“You need more than luck in Shanghai.”The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1947)
Aug
9

Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) and husband Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane) in the dizzying modernist finale. DP: Charles Lawton Jr..
– Elsa Bannister
“You need more than luck in Shanghai.”The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1947)
Aug
9

Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) and husband Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane) in the dizzying modernist finale. DP: Charles Lawton Jr..
– Elsa Bannister
“I'd become a sort of a reverse zombie. I was living in a world already dead, and I alone knowing it.”Night Has a Thousand Eyes (John Farrow, 1948)
Aug
3

Mentalist John Triton (Edward G. Robinson, middle) and two of his conspirators. DP: John F. Seitz.
A continuity error later on in the movie makes it August 4.
– John Triton
“On the bus, the air was so thick, he felt woozy. A wailing infant shook with tears and the woman beside him reeked with the stink of cheap perfume.” 野良犬 [Nora inu / Stray Dog] (Akira Kurosawa, 1949)
Jul
14

A sweaty man in uniform drinks from a water fountain like a dog (via). DP: Asakazu Nakai.
Someone enjoys a drink or beverage*
– narrator
On a sweltering summer day, Detective's Murakami's Colt gets stolen on a crowded bus. He must delve deep into the sticky sweaty seedy underbelly of Tokyo to retrieve it.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.
“Have you seen Mr Tavernier tonight?”Ascenseur pour l'échafaud [Elevator to the Gallows] (Louis Malle, 1958)
Jun
18
International Panic Day

M Tavernier (Maurice Ronet) seated in an elevator, calmly smoking. Around him several items speak of less calm moments. DP: Henri Decaë.
A character in panic mode on International Panic Day
Julien Tavernier has a plan about how to run off with his boss' wife. There's just this one snag. No time to panic, c'est cool c'est cool.
– I saw you the other morning, eating frites. – I like frites.Bob le flambeur [Bob the Gambler] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1956)
Jun
13
frites

Anne (Isabelle Corey), a cute blonde with a beret, eats a fry (French, obviously) while giving us a side glance. It's all very proto-Vague. DP: Henri Decaë.
“I'd even lose at hopscotch these days.”Bob le flambeur [Bob the Gambler] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1956)
Jun
13
Friday

Bob (Roger Duchesne) at the tables, gambling. DP: Henri Decaë.
An unlucky character on Friday the 13th
– Bob Montagné
Bob gambles, and always wins. But then he starts losing. And not just games.
Krakatit (Otakar Vávra, 1948)
Apr
26
International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day

A man on a darkened, concrete runway, running towards a man-made structure, a mirage. DP: Václav Hanuš.
Something nuclear on International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day
In a state of delirium, engineer Prokop chases his stolen chemical formula, worried it may be used for mass destruction
With the experience of yet another world war, and two devastating applications of science biggest terror, Karel Čapek's 1922 novel Krakatit [“Krakatoa”] anticipated and moulded the decades to come.
And R.U.R. is now, just around the corner.
野獣死すべし [Yajū shisubeshi / The Beast Shall Die] (Eizō Sugawa, 1959)
Feb
17
airline food

Kunihiko Date (Tatsuya Nakadai) enjoys an in-flight meal. DP: Fukuzō Koizumi.
“The way i see it, Harry, everybody lives off everybody else.”Murder by Contract (Irving Lerner, 1958)
Nov
29
candy

In a small movie theatre, a guy in a suit (Phillip Pine) stuffs his face with something from a small brown paper bag. Behind him are the Hollywood idea of an “elderly” woman (Janet Brandt) and a man with a moustache (Albert Cavens), Right next to snack man, a fellow with his hat pulled deeply over his face (Herschel Bernardi) takes a nap.. DP: Lucien Ballard.
– Claude