This movie will want to make you throw pomade in your hair, light up a camel cigarette, and talk extra fast. Black and white, backdoor trickery, and clean suits is definitely why I chose this movie over any modern Judd Apatow film. Robert Mitchum who is pure outlaw versus Kirk Douglas who is hard fisted gangster. With guns, whitewalls, and femme fatales you'll definitely want to go back in time with Out of the Past

..says ex Private investigator Robert Mitchum (Jeff) to bad-news girl Jane Greer (Kathie). He is discovered at the beginning of the film in his new hideout by henchman Paul Valentine (Joe) who works for badass Kirk Douglas (Whit) whose character is obviously named after movie legend Whit Bissell. Mitchum has changed his name and has a girlfriend Virginia Huston (Ann) who is unaware of his past which is about to catch up with him. We know that Mitch would much rather lie low and skin up a few doobies but things don't pan out that way for him.It was interesting to read that in one scene when Douglas offers Mitchum a cigarette, Mitchum's relaxed response is "smoking" as he already has a ciggie on the go. I remembered that scene as I found it amusing. The reality was that Mitchum just wandered into the scene with an already lit cigarette and ad-libbed his response when Douglas delivered his line. Ha ha. He is one cool customer! It's a great cast with no misfires and I see why it has its reputation as one of the film noir classics. It's missing a seedy bar torch song - otherwise all elements that you'd expect from this genre are there.

Out of the Past is as film noir as it gets. It's story is dark, told with the help of plenty of flashbacks, betrayals happen left and right, we've got a femme fatale to lead the main man astray, and lots of death. The story is one of deceit, and it's a good one at that. Robert Mitchum's Jeff Bailey, Jane Greer's Kathie Moffat and Kirk Douglas' Whit Sterling are a fantastic trio here. Jeff is a likable lead and Kathie is the aforementioned femme fatale seductress. The story centers around them for the most part, occasionally going back to the present with Jeff and his current girlfriend. Something I really enjoyed from this film was how deep the stories were in both the past and present segments. Typically with these noir films you get a lengthy trip to the past with a less than substantial present segment that's usually there as a set up for the past story to be told. But here you get a good mix of both, with the past taking up the beginning of the film and the present drama taking up the latter half. Of course, the film doesn't really end well for anybody, but I applaud it for sticking to its dark tone. Whit Sterling doesn't appear very often, but when he does he steals the show. He has a great presence about him and his inclusion in the film makes sense (he's usually the one setting anything in motion). I also enjoyed the conclusion with Anne, where The Kid lies to her saying that Jeff had been planning to leave with Kathie the whole time. It's a nice end for the character and it makes The Kid; who definitely has his share of moments throughout the film, feel a little more fleshed out and complex. The cinematography here is also great. Shadows fill scenes and you feel their presence in almost every frame. Cuts are clean and keep up with continuity from previous shots, although I did notice some minor adjustments here and there for one scene, but it wasn't bad. As I said in the beginning, Out of the Past is a pure noir film. It follows practically every trope in the genre, but it handles them extremely well and tells an interesting story that doesn't get stale. It's characters are fleshed out and believable, and every death is meaningful. Definitely worth your time.

From start to finish, this film-noir keeps you on the edge of your seat. Lies and double lives gives our lead, Robert Mitchum, all the disaster that could come his way. "Out of the Past" is the very definition of film-noir. The film takes place most often in the middle of the night and does some jumping around with story until it all falls together like dominoes. The use of shadows and eerie background music amplifies the intensity as the plot thickens and moves forward.The acting in the film was great and even had me branded a sucker a few times due to a love triangle. I would recommend this to anyone who appreciates a good film-noir/crime drama.