Eddie Selover
@eddieselover.bsky.social
Writer, communications exec, coach, speaker. Topics mostly movies, storytelling and spiritual adventuring. My biography of Basil Rathbone coming next year from UPK. ♊️🦄🍸
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 28: Noir you watch over and over.
DOUBLE INDEMNITY. This movie is like an old wooden rollercoaster—so expertly constructed that each twist and turn gives you the same little shudder of delight every time. It's straight down the line, baby.
Day 28: Noir you watch over and over.
DOUBLE INDEMNITY. This movie is like an old wooden rollercoaster—so expertly constructed that each twist and turn gives you the same little shudder of delight every time. It's straight down the line, baby.
November 28, 2025 at 12:32 PM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 28: Noir you watch over and over.
DOUBLE INDEMNITY. This movie is like an old wooden rollercoaster—so expertly constructed that each twist and turn gives you the same little shudder of delight every time. It's straight down the line, baby.
Day 28: Noir you watch over and over.
DOUBLE INDEMNITY. This movie is like an old wooden rollercoaster—so expertly constructed that each twist and turn gives you the same little shudder of delight every time. It's straight down the line, baby.
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 27: Favourite film noir featuring food.
MILDRED PIERCE, in which Joan Crawford rises from home baker to waitress to restaurant entrepreneur. She gradually loses touch with food itself (we see less of it as the film unfolds), as she does with her other most important values.
Day 27: Favourite film noir featuring food.
MILDRED PIERCE, in which Joan Crawford rises from home baker to waitress to restaurant entrepreneur. She gradually loses touch with food itself (we see less of it as the film unfolds), as she does with her other most important values.
November 27, 2025 at 4:02 PM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 27: Favourite film noir featuring food.
MILDRED PIERCE, in which Joan Crawford rises from home baker to waitress to restaurant entrepreneur. She gradually loses touch with food itself (we see less of it as the film unfolds), as she does with her other most important values.
Day 27: Favourite film noir featuring food.
MILDRED PIERCE, in which Joan Crawford rises from home baker to waitress to restaurant entrepreneur. She gradually loses touch with food itself (we see less of it as the film unfolds), as she does with her other most important values.
In my early 50s I was having drinks at a Manhattan hotel bar with a woman I adored, when there was a sudden fierce rainstorm stranding us there. I managed to procure an umbrella out of nowhere... and suddenly becoming Psmith was one of the highlights of my life.
November 26, 2025 at 9:10 PM
In my early 50s I was having drinks at a Manhattan hotel bar with a woman I adored, when there was a sudden fierce rainstorm stranding us there. I managed to procure an umbrella out of nowhere... and suddenly becoming Psmith was one of the highlights of my life.
Psmith, the first great character created by P.G. Wodehouse.
November 26, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Psmith, the first great character created by P.G. Wodehouse.
I'm enjoying this Laurel and Hardy series from Flicker Alley so much. Some of these shorts are as great as Chaplin or Keaton, and the restorations are beautiful in spite of the sources often being problematic. Highly recommended.
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November 26, 2025 at 12:49 PM
I'm enjoying this Laurel and Hardy series from Flicker Alley so much. Some of these shorts are as great as Chaplin or Keaton, and the restorations are beautiful in spite of the sources often being problematic. Highly recommended.
flickeralley.com/products/lau...
flickeralley.com/products/lau...
This movie also has my favorite line in a Neo-noir, when Huston's Lily visits her injured son in the hospital.
"Get off the grift, Roy."
"Why?"
[Long drag and exhale of smoke]
"You haven't got the stomach for it."
"Get off the grift, Roy."
"Why?"
[Long drag and exhale of smoke]
"You haven't got the stomach for it."
November 26, 2025 at 10:19 AM
This movie also has my favorite line in a Neo-noir, when Huston's Lily visits her injured son in the hospital.
"Get off the grift, Roy."
"Why?"
[Long drag and exhale of smoke]
"You haven't got the stomach for it."
"Get off the grift, Roy."
"Why?"
[Long drag and exhale of smoke]
"You haven't got the stomach for it."
I love that the movie has 2 femmes fatales: Angelica Huston and Annette Bening, both stunning and both doing the best work of their lives (here's another Noir masterpiece with the name Huston on it). John Cusack and Pat Hingle are also magnificent, and terrifying in very different ways.
