Further Reading on Out of the Past

Here are some books and articles that I think will help you derive more enjoyment from Out of the Past. Unless otherwise marked (Tama, upstairs), all the books are in the downstairs (heika) part of the Ichigaya library of Hosei University (Tokyo). If there's an "R" (e.g. "{R903/3/44}") the book may be in either the open reference section or the "R" section of the fourth basement, so look for it in the former before you ask a librarian for it; either way, it can't be borrowed. If you're in Ichigaya, of course you don't have to go to Tama to read a book that's kept at Tama: you can order it from Ichigaya. (Or vice versa.)

It's very likely that there are errors and omissions here. If you notice any, please tell me.

• [Agee, James.] Rev. of Out of the Past. Time, 15 Dec 1947. {Tama TA7a/12}
  A lukewarm review (it starts by calling the film a "medium-grade thriller"). The reviewer is irritated by Robert Mitchum's performance. (Richard Maltby identifies Agee as the reviewer on p. 70 of his article cited below.)
• Bansak, Edmund G. "Jacques Tourneur." Chap. 19 of his Fearing the Dark: The Val Lewton Career. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1995. 419-40. {778/432} {upstairs 778/LE}
  See particularly pp. 430-34, an account of Out of the Past with some insights. (During the 1998 Spring semester, the heika copy of this book can't be taken out of the library. Ask for it at the counter of the heika library.)
• Boddy, William. "Daniel Mainwaring." In Dictionary of Literary Biography 44: American Screenwriters, 2nd series. Detroit: Gale, 1986. 207-15. {R903/3/44}
  Under a pseudonym, Mainwaring wrote the novel (Build My Gallows High) that was turned into Out of the Past. This is a good survey of his work, and it's good about the film, too.
• Brion, Patrick. "Out of the Past (La Griffe du passé / Pendez-moi haut et court)." In his Le Film noir. Paris: Editions Nathan, 1991. 178-83. {Tama 778/40}
  Includes a most interesting snippet from an interview with Jacques Tourneur (reprinted from Positif, no. 132, November 1971). There are some well-printed stills in this elegant book; so even if you know no French whatever, if you appreciate the pictorial aspects of film noir you will enjoy looking at this.
• Christopher, Nicholas. Somewhere in the Night: Film noir and the American City. New York: Free Press, 1997. {778/554}
  There are many references to Out of the Past in this book, one of the most interesting and enjoyable of any published recently on film noir.
• Current Biography. {Tama H8/258}
  There's an article on Kirk Douglas in the 1952 edition {Tama H8/258/13} and one on Robert Mitchum in the 1970 edition {Tama H8/258/31}. Current Biography deserves to be better known. It looks boring -- the design is terrible -- but there is a lot of information within it. (You'll find ten-year cumulative indexes in the issues of years ending in 0, so for example the article on Kirk Douglas is indexed in the 1960 edition.)
• Deutelbaum, Marshall. "`The Birth of Venus' and the Death of Romantic Love in Out of the Past." Literature/Film Quarterly, vol 15 no 3 (1987), 190-97. {A7c/141}
  Sandro Botticelli's painting The Work of Venus "serves in a variety of ways as a model, or plan, for the emblematic representation of Kathie's allure and power through the working of its details within the film's mise-en-scène" (191). And Professor Deutelbaum seems quite serious about this, too. Amazing.
• Dijkstra, Bram. Idols of Perversity: Fantasies of Feminine Evil in Fin-de-Siècle Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. {702/26}
  In this study of the late nineteenth-century preoccupation in the fine arts with evil women, you'll find plenty of arresting images of earlier clichés of the femme fatale. (See also Praz's book.)
• Dixon, Wheeler W. "Jacques Tourneur." In his The "B" Directors: A Biographical Directory. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1985. 474-7. {778/69}
  A list of credits and a brief entry that attempts to explain Tourneur's decline.
• Flinn, Tom. "Screenwriter Daniel Mainwaring Discusses Out of the Past." The Velvet Light Trap, Fall 1973, 38-43. Reprinted as "Daniel Mainwaring: Americana." In Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s, ed. Pat McGilligan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. 193-200. {778/16/2}
  Essential reading.
• Gifford, Barry. The Devil Thumbs a Ride, and Other Unforgettable Films. New York: Grove, 1988. {778/493}
  There's an appreciative summary on pp. 121-3.
• Grist, Leighton. "Out of the Past a.k.a. Build My Gallows High." In The "Movie" Book of Film Noir, ed. Ian Cameron. London: Studio Vista, 1992. 203-12. {778/261}
  A good, well-informed article.
