Aug 19 2016
Out of the Past non-review
Out of the Past is a 1947 noir thriller so brilliant I cannot do it justice. I would definitely recommend it, particularly if you’re working with…
- Characters
- Plots
- Accidental deaths falsely claimed as murder-suicides
- Double-crosses, triple-crosses, and maybe a quadruple-cross depending on how you interpret a self-defense kill with a fishing reel.
- A complex plot that is extremely easy to follow as it unfolds.
- A character falsely disgracing himself for the greater good, but more smoothly and dramatically than Batman taking the blame for Harvey Dent in Dark Knight. This is straight-up tragic.
Sounds absolutely awesome! How would you rate it as far as mature content? I prefer to avoid things that I wouldn’t want my younger siblings to see or read.
If it were rated today on the MPAA scale, I’d consider it a PG/PG-13 on violence (several deaths, handled with Disney-like restraint, example here) and a G on everything else.
From IMDB’s Parents Guide:
–No graphic violence. Four acts of gun violence and three assaults. [Similar to Incredibles, I think, but there are some off-camera deaths].
–Three instances of passionate kissing. [BM: Nothing past G].
–A fatal fall off of a cliff.
–No profanity.
Also, the movie’s rated 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and is one of the best movies ever made.
It must be a miracle! It’s so hard these days to find good works of fiction that agree with my conscience. I don’t have any problems with violence as long as it doesn’t go overboard on gore. Really my only concerns were about sexual content and profanity. Where can I find this movie? Its name is somewhat general, so a simple search would likely yield thousands of things with similar names.
It’s a classic movie, so you might be able to find it at your library. If not, Amazon sells the DVD for $16.
“It’s so hard these days to find good works of fiction that agree with my conscience. I don’t have any problems with violence as long as it doesn’t go overboard on gore. Really my only concerns were about sexual content and profanity.” There are a lot of incredible movies from before ~1960 that are tame on adult content. Using Rotten Tomatoes’ Top Movies by Year search, here are the movies clearing 95%+ on Rotten Tomatoes. You can double-check the content with a Google search like IMDB Parents Rating [movie name].
1940 – 1950:
Citizen Kane
Maltese Falcon [one of my top 10 crime movies, all time]
How Green Was My Valley
Casablanca
Laura [maybe top 10]
Double Indemnity [top 10]
Big Sleep [top 10]
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Lady From Shanghai
The Third Man
The Bicycle Thief
All About Eve
The Rules of the Game (1950)
1951 – 1954
Rashomon
Strangers on a Train
An American in Paris
High Noon (1952)
Tokyo Story [if you’re into family drama]
The Wages of Fear
Roman Holiday
From Here to Eternity
Rear Window
On the Waterfront
Dial M for Murder [top 10 crime movie]
1955
Rebel Without a Cause
Night of the Hunter
To Catch a Thief
1956
Seven Samurai
The Searchers
Forbidden Planet
Godzilla/Gojira (1956)
Rififi
1957
12 Angry Men
Sweet Smell of Success
Throne of Blood
Paths of Glory
Wild Strawberries
Seventh Seal
1958
Vertigo
Touch of Evil
Elevator to the Gallows / Lift to the Scaffold
1959
North by Northwest
400 Blows
Anatomy of a Murder
Ben-Hur
1960
La Dolce Vita
Spartacus
Peeping Tom
The Apartment