“We're not here to play dominoes.”
Canon City (Crane Wilbur, 1948)
Dec
30
1947
A calendar page. It's December 30, 1947. DP: John Alton.
“I'm trying to run an impersonal business. Killing is very personal. Once it gets started, it's hard to stop.”
The Big Combo (Joseph H. Lewis, 1955)
Nov
15
1946
A man's hand holds up a photo negative of a black-and-white picture, showing two men and a woman, and the date 11-15-46 underneath. DP: John Alton.
– Mr. Brown
“I couldn't swallow any more salami.”
The Big Combo (Joseph H. Lewis, 1955)
Jun
24
spaghetti
A man in a bathrobe (Ted de Corsia) lifts undrained, slightly overcooked spaghetti from a white enamel pan onto a plate. The overcookedness may be caused by this movie's horrible horrible AI “restoration”. DP: John Alton.
– Mingo
“Nice guys.”
Canon City (Crane Wilbur, 1948)
Aug
1
Colorado Day
Counting the inmates. DP: John Alton.
They've been planning this for months, Canon City's Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility's toughest inmates. It's going to happen on December 30, and all men are ready to go.
Fascinating about Canon City is the usage of some of the actual locations, ánd people, involved in the 1947 #prison break.
Also striking, unfortunately, is the unevenness of the affair. John Alton's cinematography, while wonderful, wanders between noir and stuck camera shutter. And that voice-over… well, lets not mention that at all.
Canon City (Crane Wilbur, 1948)
Jul
31
grub
A close-up of two prisoners' hands. One is handling grub with a spoon from a stainless steel soup bowl. DP: John Alton.