THE PHENIX CITY STORY (Karlson, 1955) - First noir in a while, and maybe I’d just gotten out of the mood. In any case, it left me rather cold, despite some fascinating aspects. One of them is the documentary intro, which felt a bit stodgy and slow to me. Then there’s the strange fact that it’s both an exceedingly cynical film and very earnest in condemning that cynicism. The message could be summarized as “Gambling’s bad, people. Yay democracy!” - and that’s a bit too pat.
I somehow feel bad about not getting into it though - if imdb is to be believed, this is one of Scorsese’s favorite films, and not only does that mean I’m probably missing something, but disagreeing with him probably reduces my odds of being adopted by him even further - and according to a recent interview I listened to, he shows his kids classics projected in 35 mm. Yeah, I know. Get in line.
