John Hiatt – Portland, OR (10/29/24)

John Hiatt
10/29/24
Aladdin Theater
Portland, OR

Front Row Center Balcony;
Sonic Studios DSM Microphones >Sony PCM-M10 (16bit/44.1kHz)
WAV >Audacity (Lower Crowd Applause, Amplify Entire Recording by 1.7db, Index Tracks, Fades) Fix SBEs >FLAC (Level 8) + Tags Via xACT 2.53

Recorded By DAT CC
Audacity Post Production, FLAC, Tags, & Front Cover Artwork By OldNeumanntapr

Disc I:

  1. Intro
  2. Come Back Home
  3. Real Fine Love
  4. Trudy And Dave
  5. Long Time Comin’
  6. The Tiki Bar Is Open
  7. Crossing Muddy Waters
  8. Tennessee Plates
  9. Mississippi Phone Booth
  10. My Old Friend
  11. What Do We Do Now

Disc II:

  1. Lift Up Every Stone
  2. Is Anybody There
  3. Perfectly Good Guitar
  4. Weightless In My Arms
  5. Drive South
  6. Slow Turning
  7. Feels Like Rain
  8. Thing Called Love
  9. Memphis In The Meantime

Encore:

  1. Riding With The King
  2. Have A Little Faith In Me

John Hiatt – Acoustic Guitars, Harmonica, Vocals

OldNeumanntapr Notes;
This was another show that my friend Craig recorded that he wanted me to do post production. The Aladdin Theater is a nice intimate theater, according to Craig, and has a capacity of 600 people. Judging by the recordings that he has made there the acoustics sound really nice. Hiatt tells some funny stories, including one where he admits that he pees just before going onstage because otherwise ‘The last part of the show gets speeded up’. As an aging taper, I can relate to this, as I have to do the same just before getting to my seat!

Do NOT Convert To MP3.
Enjoy! Share freely, don’t sell, play nice, don’t run with scissors, etc. 😉

Pink Floyd – Shows by Date

xxxx.xx.xx – The Final Cutting
xxxx.xx.xx – German Trading Tape of Outtakes
xxxx.xx.xx – the Great Gig in the Sky, An Alternate Take of Dark Side of the Moon
xxxx.xx.xx – Nothing But the Blues
xxxx.xx.xx – Outtakes From Outer Space
xxxx.xx.xx – Turn Off the Light Thru Dark
xxxx.xx.xx – Yet Another Lost Album

1965-1967 – Origines
1965-1967 – A Saucerful of Outtakes
1965-1967 – The Syd Barrett Tapes
1965-1969 – Have You Got It Yet
1965-1969 – Rhamadam and the Dawn of Pink Floyd
1965-1970 – Lucy Leave and Other Rarities
1965-1971 – The Syd Barrett Years
1965-1974 – Psychedelic Freakout
1965-1975 – Dark Globe
1965-1988 – Beyond Rhyme Nor Reason
1965-1991 – The Ultimate Rarities
1965-1996 – A Treeful of Secrets
1966-1967 – Flowers and Vegetables
1966-1967 – Psychedelic Games For May
1966-1968 – Interstellar Overdrive Alternate Masters
1966-1968 – Last Screams
1966-1970 – Lotus
1966-1970 – Magnesium Proverbs
1966-1972 – Auntie’s Psychedelic Soirees
1966-1977 – Total Eclipse Revisited
1966-1981 – Old Interviews
1966-1982 – Unmissable Tracks
1966 – A Fish Out of Water
1967-1969 – At Dawn
1967-1969 – At the Beeb
1967-1969 – BBC Archives
1967-1969 – The Complete Top Gear
1967-1969 – Music For Architectural Students
1967-1970 – Before Time Began
1967-1970 – Effervescing Elephant
1967-1970 – Melk Weg
1967-1970 – Unforgotten Hero
1967-1971 – BBC Broadcasts
1967-1971 – My Head Kissed the Ground
1967-1971 – Sights and Sounds of Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd
1967-1972 – Studio Archives and Other Dreams
1967-1973 – Anthology II
1967-1974 – I Wanna Tell You a Story
1967-1975 – Lost and Founds
1967-1980 – Antiques and Curios
1967-1988 – Some More Secrets
1967-1993 – Total Eclipse – A Retrospective
1967-1994 – Bear in a Tree
1967 – CBS Radio Interview
1967 – Doll’s House Darkness
1967 – Vegetable Man Scream They Last Scream
1967.09.10 – Stockholm, Sweden
1967.09.13 – Copenhagen, Denmark
1967.09.25 – London, England
1967.11.13 – Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1967.12.20 – London, England
1968-1969 – Celestial Voices, Celestial Particles
1968-1969 – Top Gear Sessions
1968-1971 – From Oblivion
1968-1971 – Secrets
1968-1972 – Ummagumma Revisited
1968-1977 – Careful With That Axe, Eugene
1968 – The Transitional Period
1968.05.06 – Rome, Italy
1968.05.23 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1968.05.31 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1968.07.27 – Los Angeles, CA
1968.12.28 – Utrecht, The Netherlands


