The N is with the suicide attempt
Ned is Ed but Ed isn’t quite Ned in this movie. I miss my old Ned. This one is a little too cool without being so brutal. His gambling isn’t as important, and he definately had a different thought process when he found that razor in the bathroom. In the book, Ned’s first idea is to kill himself, cutting his throat with the rusted blade. In the film, Ed finds the razor and, suddenly, thinks to go get his lighter out of his coat pocket. Ed is just a little bit too clever.
Scenes are out of order. It is a much more straightforward mystery. Paul is crazier, more unbalanced.
One part I did like was the toothbrushing scene. Brian Donlevy plays Paul Madvig very well, if a little differently. I don’t know, I feel like the movie is more noir than the book. Which is why they call it film noir, I guess. It is very caught up in its noiress, its noirocity. The book was bigger than the overcoats and cigarettes.
Jeff is pretty funny, eh? And Nick is Shad. Looking forwards to finishing and then I’ll say more.
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:00 pm
I agree very much about the razor. Something about his thought process makes him appear much more squeaky clean, as opposed to the more authentic moment where the hero decides it might be better if he just went and killed himself. And in regards to Shad/Nick I wonder if the studio said “Oh we can’t have an villainous Irish character….better make him Italian.”
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:14 pm
I actually think that there were rules against showing suicide or attempted suicide in movies at the time, which may explain that particular change.
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:00 pm
You guys and your noirish stuff. Tyler your blog was profound as always. I liked the toothbrushing scene too, it was a cool shot.