November 26, 2025 at 10:12 AM
I love that the movie has 2 femmes fatales: Angelica Huston and Annette Bening, both stunning and both doing the best work of their lives (here's another Noir masterpiece with the name Huston on it). John Cusack and Pat Hingle are also magnificent, and terrifying in very different ways.
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 26: Favourite Neo-noir
THE GRIFTERS is the only movie that gets Jim Thompson exactly right. His cynicism is so raw, his people so lost, his bleakness so total that usually his books are unfilmable. This movie solves the problem by leaning in hard, with a gleeful brio.
Day 26: Favourite Neo-noir
THE GRIFTERS is the only movie that gets Jim Thompson exactly right. His cynicism is so raw, his people so lost, his bleakness so total that usually his books are unfilmable. This movie solves the problem by leaning in hard, with a gleeful brio.
November 26, 2025 at 10:01 AM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 26: Favourite Neo-noir
THE GRIFTERS is the only movie that gets Jim Thompson exactly right. His cynicism is so raw, his people so lost, his bleakness so total that usually his books are unfilmable. This movie solves the problem by leaning in hard, with a gleeful brio.
Day 26: Favourite Neo-noir
THE GRIFTERS is the only movie that gets Jim Thompson exactly right. His cynicism is so raw, his people so lost, his bleakness so total that usually his books are unfilmable. This movie solves the problem by leaning in hard, with a gleeful brio.
November 25, 2025 at 8:02 PM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 25: Favorite film noir featuring a boat.
Maybe the most chilling scene in Noir is in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, when Gene Tierney takes Darryl Hickman out on a lake for swimming practice. The fresh outdoor locations in Technicolor only add to the horror.
Day 25: Favorite film noir featuring a boat.
Maybe the most chilling scene in Noir is in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, when Gene Tierney takes Darryl Hickman out on a lake for swimming practice. The fresh outdoor locations in Technicolor only add to the horror.
November 25, 2025 at 10:27 AM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 25: Favorite film noir featuring a boat.
Maybe the most chilling scene in Noir is in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, when Gene Tierney takes Darryl Hickman out on a lake for swimming practice. The fresh outdoor locations in Technicolor only add to the horror.
Day 25: Favorite film noir featuring a boat.
Maybe the most chilling scene in Noir is in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, when Gene Tierney takes Darryl Hickman out on a lake for swimming practice. The fresh outdoor locations in Technicolor only add to the horror.
He's an evil clown, Charlie Brown.
November 24, 2025 at 1:24 PM
He's an evil clown, Charlie Brown.
You could make a case that Ladd and Lake were more evocative and noirish in stills and posters than they managed to be on screen.
November 24, 2025 at 11:13 AM
You could make a case that Ladd and Lake were more evocative and noirish in stills and posters than they managed to be on screen.
November 24, 2025 at 9:54 AM
#NoirvemberChallenge
23. Film Noir actor who stole every scene they were in.
The magnificent Laird Cregar could play *anything* and you couldn't take your eyes off him. In his noir films, he suggested depths of tortured weirdness no other actor of his era could come close to. A literal giant.
23. Film Noir actor who stole every scene they were in.
The magnificent Laird Cregar could play *anything* and you couldn't take your eyes off him. In his noir films, he suggested depths of tortured weirdness no other actor of his era could come close to. A literal giant.
November 23, 2025 at 11:22 AM
#NoirvemberChallenge
23. Film Noir actor who stole every scene they were in.
The magnificent Laird Cregar could play *anything* and you couldn't take your eyes off him. In his noir films, he suggested depths of tortured weirdness no other actor of his era could come close to. A literal giant.
23. Film Noir actor who stole every scene they were in.
The magnificent Laird Cregar could play *anything* and you couldn't take your eyes off him. In his noir films, he suggested depths of tortured weirdness no other actor of his era could come close to. A literal giant.
I also love the quiet acoustic version in the bar late at night, with Hayworth sweet and vulnerable—it balances out the other version. Appropriate, because this is a movie that lives on the edge of dualities: love/hate, good/bad, gay/straight, public/private.
November 22, 2025 at 12:34 PM
I also love the quiet acoustic version in the bar late at night, with Hayworth sweet and vulnerable—it balances out the other version. Appropriate, because this is a movie that lives on the edge of dualities: love/hate, good/bad, gay/straight, public/private.