1969-1970 – Around the Music
1969-1970 – OMAYAD
1969-1970 – The Remaking of OMAYAD
1969-1971 – Echoes of Atom Heart Mother
1969-1989 – Recurring Nightmare
1969 – June Laying the Embryo
1969.03.27 – Chesterfield, England
1969.04.14 – London, England
1969.05.09 – Southampton, England
1969.06.22– Manchester, England
1969.06.26 – London, England
1969.07.20 – London, England
1969.08.08 – Plumpton, England
1969.08.09 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1969.09.17 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1969.10.11 – Essen, Germany
1969.10.25 – Amougies, Belgium
1969.12.xx – Zabriskie Point Sessions
1969.12.06 – Port Talbot, Wales

1970-1971 – BBC Description Disc
1970-1972 – Blues
1970-1972 – Dream’s Factory
1970-1972 – Fragments of Floyd
1970-1975 – Riding the Cow
1970 – Zabriskie Point Live
1970 – Zabiskie What’s the Point
1970.01.18 – Croydon, England
1970.01.23 – Paris, France
1970.02.11 – Birmingham, England
1970.02.28 – Leeds, England
1970.03.xx – Rome, Italy
1970.03.12 – Hamburg, Germany
1970.03.13 – Berlin, Germany
1970.03.14 – Nuremberg, Germany
1970.03.15 – Hannover, Germany
1970.03.20 – Lund, Sweden
1970.04.11 – Stony Brook, NY
1970.04.22 – Port Chester, NY
1970.04.29 – San Francisco, CA
1970.04.30 – San Francisco, CA
1970.05.01 – Santa Monica, CA
1970.06.06 – London, England
1970.06.28 – Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1970.07.12 – Aachen, Germany
1970.07.16 – London, England
1970.07.18 – London, England
1970.07.27 – Somerset, England
1970.08.08 – San Tropez, France
1970.09.12 – London, England
1970.09.27 – New York, NY
1970.10.16 – San Rafael, CA
1970.10.23 – Santa Monica, CA
1970.11.06 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1970.11.21 – Montreaux, Switzerland

1971-1973 – Obscured by Clouds Live
1971-1974 – One of These Days
1971-1975 – Echoes Compilation
1971.01.23 – Leeds, England
1971.02.06 – London, England
1971.02.12 – Colchester, England
1971.02.13 – Farnborough, England
1971.02.24 – Munster, Germany
1971.02.25 – Hamburg, Germany
1971.02.26 – Offenbach, Germany
1971.04.03 – Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1971.05.15 – London, England
1971.06.04 – Dusseldorf, Germany
1971.06.05 – Berlin, Germany
1971.09.18 – Montreaux, Switzerland
1971.09.23 – Copenhagen, Denmark
1971.09.25 – Copenhagen, Denmark
1971.09.30 – London, England
1971.10.04-07 – Pompeii, Italy
1971.10.10 – Yorkshire, England
1971.10.17 – San Diego, CA
1971.11.06 – Cleveland, OH
1971.11.20 – Cincinnati, OH

1972-1977 – She Kisses Like a Fish
1972.01.20 – Brighton, England
1972.01.21 – Portsmouth, England
1972.01.22 – Bournemouth, England
1972.01.28 – Leeds, England
1972.02.12 – Sheffield, England
1972.02.17 – London, England
1972.02.18 – London, England
1972.02.19 – London, England
1972.02.20 – London, England
1972.02.17-20 – London, England
1972.03.08 – Osaka, Japan
1972.03.09 – Osaka, Japan
1972.03.10 – Kyoto, Japan
1972.04.27 – Detroit, MI
1972.05.04 – Boston, MA
1972.05.18 – Berlin, Germany
1972.05.21 – Germersheim, Germany
1972.05.22 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1972.06.28 – Brighton, England
1972.06.29 – Brighton, England
1972.09.22 – Los Angeles, CA
1972.09.24 – San Francisco, CA
1972.11.14 – Dusseldorf, Germany
1972.12.01 – Saint-Ouen, France
1972.12.02 – Saint-Ouen, France
1972.12.07 – Lille, France


