Out of The Past

Out of the Past

Out of the Past, a Film Noir, written by Daniel Mainwaring and directed by Jacques Tournuer, is a complex film that looks into the dark past of on man, Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum). The film involves an ongoing controversy that happened in an earlier period of Bailey’s life. The film has marvelous acting which includes Jane Greer who plays Kathie Moffat, and the infamous Kirk Douglas who plays the gangster Whit Sterling. This film uses mystery and an ongoing wonder about what happened and what is going to happen, to capture the audience. The film tempted you to want to help Bailey, but because you do not know his story, you cannot help but have suspicion towards his character. The story unravels and some of the mystery unfolds, but what is great is how Tournuer end the film the mystery does not end. The Film Noir ends with Bailey and Kathie dying suddenly, but it doesn’t explain what decision he was going to make. In the final scene the mute boy ends the worry of the other woman in Bailey’s life, Meta Carson (Rhonda Fleming), by telling her that Bailey was not going to marry her. Tournuer uses this, to end one story, the story between Bailey and Carson, but that is not the entire story, and thus he leaves it open for interpretation. It is a very well done film, full of cool one liners, that create a type of nonchalant attitude about everything that is happening. The title of the film is very important because it is emphasizing the fact, that no matter how much one changes their life, their history is always there to haunt them, and sometimes, even comes back…right out of the past.
-Duncan Kelm