• Hannsberry, Karen Burroughs. Femme noir: Bad girls of film. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1998. {778/648}
  This unusually good book has chapters on Rhonda Fleming, Jane Greer, and, amazingly, Virginia Huston. There's nothing new about this film, but it's highly recommended if you want to read up on any of the three actresses.
• Harvey, John. "Out of the Light: An Analysis of Narrative in Out of the Past." Journal of American Studies 18 (1985), no. 1, 73-87. {Tama A7d/69}
  As opposed to the future depicted in the films Stanley Cavell describes in his Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage -- in the library at {778/127} -- the future at the end of this film is "grey and characterless, it has stepped back out of the light" (87, and thus the title). Well, yes of course. But on the way, Harvey has interesting things to say about the structure of the film. (If you get this volume from the library you might also want to read Richard Maltby's article on film noir.)
• Haskell, Molly. "The Forties." Chap. of her From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. 189-230. {Tama 778/5}
  Lucidly delivers what its title suggests. (Much better than other works on the subject.)
• Higham, Charles, and Joel Greenberg. "Black Cinema." In Hollywood in the Forties. London: Tantivy, 1968. 19-36. {778/5}
  Higham's subject-matter has since (1991) sunk to the British royal family [yawn!], but this book of his is good. This chapter is an excellent and readable introduction to the notion of film noir and some of the films that are so classed. There's nothing directly about Out of the Past.
• Higham, Charles, and Joel Greenberg. "Jacques Tourneur." In their The Celluloid Muse: Hollywood Directors Speak. London: Angus and Robertson, 1969. 216-22. {778/146}
  Based on an interview. Tourneur mentions Out of the Past but doesn't say anything particularly interesting about it.
• Hirsch, Foster. Film Noir: The Dark Side of the Screen. 1981. Reprint. New York: Plenum, Da Capo, 1983. {778/44}
  A good book on film noir, with bits and pieces directly and indirectly relevant to Out of the Past scattered throughout. (Look in the index.)
• Homes, Geoffrey. Build My Gallows High. New York: Jonathan Press, n.d. {933/1745}
  Here's the novel that's the basis of the film. It's short and the English is not at all difficult. However, I don't say that it's easy to read: the story is more complex than that of the movie. (For one thing, the Whit of the movie is a combination of two characters in the novel: Whit and Guy.) This book is particularly ugly and printed on particularly nasty paper. But please treat it carefully: copies of the novel are not so easy to find.
• International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. 3rd ed. 4 vols. Detroit: St James, 1997. {R778/45}
  In vol. 1, there's a rather turgid piece by Leland Poague about Out of the Past. In vol. 2: DeWitt Bodeen, "Jacques Tourneur". In vol. 3: Susan Doll, "Robert Mitchum"; Bill Wine, "Kirk Douglas". In vol. 4: Eric Schaefer, "Nicholas Musuraca" (a surprisingly good little article).
• Jewell, Richard B. The RKO story. New York: Arlington House, 1982. {778/311}
  Out of the Past appears on p. 223. But this book is more interesting for placing the film in its context.
• Kael, Pauline. 5001 Nights at the Movies. Rev. ed. New York: Holt, 1991. {R778/98}
  My favorite among the many books that give short reviews of movies. Kael doesn't think much of Out of the Past.
• Katz, Ephraim. The Encyclopedia of Film. New York: Crowell, 1979. {R778/418}
  A one-volume encyclopedia that sticks to the facts, and that is therefore often useful but seldom all that interesting.
• Konigsberg, Ira. The Complete Film Dictionary. New York: New American Library, 1987. {R778/443}
  A dictionary about film -- the techniques of making a film, rather than particular films, directors, etc. It seems very good of its kind.
• Krutnik, Frank. In a Lonely Street: "Film noir", Genre, Masculinity. London: Routledge, 1991. {778/172}
  A rather unexciting and mostly theoretical examination of film noir. Krutnik does have some good ideas, however, and discusses this film at length. A pity that he shows no sign that he's joking when, in just one page (109) he calls Kathie a "powerful pre-Oedipal maternal figure", a "phallic mother", and "both `castrated' (in needing Whit's money) and `castrator' (in the wielding of the gun)". For a start, what's "maternal" about Kathie? Oh dear: now that it's understood that Freudian quackery is no help to real people, true believers use it on fictional characters.
