there are no new ideas

Yesterday watched a movie rather incorrectly titled He Ran All The Way in which John Garfield takes a family (father, mother, older daughter, and young son) hostage while hiding from a manhunt (and does very little running). The son wants to fight and is disappointed with his father giving in. Garfield lets the father and daughter leave the house to go to work, warning them that if he sees any police he’ll kill their mother. As he’s there he falls for the daughter and clearly wishes he’d had a family and a life like they have. It was quite good and ended with a beautiful shot of Garfield stumbling towards camera in a rain filled gutter.

Today watching a movie called The Desperate Hours where Humphrey Bogart, along with two accomplices, takes a family (father, mother, older daughter, and young son) hostage while hiding from a manhunt. The son wants to fight and is disappointed with his father for not fighting back. Bogart lets the father leave to run an errand and the daughter go on a date, warning him that if he sees any cops the rest of the family will get shot. Not sure how this one’ll end, but so far it could almost be a remake. One of Bogart’s accomplices has even started to show some of the longing Garfield’s character felt.

All of this is to say, Tivo and TCM make a great resource when writing a noir.