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This is the second in a series of film reviews. The magic of the silver screen has always had a strong allure – from classics of the 1920s to the most recent indie flick. I will usually watch any film once to give it a chance, but a truly great movie needs the perfect synthesis of writing, direction, acting, mood and music.

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Review Number: 2
Review Date: 18 March 2013

Title: Build My Gallows High (US title: Out of the Past)
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Stars: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming
Country: United States
Release Date: 1947
Genres: Film Noir, Thriller

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“Nothing in the world is any good unless you can share it.”

Coming in at a mercifully lean 90 minutes, this classic film noir briskly delivers wisecracks and plenty of melodrama as the past catches up with a private detective.

Robert Mitchum dominates the screen as gumshoe Jeff Bailey, who fell for a gangster’s girlfriend; played brilliantly by Jane Greer. He’d taken on the case to find her, but beauty cast its powerful spell and the hood can go to hell. All this might sound like a cliche now, but back in the 1940s imaginations probably hadn’t been saturated by the relentless glut of films and TV.

Bailey’s been laying low at a gas station to escape the wrath of the crime lord (Kirk Douglas in fine form), yet a chance visit from a passing henchman means that he has got some explaining to do. Here we slip into flashback mode as Bailey explains the dilemma to his current lady friend.

The story unfolds with alacrity and verve, and I’ll say no more, but the dialogue sparkles as all and sundry verbally joust with wit and dexterity. (The screenplay and novel were both by Daniel Mainwaring.) Yeah, real life is not quite like that as we usually struggle to find a quick response, but in good ol’ Movieland – entertainment is what it’s all about.

“I never saw her in the daytime. We seemed to live by night. What was left of the day went away like a pack of cigarettes you smoked. I didn’t know where she lived. I never followed her. All I ever had to go on was a place and time to see her again. I don’t know what we were waiting for. Maybe we thought the world would end.”

Mitchum is superb as the languid world-weary sleuth, but Greer matches him in other ways and some would argue she’s superior. Her seductive and devious nature is never over done, and it’s easy to see how men would fall for her.

The supporting cast are also brilliant. Douglas is cold killer charm personified, while Paul Valentine (top photo, standing with gun) is his right-hand man with an air of quiet menace matched with physical presence. For me, Rhonda Fleming (top photo, far right) almost steals the show. She oozes sex appeal and danger, and it’s a shame she didn’t find better roles later in life.

I prefer the name Build My Gallows High (the novel’s original title) as it hints at black humour, but the USA went with Out of the Past as “gallows” might make audiences think of Westerns. This film was also remade as Against All Odds (1984) – with Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward – but that was a stinker.

This film might be overwrought in places and is not quite in the same league as The Maltese Falcon or The Big Sleep, but it’s short and neat. Spare a brief part of your life and enjoy an old movie gem.

“You’re gonna take the rap and play along. You’re gonna make every exact move I tell you. If you don’t, I’ll kill you. And I’ll promise you one thing: it won’t be quick. I’ll break you first. You won’t be able to answer a telephone or open a door without thinking, ‘This is it.’ And it when it comes, it still won’t be quick. And it won’t be pretty. You can take your choice.”

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