• Lloyd, Ann, and David Robinson, eds. Movies of the Forties. London: Orbis, 1982. {upstairs 778/MO}
  A lot of short articles, with plenty of illustrations: one of a series, from Movies of the Silent Era to Movies of the Seventies. See particularly David Samuelson, et al., "The Tools of the Trade," 63-6 (on technical improvements in cameras, in sound recording, and in panchromatic film stock; and on the innovative films that came from these improvements); Martyn Auty, "Here's Looking at You: The Work of the Hollywood Cameramen," 74-7 (on lighting and camera techniques of the thirties and forties, for black-and-white and color); David Overbey, "In the Shadows," 141-4 (an introduction to film noir); David Thomson, "Deadlier than the Male," 148-50 (on the femmes fatales of films from Die Büchse der Pandora [Pandora's Box, 1929], the 30s films with Marlene Dietrich, the noir cycle of the forties, and beyond); Phil Hardy, "They Lived by Night," 150-2 (on the actor, and particularly the male lead, in an era when heroes were seldom all good).
• McClelland, Doug. Forties Film Talk: Oral Histories of Hollywood, with 120 Lobby Posters. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1992. {778/430}
  There is a lot here about Out of the Past. Jane Greer, interviewed specially for this book, talks about it on pp. 77-8, saying that it's her favorite picture -- she has good taste! Dick Moore talks about it on p. 136. The second half of the book has quotations from older books and magazines; Kirk Douglas writes (originally in his autobiography) about Jane Greer on p. 335, Jane Greer and Daniel Mainwaring about Robert Mitchum on pp. 335 and 344.
• Macpherson, Don. "Out of the Past (aka Build My Gallows High)." In The "Time Out" Film Guide, ed. Tom Milne. 3rd ed. London: 1993. {R778/106/3}
  High praise for the film in the potted review that originally appeared in London's Time Out magazine.
• Maltby, Richard. "Film Noir: The Politics of the Maladjusted Text." Journal of American Studies 18 (1985), no. 1, 49-71. {Tama A7d/69}
  What an obscure and uninviting title! But the article is better than I'd expected, with information about films noirs' position in the marketplace at the time they were released, and intelligent comment on the notion that they somehow reflect the Zeitgeist (spirit of the times), contain "existential" motifs, etc. (If you get this volume from the library you should also read John Harvey's article "Out of the Light".)
• Maxfield, James F. "Out of the Past: The Private Eye as Tragic Hero." Chap. 5 of his The Fatal Woman: Sources of Male Anxiety in American Film Noir, 1941-1991. Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996. 54-65. {778/564}
  Careful but not particularly perceptive. Reading this might help you remember the story.
• Meyer, David N. A Girl and a Gun: The Complete Guide to Film Noir on Video. New York: Avon, 1998. {R778/658}
  A small guidebook. ("Complete" is an overstatement.
• Mitchum, John. Them Ornery Mitchum Boys: The Adventures of Robert and John Mitchum. Pacifica, Calif.: Creatures at Large, 1989. {778/297}
  The name of the publisher is one of the best things about this book, which is extraordinarily self-indulgent. It barely mentions Out of the Past; still, it has pleasant pictures of and amusing stories about Robert Mitchum (the author's elder brother).
• Monaco, James. How to Read a Film. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981. {upstairs 778/MO}
  A very good and very interesting book about films in general. Monaco makes you think, but he writes clearly and unpretentiously.
• Muller, Eddie. Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir. New York: St Martin's Griffin, 1998. {778/620}
  Well-illustrated with stills, posters, etc., this book is seldom perceptive but it's always enjoyable. Pp. 76-9 are devoted to Out of the Past, but you should also look through the whole thing.
• Naremore, James. More than night: Film noir in its contexts. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. {778/667}
  An excellent book on noir, with a detailed and perceptive discussion of the lighting in Out of the Past.
• Ottoson, Robert. "Out of the Past (RKO, 1947) 97 min." In A Reference Guide to the American Film Noir 1940-1958. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1981. {778/19}
  Straightforwardly tells the story, but says little more. (This book is no competition for Silver and Ward's Film Noir.) Worth a look for the hilarious publicity still (133) -- take a look at Kathie's dress!
• Palmer, Christopher. "Roy Webb." In his The Composer in Hollywood. London: Marion Boyars, 1990. 160-85. {778/277}
  Out of the Past is barely mentioned, but this is worth noting as a rare comment on the work of the film's unappreciated composer.
• Peary, Danny. Cult Movie Stars. New York: Simon & Schuster, Fireside, 1991. {778/218}
  There is an entry in this rather arbitrary collection (which includes a surprising number of porno actresses) for Robert Mitchum.
• Peary, Danny. Guide for the Film Fanatic. London: Simon & Schuster, 1987. {R778/77}
  One of many reference books of movies. Probably it's mainly intended for people who are wondering which video to rent. Peary is interested in unusual movies, and doesn't attempt to be comprehensive. What Peary says about Out of the Past is a shortened version of what he wrote in the earlier Cult Movies (see below).
