Everyone knows Jules Dassin's classic noirs: Thieves'
Highway, Brute Force, The Naked City, Night and the City, and
Rififi. Two Smart People pre-dates those films and is also
counted as a noir by some people.
But Dassin's true lost noir may be his 1968 film Up Tight!, a
Cleveland-based African-American remake of John Ford's The
Informer, co-written by Ruby Dee and starring an impressive
group of black actors including Dee, Raymond St. Jacques,
Frank Silvera, Dick Anthony Williams, Juanita Moore, and
Roscoe Lee Browne. Roger Ebert's contemporary review is
interesting and indicates that the film is largely set at
night:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19690219/REVIEWS/902190301/1023
Rumored lost for many years, the film re-surfaced in a 35
millimeter print at the Cleveland Cinemateque just last week
(March 25). One of the noir festivals ought to be
enterprising and contact the folks in Cleveland about
arranging to show this virtually forgotten film by a noir
master.
Mark
-- Mark R. Harris 2122 W. Russet Court #8 Appleton WI 54914 (920) 470-9855 brokerharris@gmail.com
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