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 22: Favorite musical number in a Noir.
Rita Hayworth destroys Buenos Aires in "Put the Blame on Mame" from GILDA, the sexiest goddamn thing I've ever seen.
It's Rita's show, but kudos to Anita Ellis, Jack Cole, Jean Louis, Rudolph Maté, Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher.
Day 22: Favorite musical number in a Noir.
Rita Hayworth destroys Buenos Aires in "Put the Blame on Mame" from GILDA, the sexiest goddamn thing I've ever seen.
It's Rita's show, but kudos to Anita Ellis, Jack Cole, Jean Louis, Rudolph Maté, Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher.
November 22, 2025 at 12:19 PM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 22: Favorite musical number in a Noir.
Rita Hayworth destroys Buenos Aires in "Put the Blame on Mame" from GILDA, the sexiest goddamn thing I've ever seen.
It's Rita's show, but kudos to Anita Ellis, Jack Cole, Jean Louis, Rudolph Maté, Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher.
Day 22: Favorite musical number in a Noir.
Rita Hayworth destroys Buenos Aires in "Put the Blame on Mame" from GILDA, the sexiest goddamn thing I've ever seen.
It's Rita's show, but kudos to Anita Ellis, Jack Cole, Jean Louis, Rudolph Maté, Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher.
How it started/how it's going
November 22, 2025 at 10:43 AM
How it started/how it's going
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 21: Favorite Noir made outside the U.S.
THE WAGES OF FEAR could only have been made outside the U.S., because it shows what capitalism really is—a supposed way out of degrading poverty that only degrades us further. The movie's nihilism is so bleak it's almost refreshing.
Day 21: Favorite Noir made outside the U.S.
THE WAGES OF FEAR could only have been made outside the U.S., because it shows what capitalism really is—a supposed way out of degrading poverty that only degrades us further. The movie's nihilism is so bleak it's almost refreshing.
November 21, 2025 at 12:03 PM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 21: Favorite Noir made outside the U.S.
THE WAGES OF FEAR could only have been made outside the U.S., because it shows what capitalism really is—a supposed way out of degrading poverty that only degrades us further. The movie's nihilism is so bleak it's almost refreshing.
Day 21: Favorite Noir made outside the U.S.
THE WAGES OF FEAR could only have been made outside the U.S., because it shows what capitalism really is—a supposed way out of degrading poverty that only degrades us further. The movie's nihilism is so bleak it's almost refreshing.
42 years today. Marry the right person, is my advice.
November 20, 2025 at 7:34 PM
42 years today. Marry the right person, is my advice.
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 20: Favourite Gambling Scene in Noir.
DESERT FURY. Mary Astor runs a Nevada "casino" and the town around it—but can't control "daughter" Lizabeth Scott, who's balling John Hodiak while his boyfriend Wendell Corey seethes. The gay vibes (in Technicolor) are absolutely wild.
Day 20: Favourite Gambling Scene in Noir.
DESERT FURY. Mary Astor runs a Nevada "casino" and the town around it—but can't control "daughter" Lizabeth Scott, who's balling John Hodiak while his boyfriend Wendell Corey seethes. The gay vibes (in Technicolor) are absolutely wild.
November 20, 2025 at 10:27 AM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 20: Favourite Gambling Scene in Noir.
DESERT FURY. Mary Astor runs a Nevada "casino" and the town around it—but can't control "daughter" Lizabeth Scott, who's balling John Hodiak while his boyfriend Wendell Corey seethes. The gay vibes (in Technicolor) are absolutely wild.
Day 20: Favourite Gambling Scene in Noir.
DESERT FURY. Mary Astor runs a Nevada "casino" and the town around it—but can't control "daughter" Lizabeth Scott, who's balling John Hodiak while his boyfriend Wendell Corey seethes. The gay vibes (in Technicolor) are absolutely wild.
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 19: Favorite boxing film noir.
It's not exactly boxing, but one of the great Noir scenes is John Payne taking a beating while wearing only a bathrobe in KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL. Colleen Gray interrupts and he pretends it isn't happening, but the sweat gives him away.
Day 19: Favorite boxing film noir.
It's not exactly boxing, but one of the great Noir scenes is John Payne taking a beating while wearing only a bathrobe in KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL. Colleen Gray interrupts and he pretends it isn't happening, but the sweat gives him away.
