![]() The 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon, in which Humphrey Bogart plays detective Sam Spade, is often recognized as one of the earliest examples of film noir, and it is also a perfect example of this kind of consolidation. Krutnik posits that film noir leading men were intended as paragons of masculinity, specifically, of a masculinity that was problematic and reactionary, and that these films are about men consolidating that masculinity through the solving of a crime or uncovering of a conspiracy. In his book In a Lonely Street, Frank Krutnik argues that the film noir, coming during a crisis of masculinity in post-World War II America, should be viewed as a reaction to a fear of shifting gender roles as women began to more actively leave the private sphere and enter the workforce. But the way that men perform gender in these films is key to their DNA as well. For woman characters, the most famous archetype is the femme fatale, who weaponizes her sexuality and likely betrays our leading man (think: Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity or her neo-noir counterpart, Kathleen Turner in Body Heat). Much has been written about gender performance in film noir. Night Moves is a film about masculinity, and Hackman is playing a detective who exists in the shadow of icons of film noir manhood like Humphrey Bogart, and yet, throughout the film, he embodies a masculinity that feels rare and modern for the genre. But interestingly, the character of Harry Moseby produces the opposite feeling: there is something palpably contemporary about Hackman’s performance. ![]() This quality is not uncommon among protagonists of films of this ilk according to Roger Ebert, Robert Altman and Elliot Gould privately referred to their version of Raymond Chandler’s legendary detective Philip Marlowe as “Rip Van Marlowe” while filming The Long Goodbye in 1973. Harry Moseby is a character who feels out of place in the world of this neo-noir. Marty tells him, “Take a swing at me, Harry, the way Sam Spade would.” Harry lets go and doesn’t need to lower his fist - he had never raised it to begin with. ![]() He confronts her lover, Marty (Harris Yulin), and they have an emotional discussion that culminates in Harry grabbing him by the collar. In one of the 1975 film’s early scenes, Harry discovers his wife, Ellen (Susan Clark), is having an affair. He is also a former professional football player and is recognized by most of the film’s characters for this past, so a certain masculine cachet precedes him. ![]() This Noirvember, get to know the leading man of this underrated ’70s gem and see how he measures up to the icons of the genre that came before him.Īrthur Penn‘s Night Moves stars Gene Hackman in one of the finest performances of his career as Harry Moseby, an LA private eye operating his own less-than-prestigious firm. In this entry, we take on a missing person’s case with the private eye of Night Moves. The titles celebrated here exemplify the style and substance of cinema’s grimiest, most-relatable underbelly. Welcome to The Noirvember Files, a new series dropping the spotlight on essential film noir selections.
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