1973.01.13 – Paris, France
1973.03.06 – St. Louis, MO
1973.03.08 – Cincinnati, OH
1973.03.10 – Kent, OH
1973.03.11 – Toronto, Canada
1973.03.17 – New York, NY
1973.05.18 – London, England
1973.05.19 – London, England
1973.10.12 – Munich, Germany
1973.11.04 – London, England


1974.06.22 – Colmar, France
1974.11.15 – London, England
1974.11.16 – London, England
1974.11.17 – London, England
1974.11.19 – Stroke-On-Trent, England
1974.12.09 – Manchester, England
1974.12.14 – Bristol, England

1975-1980 – Azimuth Coordinator
1975.04.13 – Daly City, CA
1975.04.20 – Tempe, AZ
1975.04.26 – Los Angeles, CA
1975.04.27 – Los Angeles, CA
1975.06.12 – Philadelphia, PA
1975.06.17 – Uniondale, NY
1975.06.20 – Pittsburg, PA
1975.06.22 – Milwaukee, WI
1975.06.23 – Detroit, MI
1975.06.24 – Detroit, MI
1975.06.28 – Hamilton, Canada
1975.07.05 – Knebworth, England

1976-1977 – The Extraction Tapes
1977 – A Real Need – Animals Live
1977.01.23 – Dortmund, Germany
1977.01.24 – Dortmund, Germany
1977.01.27 – Frankfurt, Germany
1977.01.29 – Berlin, Germany
1977.01.30 – Berlin, Germany
1977.02.17 – Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1977.02.18 – Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1977.02.19 – Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1977.02.20 – Antwerp, Belgium
1977.02.22 – Paris, France
1977.03.17 – London, England
1977.04.24 – Tampa, FL
1977.04.26 – Atlanta, GA
1977.05.09 – Oakland, CA
1977.05.10 – Oakland, CA
1977.06.07 – Montreal, Canada
1977.06.25 – Cleveland, OH
1977.06.27 – Boston, MA
1977.06.28 – Philadelphia, PA
1977.06.29 – Philadelphia, PA
1977.07.01 – New York, NY
1977.07.02 – New York, NY
1977.07.03 – New York, NY
1977.07.04 – New York, NY
1977.07.06 – Montreal, Canada
1978-1979 – The Wall Demos

1980.02.01 – Los Angeles, CA
1980.02.07 – Los Angeles, CA
1980.02.09 – Los Angeles, CA
1980.02.10 – Los Angeles, CA
1980.02.25 – Uniondale, NY
1980.08.09 – London, England
1981.02.13 – Dortmund, Germany
1981.02.16 – Dortmund, Germany
1981.02.19– Dortmund, Germany
1981.06.14 – London, England
1981.06.16 – London, England
1982-1983 – The Final Cut: Working Demos and Interview
1982.05.01 – Paris, France
1983-1993 – Secret Rarities: Demos and Outtakes
1983 – The Rough Cut

1987.09.09 – Ottowa, Canada
1987.09.19 – Philadelphia, PA
1987.09.22 – Toronto, Canada
1987.10.07 – New York, NY
1987.10.21 – Landover, MD
1987.10.25 – Chapel Hill, NC
1987.11.26 – Los Angeles, CA
1987.12.08 – Seattle, WA
1988.01.22 – Auckland, New Zealand
1988.01.27 – Sydney, Australia
1988.02.01 – Sydney, Australia
1988.02.19 – Melbourne, Australia
1988.03.02 – Tokyo, Japan
1988.04.25 – Phoenix, AZ
1988.05.24 – Minneapolis, MN
1988.06.25 – Hannover, Germany
1988.07.01 – Vienna, Austria
1988.08.02 – Oslo, Norway
1988.08.06 – London, England
1988.08.20 – Uniondale, NY
1989.06.18 – Cologne, Germany
1989.06.23 – Linz, Austria
1989.07.04 – London, England
1989.07.09 – London, England
1989.07.10 – Nijmegan, The Netherlands
1989.07.15 – Venice, Italy

