Turner Classic Movies kicks off its “Summer under the Stars” tonight starting at 8:00 PM. And what a way to start, tonight’s movie star is none other than Henry Fonda. TCM’s Summer… is when movie stars have their very own day to show their stuff. A whole 24 hours of one particular star each day in August.
Tonight we will see gems like, “Grapes of Wrath,” “The Farmer takes a Wife,” “Jezebel,” “The Male Animals,” and more. One that sticks out to me is one I’ve never seen, “The Long Night,” (1947). “The Long Night,” is a post-war film noir. It’s a rarely seen gem. It combines all the ingredients for an ominous story, those being murder, jealously, and seduction. At its release this film was known for its visual style. Director Antole Litvak used atmosphere and mood to set the stage. Although shot entirely indoors, the exterior scenes of streets, factories, and gas stations appear as if they were real, and at the time, that was a feat. No rear projections or painted backdrops in this film. Instead, the production designer, Eugne Louri used a method called “forced prospective.” This is when parts of scenery are built on a smaller scale thus tricking the eye into seeing the illusion of space and depth. So to the audience, the streets, buildings, and gas stations look real.
Look out for Vincent Price as the scoundrel of the story, and pretty Ann Dvorak as the villain’s assistant, turned defector. I look forward to seeing this gem if only to see Eugne Louri’s “poetic reality.”