November 19, 2025 at 1:04 PM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 19: Favorite boxing film noir.
It's not exactly boxing, but one of the great Noir scenes is John Payne taking a beating while wearing only a bathrobe in KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL. Colleen Gray interrupts and he pretends it isn't happening, but the sweat gives him away.
Day 19: Favorite boxing film noir.
It's not exactly boxing, but one of the great Noir scenes is John Payne taking a beating while wearing only a bathrobe in KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL. Colleen Gray interrupts and he pretends it isn't happening, but the sweat gives him away.
There are 4 types of guys online. No exceptions.
November 19, 2025 at 2:50 AM
There are 4 types of guys online. No exceptions.
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 18: Favorite Film Noir MacGuffin.
In KISS ME DEADLY, Noir reaches its savage, nihilistic conclusion. Taking James M. Cain's principle of Pandora's Box to its logical extreme, its MacGuffin is a box called the "Great Whatsit." Open it and it's the end of the world.
Day 18: Favorite Film Noir MacGuffin.
In KISS ME DEADLY, Noir reaches its savage, nihilistic conclusion. Taking James M. Cain's principle of Pandora's Box to its logical extreme, its MacGuffin is a box called the "Great Whatsit." Open it and it's the end of the world.
November 18, 2025 at 1:13 PM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 18: Favorite Film Noir MacGuffin.
In KISS ME DEADLY, Noir reaches its savage, nihilistic conclusion. Taking James M. Cain's principle of Pandora's Box to its logical extreme, its MacGuffin is a box called the "Great Whatsit." Open it and it's the end of the world.
Day 18: Favorite Film Noir MacGuffin.
In KISS ME DEADLY, Noir reaches its savage, nihilistic conclusion. Taking James M. Cain's principle of Pandora's Box to its logical extreme, its MacGuffin is a box called the "Great Whatsit." Open it and it's the end of the world.
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 17: Favorite Film Noir Duo.
Forget Ladd and Lake. Here's some real Noir chemistry: Elisha Cook, Jr. and Esther Howard in BORN TO KILL. He's great as a weaselly passive-aggressive thug; she's extraordinary as a cagey, beat-out lush. They were made for each other.
Day 17: Favorite Film Noir Duo.
Forget Ladd and Lake. Here's some real Noir chemistry: Elisha Cook, Jr. and Esther Howard in BORN TO KILL. He's great as a weaselly passive-aggressive thug; she's extraordinary as a cagey, beat-out lush. They were made for each other.
November 17, 2025 at 11:59 AM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 17: Favorite Film Noir Duo.
Forget Ladd and Lake. Here's some real Noir chemistry: Elisha Cook, Jr. and Esther Howard in BORN TO KILL. He's great as a weaselly passive-aggressive thug; she's extraordinary as a cagey, beat-out lush. They were made for each other.
Day 17: Favorite Film Noir Duo.
Forget Ladd and Lake. Here's some real Noir chemistry: Elisha Cook, Jr. and Esther Howard in BORN TO KILL. He's great as a weaselly passive-aggressive thug; she's extraordinary as a cagey, beat-out lush. They were made for each other.
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 16: Lesser-known Noir everyone should see.
CAUGHT (1949). This terrifying Noir is based on life with Howard Hughes, as told by one of his girlfriends. So it's an unusually accurate portrait of toxic masculinity and the free passes money can buy. Relevant as ever, sadly.
Day 16: Lesser-known Noir everyone should see.
CAUGHT (1949). This terrifying Noir is based on life with Howard Hughes, as told by one of his girlfriends. So it's an unusually accurate portrait of toxic masculinity and the free passes money can buy. Relevant as ever, sadly.
November 16, 2025 at 1:02 PM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Day 16: Lesser-known Noir everyone should see.
CAUGHT (1949). This terrifying Noir is based on life with Howard Hughes, as told by one of his girlfriends. So it's an unusually accurate portrait of toxic masculinity and the free passes money can buy. Relevant as ever, sadly.
Day 16: Lesser-known Noir everyone should see.
CAUGHT (1949). This terrifying Noir is based on life with Howard Hughes, as told by one of his girlfriends. So it's an unusually accurate portrait of toxic masculinity and the free passes money can buy. Relevant as ever, sadly.