1990.06.30 – Knebworth, England
1994.03.16 – San Bernadino, CA
1994.03.30 – Miami, FL
1994.04.24 – Tempe, AZ
1994.04.29 – Dallas, TX
1994.05.18 – Foxboro, MA
1994.07.03 – Madison, WI
1994.07.12 – Chicago, IL
1994.08.02 – Cologne, Germany
1994.08.06 – Basel, Switzerland
1994.08.30 – Oslo, Norway
1994.09.09 – Strasbourg, France
1994.09.20 – Rome, Italy
1994.09.21 – Rome, Italy
1994.10.12 – London, England
1994.10.13 – London, England
1994.10.14 – London, England
1994.10.16 – London, England
1994.10.19 – London, England
1994.10.20 – London, England
1994.10.21 – London, England
1994.10.22 – London, England
1994.10.23 – London, England
1994.10.26 – London, England
1994.10.27 – London, England
1994.10.28 – London, England
1994.10.29 – London, England

2005.07.02 – London, England
2017.07.30 – Newport, RI – Roger Waters w/John Prine
2024.09.27 – Rome, Italy – David Gilmour

Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988) 4K UHD Reivew

killer klowns bluray

The ’80s were weird. People gave the Chiodo Brothers – three dudes who had never made a movie before – $2 million to write/direct/produce a horror film about a bunch of space clowns who come to Earth and turn people into Cotton Candy Slurpees.

And it’s pretty good.

I wish we had more of that weirdness today.

You can read my review of the film over at Cinema Sentries.

Seven Samurai 4K UHD is the New Blu-ray Pick of the Week

seven samurai cover

There is a new folk horror boxed set coming out from Severin Films next week. It was supposed to have come out this week. I made it my pick. I wrote a nice little thing about it. Then at the last minute, they switched the release date to next week.

So, I had to switch my pick to the Seven Samurai. I love Seven Samurai, it is one of my favorite films. Criterion remains my favorite distribution company. But the thing is I already own a Criterion copy of that film. I’m not a big fan of double dipping. Sure, it would be nice to get the 4K upgrade. If someone wants to send me that for Christmas I would be eternally grateful. But I’m not likely to buy it on my own.

That’s why it wasn’t actually my pick. Until my real pick deserted me and I needed something quick.

Anyway, you can read that write-up and learn what else came out today over at Cinema Sentries.

Bring Out the Perverts: Strip Nude For Your Killer (1975)

strip nude for your killer poster

Horror films have always been at least a little transgressive and salacious. They are trying to evoke strong emotions after all. Starting in the 1960s and moving strongly in the 1970s and 1980s they began to rely heavily on sex and violence. Horror tends to be watched by younger people and younger people buy tickets when that’s what you’re selling.

Giallo always trodded on those tropes. This makes sense since Giallo is at heart a genre about violence against women. The best films in the genre examine those tropes, they ponder the male gaze (while often at the same time offering up examples of it) and probe the links between sex and violence. The worst ones simply give the audience plenty of naked flesh and blood-letting without much thought behind it beyond making a few dollars.

Strip Nude For Your Killer is one of the sleaziest horror films I’ve ever seen. Hardly a scene goes by without someone (usually any number of beautiful women) taking off their clothes. Actually, it is always the women. This is a film that has no problem showing full-frontal nudity from a woman but always pans up just as the men are taking off their pants.

It begins with a woman lying naked on her back, her feet in stirrups. She’s getting a back-alley abortion. The doctor’s head is strategically placed so that we can see pubic hair, but not her actual genitals. That’s about as sophisticated as the film gets.

I won’t get too far into the plot, as you can read more about that in my review of the Blu-ray over at Cinema Sentries. There isn’t much plot to be found if I’m being honest. It is basically someone killing a bunch of people connected to a modeling agency.

The kills aren’t particularly interesting, and the filmmaking is rather plain. There is a groovy soundtrack and the killer does wear a pretty rad-looking leather biker suit (someday I’m gonna make a list of all the films that have a killer wearing a similar suit – there are a lot of them, and they always seem to keep their helmets on!)

It also stars Edwige Fenech and I’ll never complain about that. However, she’s not given much to do (other than strip off her clothes at every opportunity) even as she is the main character and the one who is investigating the murders.

