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Semi-documentary
A semidocumentary is a form of book, film, or television program presenting a fictional story that incorporates many factual details or actual events, or which is presented in a manner similar to a documentary. Characteristics Stylistically, it has certain similarities to Italian Neorealism, such as the use of location shooting and employing non-actors in secondary roles. However, the viewer is not intended to mistake a semidocumentary for a real documentary; the fictional elements are too prominent. Background One of the first films of this kind was Henry Hathaway's ''The House on 92nd Street'' (1945). In the late 1940s, semidocumentary films were often associated with film noir thrillers, sharing a commitment to on-location shooting, gritty realism, and understated performances. Decline In the 1960s and 1970s, the semidocumentary style declined in feature films. The standard documentary had blurred the difference between itself and fiction so much that there was viewer conf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Documentary Film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in terms of "a filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception [that remains] a practice without clear boundaries". Early documentary films, originally called "actuality films", lasted one minute or less. Over time, documentaries have evolved to become longer in length, and to include more categories. Some examples are Educational film, educational, observational and docufiction. Documentaries are very Informational listening, informative, and are often used within schools as a resource to teach various principles. Documentary filmmakers have a responsibility to be truthful to their vision of the world without intentionally misrepresenting a topic. Social media platfor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bodyguard (1948 Film)
''Bodyguard'' is a 1948 American film noir directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Fred Niblo Jr.and Harry Essex. It is based on a story written by George W. George and Robert Altman. The drama features Lawrence Tierney and, in her final screen appearance, Priscilla Lane. Plot After being put on suspension at the LAPD, Mike Carter punches his lieutenant and quits in disgust. A few days later, at a baseball game, he is approached by Fred Dysen, who wants to hire Carter as a bodyguard for his aunt, Gene Dysen, a widow and head of Continental Meat Packing Corp. Carter refuses. Later, at his apartment, an envelope is slipped under the door with $2000 in it. Carter rushes out, but the person who left it is already gone. Carson drives to the Dysen mansion in Pasadena, where he pushes his way in and, after meeting the members of the household, finds Mrs. Dysen is uninterested in having a bodyguard. Carter returns the money to Fred, but just as he is leaving, someone shoots ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Phenix City Story
''The Phenix City Story'' is a 1955 American film noir crime film directed by Phil Karlson for Allied Artists, written by Daniel Mainwaring and Crane Wilbur and starring John McIntire, Richard Kiley, and Kathryn Grant. It had an unusual "triple premiere" held on July 19, 1955 in Phenix City, Alabama, Columbus, Georgia, and Chicago, Illinois (thAFIincorrectly lists the date as July 9). Plot In a corrupt Alabama town near the Army's Fort Benning, the law can do little to stop the criminal activities of Rhett Tanner, particularly in the wide-open "red-light district" area known for prostitution, taverns, and crooked gambling. Most of the police do not even try, since they are on Tanner's payroll. Local attorney Albert "Pat" Patterson, initially neutral and complacent, is urged to run for State Attorney General and clean up Phenix City, but he wants no part of a thankless, impossible job. He is content to welcome home his son John from military service. However, soon violence break ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragnet (1954 Film)
''Dragnet'' is a 1954 American crime film directed by Jack Webb and written by Richard L. Breen. The film stars Webb, Ben Alexander, Richard Boone, Ann Robinson, Stacy Harris, Virginia Gregg and Vic Perrin. The film was adapted from the radio series of the same name, and is part of the wider ''Dragnet'' media franchise. The film was released by Warner Bros. on September 4, 1954. Plot The film uses the inverted detective story format. Los Angeles police detective Sergeant Joe Friday hunts down the killer of a mobster, Miller Starkie, focusing on West Coast mafia second-in-command Max Troy (played by Harris). The film depicts illegal police harassment against a suspect cleared by a grand jury. The vendetta between Friday and Troy becomes increasingly bitter and personal as the film proceeds, leading to a brawl at a private card game between Friday, Frank Smith, and several of Troy's henchmen. A policewoman (Robinson) infiltrates Troy's nightclub and is able to obtain vital i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hitch-Hiker
''The Hitch-Hiker'' is a 1953 American film noir thriller co-written and directed by Ida Lupino, starring Edmond O'Brien, William Talman and Frank Lovejoy, about two friends taken hostage by a hitchhiker during an automobile trip to Mexico. ''The Hitch-Hiker'' was the first American mainstream film noir directed by a woman. It was selected in 1998 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." The film was a fictionalized version of the Billy Cook murder spree. Plot As the film begins, a man is shown hitchhiking and being picked up by a succession of people whom he subsequently robs and kills. A suspect, Emmett Myers (Talman), is publicized in newspaper headlines. Two friends, Roy Collins (O'Brien) and Gilbert Bowen (Lovejoy) are driving in southern California toward a planned fishing trip in the Mexican town of San Felipe on the Gulf of California. Just south of Mexicali, they pick up Myers, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walk East On Beacon
''Walk East on Beacon'' is a 1952 American film noir drama film directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring George Murphy, Finlay Currie, and Virginia Gilmore. It was released by Columbia Pictures. The screenplay was inspired by a May 1951 ''Reader's Digest'' article by J. Edgar Hoover entitled "The Crime of the Century: The Case of the A-Bomb Spies." The article covers the meeting of German physicist and atomic spy Klaus Fuchs and American chemist Harry Gold as well as details of the Soviet espionage network in the United States. Gold's testimony would later lead to the case against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for treason. The film substitutes real atomic spying with vague top secret scientific programs. Extensive location shooting was done in New England, around Washington Union Station and in FBI laboratories. Plot summary Federal agent Belden (George Murphy) is assigned to locate the communist mastermind behind the leak, and to trace all avenues of informational access utilized ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
