benhästen

Out of the Past, 1947

(stills photographer unknown)

The genius Max Goldblatt: (follow him!)

“In college I wrote a paper on this very scene. The class was Film Noir, Fall 2004, Prof. Jeanine Basinger. One of the most important classes that I ever did take.

We cut to Kathie in medium close-up: she is lit rather flatly, the cast shadows of the fighting men dancing over her face, creating dynamic movement within a relatively static shot.  We hold on her for three seconds, which is longer than any of the previous shots in this fast-paced section.  With this added lingering time on Kathie, Tourneur wants to draw our attention to her reaction.  She seems enthralled by the fight (which, if you’ll remember, she politely asked for when she requested that Jeff “break his head”) and he holds on her just long enough for us to notice that she is doing something with her hands below the frame line.  For now, Tourneur withholds any overt depiction of what is going on below the frame. But we’ll find out soon enough that she’s digging out a gun.”

Via To the Maxxx