Cahill.

I will stop the equivocations lest I start to appear as incredible as triple-speak lawyer Rudy Giuliani defending Donald Trump.

This book does not regard the Far Left as the inverse of the deservedly maligned Far Right, Cahill tells us in his review. 

Queensland political activist relives the 1970-80s

Tales of corrupt times past

Book Review: Iraqi Icicle and The Second Father
Guest post by Ian Curr

WITH the current surge of audiobooks here are two unlikely bedfellows in popular writing. Both books are set in Brisbane during the bad years of the Bjelke-Petersen government. I know both the authors Bernie Dowling and Domenico Cacciola. We lived in the same district of Fortitude Valley and New Farm during some of that time.

The protagonists in the books are on opposite sides of the law. Both had fascinations for horse racing, illegal gambling, corruption, political police, sex, drugs, and prostitution. Iraqi Icicle is neo-noir fiction and The Second Father is a memoir. Step aside Andrew McGahan’s Last Drinks – they say Queensland is another country; if so, these authors help redefine the streets of your town.