Kirk Douglas as a high school senior.

In the beginning of his legendary career, Kirk Douglas (1916 – ) b. Issur Danielovitch, was almost typecast as a well-meaning but ineffectual husband as in, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, 1946, and A Letter to Three Wives, 1949.  But his career exploded into mega-stardom when he played bitter, cynical heroes motivated by rage: Champion, 1949, Ace in the Hole, 1951, The Bad and the Beautiful, 1952, Paths of Glory, 1957, Spartacus, 1960, and his favorite film Lonely Are the Brave, 1962,

Douglas was never a conventional leading man. Though handsome as a fairy tale prince he wielded his masculine beauty like a weapon. There was none of the gruff charm that made Gable the King of Hollywood, nor was Douglas an elegant, urbane gentleman like William Powell.

He excelled at playing, in his own words, “sons of bitches.”

Douglas always felt like an outsider. And his fine memoir, The Ragman’s Son, touchingly reveals a chronically damaged self-image. The only son—he had six sisters—of illiterate Jewish Russian immigrants, Douglas was terrified of Herschel, his distant, hard-drinking father. But, like so many Hollywood stars, Douglas was deeply attached to his gentle, long-suffering mother Bryna. In fact, Douglas named his film company Bryna Productions.

Young Kirk Douglas with his beloved mother Bryna.

Raised in Amsterdam, New York, twenty-eight miles northwest of Albany, Douglas describes the city as “WASP town.” For traditional Jews from the Ukraine this new world was blessedly free, however polite anti-Semitism was widespread. And the rage that is at the heart of actor Kirk Douglas has its genesis in his difficult childhood.

In his senior year of high school, young Issur was looking forward to attending the school prom:

Kirk Douglas in “Ace in the Hole,” 1951. In this Billy Wilder classic Douglas plays reporter Chuck Tatum, perhaps the most cynical, self-centered son of a bitch in film history.

… I had never been to a school dance in the evening because I didn’t have the clothes or the money. I was a pretty good dancer, especially with a step called the glide and dip. But senior year, I decided to save up and go to the Senior Prom. It was a big event to me, my first prom.

There was a girl, Ann Brown. She was pretty and always wore nice clean dresses. She lived on Market Hill, the rich part of town. I danced with her sometimes during lunch hour. I felt she liked me. I invited her to go with me. She said yes! I was ecstatic, counted my pennies to make sure I had enough for the ticket and a nice corsage. I was going to press my suit carefully.

The next day I came to school very happy. I saw her, my date for the prom, and waved. She didn’t wave back. That’s strange, I thought. I guess she didn’t see me. During lunch hour when people were dancing, I couldn’t quite seem to get her attention. I didn’t understand. I ran up to her and she turned away. Finally, I trapped her in the corridor.

“What’s wrong?”

She started to stutter, then finally said, “I can’t go to the prom with you.”

My heart sank. I was bewildered. She had seemed so happy about it the day before. “Why?”

She wouldn’t answer. I insisted.“Why? Have I done something?”

“No.” Long pause. “My father won’t let me.”

I said, “I’m sure the prom won’t be very late. I’ll get you home whenever he’d like.”

“No, no,” she said. “It’s not that.”

“Well what is it?”

“Because you’re a Jew and your father’s a ragman!” She ran away.

I just stood there with my mouth open. Certainly it was not new to me to be persecuted for being a Jew. But somehow I didn’t associate it with this nice, freshly scrubbed American girl with her well-pressed dresses. I couldn’t believe it. I knew that she came from a wealthy family and her father was a college graduate. I had always thought that people who hated Jews were like my immigrant neighbors who had come from a touch background with no education.

The night of the prom arrived. I had already told many people that I was going, and I was expected to go, because I was on the dance committee. But I didn’t go.

To deal with the pain and rejection young Issur, already fascinated by the make-believe world of theater, escaped reality by retreating into a protective shell, into comforting dreams and pleasant fantasies. Thus was born the actor Kirk Douglas.

The following conversation takes place:

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The fast, witty, and flirtatious dialogue in this scene gives us light into how a man could possibly get seduced into what was to come.  This is of course, the big murder/insurance scam from Billy Wilder’s classic 1944 film Double Indemnity.

There was a time when dark crime films were popular both with mainstream Hollywood films and B-grade productions. McCarthyism, Hollywood censorship, and World War II among other things all played a role in the shaping and growing popularity of what became known as the classic period of America’s film noir (1940’s-1950’s).

How can we forget the “stuff dreams are made of” from The Maltese Falcon or the last close up (for Mr. DeMille!!!) from Sunset Boulevard??  How about the quick and sexy dialogue between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in The Big Sleep?  These films reek of crime and desperation but remain fun and stylistically beautiful.  The high contrast, looming shadows, and dim lit mise-en-scene gave way to a bleak and seductive emotionality.

Noir films often explore the seedy underground of Hollywood (In a Lonely Place), law enforcement (Touch of Evil), journalism (Ace in the Hole) as well as many other aspects of crime and deception.  Their style is impossible to miss.  Noir film has remained popular on a cult level but hasn’t reached mainstream status since its initial movement.

There is a piece by Matthew Sweet about his new documentary for the BBC, The Rules of Film Noir.  He interviews director Werner Herzog, whose newest film, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, promises to be “a new step in film noir.”

Herzog goes on to say, “It’s not so much techniques of light or a particular kind of story.  There’s something bigger behind it. You recognize a film noir very easily because it’s a cultural mood.”  He is right, turbulent times call for films that reflect the mood of the country.

Today’s cultural climate, with the economic downturn, soaring unemployment, and the looming threat of terrorism warrants a new desire for noir film.  It provides a perfect catalyst for a stylistically cynical and dark film movement.  Turbulent times often result in artistic genius, just look at German Expressionism.

Today’s film industry is currently overlooking a type of film that could reignite some of the emotions from the 1950’s.  I hope that the current cultural climate in the United States motivates Hollywood to dig deeper into its creative and stylistic vault.

Look at some of the better movies of the last couple years; There Will Be Blood, Gone Baby Gone, No Country for Old Men, and Gran Torino.  All of these (though not noir) are tough films and offer conclusions that are not easily swallowed.  The one closest to noir quality is No Country for Old Men, which was stylistically amazing.

There are some great hard hitting films these days, but they should take them a step further and utilize the stylistic brilliance of film noir.  Now is a great time for a genre revival!  Who wants to step up to the plate?

The Coen Brothers are the best living filmmakers of noir films (Blood Simple, The Man Who Wasn’t There) and genre films in general.  Their ability to adapt genre in terms of style (Blood Simple), sound (No Country for Old Men) and iconography (Miller’s Crossing) is nothing short of brilliant.

Most noir films today are simply an exercise primarily in genre style (which is fine).  Take Rian Johnson’s Brick for example; it is a great film that puts a hardboiled detective story that feels straight out of a Raymond Chandler novel, and throws it into a contemporary high school.  Robert Altman did a similar adaptation in 1973 with The Long Goodbye, taking Chandler’s Philip Marlow character and placing him in contemporary society.  This innovative use of genre should be seen more often (especially with noir!).

The film industry needs to take another look at noir cinema.  Whether it is a new story or a retelling of an old one, there is plenty of ammunition out there for a new resurgence in film noir.  It is time for Hollywood to utilize its creative side to make the streets on the big screen once again as Raymond Chandler wrote them, “dark with something more than night.”