It isn’t a terrible film, it just isn’t particularly exciting which is quite a thing to say considering how much nudity and murder it has in it.

Fleetwood Mac – London, England (05/18/88)

Fleetwood Mac
19880518
London, England
Wembley Arena

Source: Audience
Lineage:
Quality: 8 (8.5)
Comments:
Notes:

Set 1:

  1. intro 01:14
  2. Say You Love Me 04:22
  3. The Chain 05:58
  4. Dreams 04:28
  5. Isn’t It Midnight 04:57
  6. Oh Well 04:29
  7. Seven Wonders 04:16
  8. Stop Messin’ Around 04:18
  9. Sara 05:31
  10. Everywhere 03:22
  11. Gold Dust Woman 06:59
  12. Don’t Let Me Down Again 03:59
  13. Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You 04:55
  14. Another Woman 04:24
  15. Brown Eyes 03:03
  16. World Turning 15:34
  17. Little Lies 04:23
  18. Stand Back 04:57
  19. You Make Lovin’fun 04:37
  20. Go Your Own Way 06:44
  21. Blue Letter 04:32
  22. Don’t Stop 05:42
  23. Songbird 03:54
  24. goodbye 01:04
    __
    01:57:42

Goodbye & Amen (1977)

goodbye and amen radiance blurayt

When I was a teenager and first beginning to truly love movies I sent off for a movie catalog. I saw an ad in the back of Rolling Stone or Spin or some such thing and I wanted to see what type of films were available outside of my little small town. What I got was a Xeroxed copy of a copy of a copy of some typed-out list of films. I think there were occasionally pictures and there were definitely some synopses of the films.

I didn’t buy any of the movies, or rent them, but I was endlessly fascinated by that catalog. Here were all sorts of films, hundreds of them, that I’d never heard of. I think they were mostly cult films, foreign films, low-budget B-movies, the type of films that I now love, but it opened up this idea that there was a cinematic world out there, just out of reach that maybe someday I could explore.

I mention this because I think of young cinephiles now. How literally nearly every film ever made is available to them if they know how to look. How sites like IMDB and Letterboxed and countless others give them information and recommendations for all sorts of films in every genre imaginable. What an amazing time it must be for them. I mean it is an amazing time for me, but I can’t imagine how awesome it must be for kids just now discovering movies.

I am, of course, a huge proponent of physical media. While I certainly stream my fair share of movies, nothing quite beats sliding in a disc and pressing Play. One of the things I love about all these boutique Blu-ray companies is that they regularly supply me with great films I never knew existed.

Goodbye & Amen is one such film. It is an Italian thriller about a C.I.A. agent living in Rome with plans to start a coup in some African country. But his plans are thwarted when one of his agents starts shooting random people and holds a couple of people hostage in a hotel room.

It is well-shot, and directed, and is an utterly enjoyable watch. You can read my full review over at Cinema Sentries.

Escape From New York Is the New Blu-ray Pick of the Week

escape from new york 4k

I love a good genre movie. Whether it is a western, a horror flick, a film noir, a sci-fi film, or something else, genres give us a set of rules to follow. There is something comforting in knowing the basic elements of a film before it even begins. And yet, of course, the best genre films upend the rules and do something different.

John Carpenter is one of the greatest genre filmmakers ever. He remains one of the great masters. His best films – The Thing, Halloween, The Fog – I’ve seen dozens of times. They are endlessly entertaining.

Strangely, I’ve only seen Escape From New York once, and that was years ago. I remember loving it, but for reasons I now can’t fathom, I’ve never returned to it. I think with this new 4K UHD release from Shout Factory that will be rectified soon.

Also out this week that looks interesting:

Godzilla 4K UHD: Criterion has released this film a few times, once as a Blu-ray with their usual set of extras, then again as part of their big Godzilla boxed set (I own both of those) and now again in 4K (I won’t be purchasing this one).

White Christmas 4K UHD: My wife absolutely adores this musical starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney. I could live without it.

The Crow: This remake of the cult classic has gotten terrible reviews from both fans and critics.

Trap 4K UHD: A pretty fun, if ultimately quite goofy little thriller from M. Night Shyamalan. You can read my review here.

