Femme Noir #4: Evelyn Keyes

By

Tony D'Ambra

– March 23, 2010Posted in: Actors, Articles, Films, Lobby

The Face Behind the Mask (1941)
Johnny O’Clock (1947)
The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)
The Prowler (1951)
99 River Street (1953)
 

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Related posts:

1. Evelyn Keyes Dead at 91
2. Femme Noir #3: Janis Carter
3. Are Femme-Fatales Crazy?
4. The Femme Fatale: Gun Crazy in the UK
5. Richard Widmark Dead at 93

3 Comments

1. Sam Juliano

   Posted March 24, 2010 at 6:59 AM

   Ah Evelyn Keyes! That scene you offer here Tony reminds me of the kind of thing Bette Davis did (NOW VOYAGER of course comes to mind) but Keyes is definitely a seductive screen presence, who, as you note, boasted some impressive work in her noir resume. And in other areas too I might add. She is probably best-known for her first role as Scarlett O’Hara’s sister in GONE WITH THE WIND, and as the female lead in THE JOLSON STORY. Yet, ironically, this well known man hunter, who dated some of the most high-profile Hollywood celebrities (King Vidor, John Huston and Kirk Douglas among them) and boasted that she ‘preferred the man of the moment’, thought her best film was the relatively tame romantic drama MRS. MIKE (penned by DeWitt Bodeen “Cat People”). Perhaps sub-consciously this is the life that the erstwhile femme fatale would have really loved in view of the transience that engulfed her.

2. DeeDee

   Posted March 25, 2010 at 7:57 AM

   Hi! Tony and Sam Juliano,
   The 1951 film The Prowler is the only film in the lot that I haven’t watched yet…(with “yet” being the operative word.)

   The Face Behind the Mask (1941)
   Johnny O’Clock (1947)
   The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)
   The Prowler (1951)
   99 River Street (1953)

   What a film noir resume…By the way,here goes a few more of her films that I would like to view… _ell Half Acre (Tiki Noir)(1954)Oops! I viewed this film only once)…
   Mr.Soft Touch (1951) (A rare hybrid of comedy, crime and noir) and
   Iron Man (1951)
   and a non-noir/mystery,comedy,etc, etc,…Dangerous Blondes.
   (I also liked her performance in Here Comes Mr. Jordon.)
   …Thanks, for sharing!
   DeeDee ;-D

3. Tony D'Ambra

   Posted March 25, 2010 at 6:35 PM

   I recently saw Keyes with Peter Lorre in The Face Behind the Mask (1941), where her portrayal of a young blind woman is the closest to angelic of any performance I have seen on film. She was a totally genuine actress, the kind you fall in love with just minutes into a movie.