On Dangerous Ground
''On Dangerous Ground'' is a 1951 film noir-melodrama starring Robert Ryan and Ida Lupino, directed by Nicholas Ray, and produced by John Houseman. The screenplay was written by A. I. Bezzerides based on the 1945 novel ''Mad with Much Heart,'' by Gerald Butler. Co-star Ida Lupino made her uncredited directorial debut shooting scenes when Nicholas Ray was unavailable. Plot Embittered inner-city police detective Jim Wilson is disgusted with his job and the night-crawling people it draws him into relentless contact with. Known for beating information out of suspects and witnesses alike, he is sharply warned to tone it down by his chief. Immediately ignoring him, Wilson is then relegated to an up-state case to cool off. He joins it mid-manhunt, pursuing the murderer of a young girl across sunny snow covered fields and patches of forest. The chase is led by an unhinged Walter Brent, the father of the victim, who is determined to exact deadly vengeance. Stuck together, Wilson and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Racket (1951 Movie)
''The Racket'' is a 1951 black-and-white film noir drama directed by John Cromwell (director), John Cromwell with uncredited directing help from Nicholas Ray, Tay Garnett, and Mel Ferrer. The production features Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, and William Conrad. Future ''Perry Mason (1957 TV series), Perry Mason'' regular cast members William Talman (actor), William Talman and Ray Collins (actor), Ray Collins appear in key roles. The film, a remake of the 1928 film ''The Racket (1928 film), The Racket'', is indirectly based on a play by Bartlett Cormack. (Edward G. Robinson played the racketeer in the original Broadway theater, Broadway production.) Plot The plot is very close to the original play and the 1928 movie. Racketeer and mobster Nick Scanlon has managed to buy several of the local government and law-enforcement officials of a large midwestern American city. However, he can't seem to touch the incorruptible police captain Tom McQuigg, who refuses all attempt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Side Street (1950 Film)
''Side Street'' is a 1950 American film noir/police procedural starring Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell. Directed by Anthony Mann, the picture was filmed on location throughout New York City and culminated in one of the first modern car chases. Part of the story is set in the vicinity of the long-demolished Third Avenue El, a favorite location of the films made in the city during that era. Granger and O’Donnell were paired for the second and last time; their earlier film was the noted noir '' They Live By Night'' (1948). Plot Joe Norson lives with his wife and her parents in New York City; he has lost his gas station job and found work as a part-time mail carrier. Because he wants the best for his expectant wife Ellen, Joe rationalizes stealing what he thinks is $200 from a lawyer's office on his route. He discovers that he's actually stolen $30,000 from Victor Backett, a corrupt attorney. Backett has framed wealthy broker/patsy Emil Lorrison in a sex scandal, then extorted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panic In The Streets (1950 Movie)
''Panic in the Streets'' is a 1950 American film noir directed by Elia Kazan. It was shot exclusively on location in New Orleans, Louisiana, and features numerous New Orleans citizens in speaking and non-speaking roles. The film tells the story of Lieutenant Commander Clinton Reed, an officer of the U.S. Public Health Service (played by Richard Widmark) and a police captain ( Paul Douglas) who have only a day or two in which to prevent an epidemic of pneumonic plague after Reed determines a waterfront homicide victim is an index case. Co-stars include Barbara Bel Geddes (as Reed's wife Nancy), Jack Palance (in his film debut) and Zero Mostel – the latter two play associates of the victim who had prompted the investigation. The film was also the debut of Tommy Rettig, who played the Reeds' son. The film was released on DVD by 20th Century Fox as part of the Fox Film Noir collection, along with ''Laura'' and ''Call Northside 777'', on March 15, 2005. The score was comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highway 301 (film)
''Highway 301'' is an American 1950 film noir written and directed by Andrew L. Stone, and starring Steve Cochran, Virginia Grey, Gaby André and Edmon Ryan. Plot A gang of career criminals, modeled on the real life Tri-State Gang, are terrorizing and robbing banks and payrolls in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. George, the gang's leader, is a cold killer who does not distinguish between armed guards and any of the group's molls that cross him. The film starts with comments from then-governors of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland about how crime doesn't pay. By the film's end, all five of the gang members and two of their three molls are depicted as dead, with the last moll arrested while impersonating a reporter during an attempt to aid George and Bobby in killing a moll who could incriminate them all. Cast * Steve Cochran as George Legenza * Virginia Grey as Mary Simms * Gaby André as Lee * Edmon Ryan as Detective Sgt. Truscott and the film's narrator * Robert Webbe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Night And The City
''Night and the City'' is a 1950 film noir directed by Jules Dassin and starring Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney and Googie Withers. It is based on the Night and the City (novel), novel of the same name by Gerald Kersh. Shot on location in London and at Shepperton Studios, the plot revolves around an ambitious charlatan, hustler who meets continuous failures. Dassin later confessed that he had never read the novel upon which the film is based. In an interview appearing on The Criterion Collection DVD release, Dassin recalls that the casting of Tierney was in response to a request by Darryl Zanuck, who was concerned that personal problems had rendered the actress "suicidal" and hoped that work would improve her state of mind. The film's British version was five minutes longer, with a more upbeat ending and featuring a completely different film score. Dassin endorsed the American version as closer to his vision. The film contains a very tough and prolonged fight scene between Stan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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