I Love Lucy: The Complete Series: I’m sure I’ve seen many episodes of this classic sitcom, but I can’t remember any of them. It just wasn’t a series I paid much attention to when I was a kid (when they endlessly reran it, I’m not old enough to have seen it when it originally aired.)

The Wizard of Oz 4K UHD: An undeniable classic gets yet another repackaging. I can’t count the number of times this has been released in a variety of formats.

Orphan Black: Echoes. The original series was utterly original and interesting and fantastic until it wasn’t. My wife and I watched the first few seasons and then it started getting bogged down inside its own endless conspiracy theories and we tuned out. I’m interested in this sequel series if only because it stars Krysten Ritter whom I love.

Noirvember: The Night of the Hunter (1955)

night of the hunter poster

Apologies for not getting a Friday Night Horror movie up this week. I had planned to make this film that post as it blends both elements of film noir and horror, but Friday turned into a very long day. Work was a series of mistakes and irritations and then my daughter performed at the high school football game. I was happy to support her but by the time we got home, I was nothing but exhausted. I did manage to watch this, but there was no chance my brain could come up with something to write about it.

Four days later and here I am.

I think The Night of the Hunter was the very first film noir I ever watched. I can’t be quite sure of that because I didn’t always know what film noir even was so it is possible something else was seen earlier than this, but I don’t know what that would be. I don’t even know exactly when I first watched this film. I remember being spellbound by it, but nothing surrounds that memory to give me a clue as to what time frame it occurred. At a guess, I would say college or maybe just after.

It doesn’t really matter, but I like tracking these things. It was definitely early days in my life as a cinephile. I had started watching classic movies and understanding them as art, but not so early that watching a film like this was a revelation.

I hadn’t watched this in years and maybe it is a revelation. It’s just so damn good. So strange in some ways, and beautiful. It was the first and only film ever directed by actor Charles Laughton. It bombed at the box office and they never gave him another chance in the director’s chair. I weep at what we missed because of that.

Robert Mitchum plays Harry Powell a man who uses the veil of religion to lure women into his snare, marry them, kill them, then leave with their money. He’s got Hate tattooed on one hand and Love on the other. He loves to tell a flamboyant story about how Love conquers Hate which generally enthralls the listener.

While in prison for theft he meets Ben Harper (Peter Graves) a man sentenced to be hanged. In his sleep, Ben mumbles something about the $10,000 he stole and something else about his kids knowing where the money is hidden.

That’s all Harry needs to go on the prowl again. Once he’s out he finds Ben’s wife Willa (Shelley Winters) and quickly seduces her. Well, maybe seduce isn’t the right word. He woos her, talks her into marriage and then basically casts her aside. There is one chilling scene, their wedding night, where she comes in ready for the lovemaking and he lectures her that sex is but for childbearing, and since she’s already got two there is no need for them to consummate their marriage.

The kind veneer disappears for the children as well quite quick. At first, he acts as a loving father and gently works for them to spill the secret of the money, but wen that doesn’t work he gets angry and mean. The girl, Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce) dotes on Harry, but the boy, John (Billy Chapin) knows what’s up.

Soon enough the kids are on a skiff floating down the river, desperately trying to escape the murderous grip of Harry. They wind up at the home of Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish) a widow who lost her own child to the Depression and has started taking in homeless children. There they find kindness, grace, and love.

But while the story is really good, the filmmaking makes this a true classic. It is very theatrical in its production. The sets look stagey. Even the supposed outdoor scenes have an artificiality to them. It is designed to constantly remind you that what you are watching isn’t real, it is a story. A morality play. But it is also gorgeously put together.

There is a scene that takes place in Harry and Willa’s bedroom. It is a strangely shaped room with a sharply angled ceiling and a high window. Light shines brightly through that window but shadows loom. The camera sits way back, through what would have to be a wall. blackness frames the room, again as if we were watching a play.

Another scene is shot inside a screened-in porch at Rachel Cooper’s house. She sits in a rocking chair with a shotgun in her lap. Outside stands Harry Powell, waiting. The light inside the porch is off. We see her in shadow. A streetlight illuminates the preacher. Then a young girl enters with a candle. Now we see Rachael more clearly but it darkens our view of Harry Powell. The candle is blown out and he’s gone. It is masterfully staged.

Everything about the film is masterful. Robert Mitchum has never been more menacing. Shelley Winters never more vulnerable. And Lillian Gish is an angel.

It is a great movie. A great film noir. One of the very best.