238) The True Story of Jesse James (1957)

238) The True Story of Jesse James (1957) Dir: Nicholas Ray Date Released: February 1957 Date Seen: August 5th, 2009 Rating: 3.25/5

It's a real shame that this film's budding spark (yes, even the cloying interplay between "family man" Jesse and "brute" Jesse) should be tied down by such a terrible script (The exposition! The exposition! I'm drowning!). See my mention of it in my piece on One-Eye Auteurs for The Onion's A.V. Club New York.

220) On Dangerous Ground (1952)

220) On Dangerous Ground (1952) Dir: Nicholas Ray Date Released: February 1952 Date Seen: July 23rd, 2009 Rating: 4/5

On Dangerous Ground might have been a less impressive film thanks to if it weren't as aware of the film-noir milieu it operates within. Based on a novel by Gerard Butler, the film is at worst skillfully manipulative thanks to screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides stark dialogue, capable performances by Ida Lupino and Robert Ryan and most importantly, director Nicholas Ray's vision of landscape as a turbulent emotional map. Mary (Lupino), a blind woman, protects her simple-minded kid brother from crooked cop Jim Wilson (Ryan) to introduce moral ambiguity into the life of Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan), a man so far-gone that he pounces on a suspect with the immortal line "Why do you make me do it," and the leer of a wounded animal. Mary's disability forces Jim to quell his bloodlust for her brother, suspected of two murders and rediscover his last remaining dregs of compassion. 

Having a blind girl teaching Ryan's Sterling Hayden-esque gorilla-type a lesson in sympathy is cheap sentimentality any way you slice it but in the hands of Ray and co., it's understandable within the context of the operatic drama that Jim imagines his life to be. The firefly lights and overcast shadows of the film's perpetual night-time city bring to life the character's view of a city without hope. The only thing he's sure of, as he whines to that poor anonymous suspect, is that the city's darkness will always be there, waiting for him to sift through it like his trusty index cards of names and photos. Their names are interchangeable but they'll always be there.

Mary frustrates that mentality by forcing him to drive down icy roads and climb over snow-covered mountains just to get to his man, whose youthful face Ray initially hides even from the audience in shoe-gazing glances and pitch-black corners. Discovering that the killer is in fact a boy is the kind of revelation that Clint Eastwood fans know and continue to be affected by, namely that thorny realization that judgment is an inherently corrupting act. Couched so firmly in the ethical morass of Jim's world, this is no mere platitude but a shock to the system, a pulp epiphany from a master of genre storytelling.

217) Party Girl (1958)

217) Party Girl (1958) Dir: Nicholas Ray Date Released: October 1958 Date Seen: July 20th, 2009 Rating: 4/5

Even if this film is more all over the place than most of the other films by Ray I've seen, I feel there's also something very exciting in the interplay between Cyd Charisse and Robert Taylor and the way that Ray films action and posturing. Excellent use of shadowing and thoroughly engaging story. See my mention of it in my piece on the more memorable rebels in the films of Nicholas Ray for The Onion's New York Decider.

215) Bitter Victory (1957)

215) Bitter Victory (1957) Dir: Nicholas Ray Date Released: March 1958 Date Seen: July 17th, 2009 Rating: 3.75/5

Ray and his talented cast works magic with material that's essentially manipulative and shallow--Burton's speeches performed by a lesser actor would have bombed instantly. The way that Ray films Burton and his fellow soldiers trudging through the desert and sweating their way through arguments goes a long, long way. See my mention of the film in my piece on the more memorable rebels in Nicholas Ray's film for The Onion's New York Decider

212) Born to Be Bad (1950)

212) Born to Be Bad (1950) Dir: Nicholas Ray Date Released: August 1950 Date Seen: July 16th, 2009 Rating: 3.75/5

A wonderful film about performance with a pair of ribbuting performances by Robert Ryan and Joan Fontaine. See my mention of it in my feature on the more memorable rebels in Nicholas Ray's films for The Onion's New York Decider.

RV!: In a Lonely Place (1950)

RV!: In a Lonely Place (1950) Dir: Nicholas Ray Date Released: May 1950 Date Seen: July 15th, 2009 Rating: 4.25/5

This is probably my favorite Ray film at the moment. The vicious nature of Bogey's jaded character really stings this time around now that I feel more assured in thinking that the flimsy deus ex machina ending is a cop-out. I think Dix did it. 

What frustrates me this time around however is how Bogart keeps covering his face with his mitts and prevents himself from showing us that he can bring to the table the tired menace that in other scenes he exhudes with non-chalance. See my mention of this in my piece for The Onion's New York Decider on the Nicholas Ray retro at Film Forum.

211) They Live By Night (1948)

211) They Live By Night (1948) Dir: Nicholas Ray Date Released: October 1949 Date Seen: July 14th, 2009 Rating: 3.5/5

While it may be woefully short-sighted to say that Ray's debut establishes on a template for noble rebels that he would later elaborate on in his superior later films, that may be more true than I care to admit. See my mention of this in my feature for The Onion's New York Decider on the Nicholas Ray retro at the Film Forum.