• Peary, Danny. "Out of the Past." In Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful. New York: Dell, Delta, 1981. {778/81}
  A good article on the film. Peary is insightful and intelligent -- but not always accurate. For example, the praise for the movie in the first paragraph is good, but two quotations within it are mistaken. When writing about other films, Peary can be even less accurate. Nevertheless, I strongly recommend this article, as well as the book as a whole (together with its sequels, Cult Movies 2 and Cult Movies 3).
• Peary, Danny, ed. Close-Ups: Intimate Profiles of Movie Stars by Their Costars, Directors, Screenwriters, and Friends. 1978. Reprint. New York: Simon & Schuster, Fireside, 1988. {778/76}
  Short, easy-to-read articles about movie stars. An undemanding and completely unacademic book; you could easily read it while having your hair cut. See Roger Ebert, "Robert Mitchum: Against the Grain", 260-63 (a pleasant but bland article on Mitchum's on- and off-screen personality), and Myron Meisel, "Kirk Douglas: Last Angry Man", 403-405 (on the actor and his work, almost all post-1950, and nothing directly about Out of the Past).
• Place, Janey. "Women in Film Noir." In Women in Film Noir, ed. E. Ann Kaplan. Rev. ed. London: British Film Institute, 1980. 22-34. {778/247}
  Mentions Out of the Past on p. 50, but the treatment here is boringly schematic. There may be more about the film elsewhere: this book has no index.
• Praz, Mario. The Romantic Agony, trans. Angus Davidson. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951. {901/51}
  In this book about the Victorian preoccupation (in literature and the other arts) with death, Praz has interesting things to say about the pre-Hollywood femme fatale. (See also Dijkstra's book.)
• Roberts, Jerry. Robert Mitchum: A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1992. {R778/356}
  The entry for the film is on pp. 64-6; there's also a lengthy bibliography that lists some items about the film. See the index.
• Silver, Alain, and Elizabeth Ward, eds. Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style. 3rd ed. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook, 1992. {upstairs 778/SI}
  There's an article by Blake Lucas on the film, but this book is more useful for its comprehensive lists of credits, and its indexes. It's also a very enjoyable book to browse in, as you can see Out of the Past in its context. It's a pity that so much effort went into explaining just how much of every film fits the film noir pattern.
• "Six Corpses, Three Ladies." (Rev. of Out of the Past.) Newsweek, 8 Dec 1947. {Tama TA7a/13}
  Warm review of the film -- about which the anonymous reviewer doesn't say much, other than that he or she likes Robert Mitchum.
• Stephens, Michael L. Film Noir: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Reference to Movies, Terms and Persons. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1995. {R778/474}
  A carelessly edited but interesting miscellany.
• Thompson, Peggy, and Saeko Usukawa. Hard-Boiled: Great Lines from Classic Noir Films. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1995. {778/504}
  There are four quotations from the film (74). This is a pleasant picture book of film noir.
• Thomson, David. A Biographical Dictionary of Film. London: André Deutsch, 1994. {R778/428}
  This book is very much more opinionated and interesting than its prosaic title suggests. There are entries for Douglas, Mitchum, and Tourneur. (Incidentally, the text of this book is included in the very cheap CD-ROM Blockbuster Video Guide to Movies and Videos.)
• Turim, Maureen. "Flashbacks and the Psyche in Melodrama and Film Noir." In her Flashbacks in Film: Memory and History. New York: Routledge, 1989. {778/45}
  Turim manages to get "eros and the death drive" into her discussion of Out of the Past. She refers to Markham/Bailey as "the male", and says that "His commentary is given to the ear of the analyst" (179). Which analyst? Turim's psychoanalytic fantasies are even more glutinous than Krutnik's, but you may be able to extract some insights from them.
• Tuska, Jon. Dark Cinema: American "Film Noir" in Cultural Perspective. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1984. {778/90}
  Tuska's comments specifically about this film (211-12) attempt to put it in the femme fatale tradition. He uses terms from classical Greek drama; for explanations of these terms, see the index. As a whole, this book (in common with others by Tuska) is too long and rather sloppily written, but it does contain odds and ends that you will not find elsewhere.
• Williamson, Judith. "Build My Gallows High." In her Deadline at Dawn: Film Criticism 1980-1990. London: Marion Boyars, 1992. 214-16. {778/328}
  The transcript of an introductory chat that Williamson made before the film was shown in Britain on BBC2 in 1988. She thinks very highly of the film, but, as in a review, is limited by being unable to give away much of the story.

Created: 16 May 1998. Last fiddled with: 15 March 1999. In no way sponsored or approved by Hosei University. Please address any corrections, comments, complaints etc. directly to Peter Evans