Out of the Past

Director: Jacques Tourneur
Year Released: 1947
Rating: 3.0

Interesting film-noir from Tourneur, which has a great cast (Robert Mitchum faces off against Kirk Douglas, both delightfully seedy characters) and impeccable ambience; it's the movie you need to watch in a theatre or in a darkened bedroom or basement with a hot cup of coffee, tea or chai. It plays out like a Chandler or Hammett novel, with inspired dialogue and morose voice-over narration, and other than some occasional slow stretches, it's a good piece of work.