167-446: Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns . He was often paired with Veronica Lake in films noir, such as This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942), and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Whispering Smith (1948) was his first Western and color film, and Shane (1953)
334-537: A non-directional antenna shared with KLAC on North Indiana Avenue near Lincoln Park in Eastside Los Angeles . The station's studios and offices are on Barham Boulevard, near the Universal City complex. KFWB first signed on the air March 3, 1925, initially on the frequency of 950 kHz . The station was started by Sam Warner , a co-founder of Warner Bros. The station launched
501-472: A "multi-manual pipe organ, built especially for broadcasting." Bedtime for Sniffles , a 1940 Merrie Melodies cartoon produced by Warner Bros. and directed by Chuck Jones , has Sniffles the mouse trying to stay awake for Santa Claus , and a radio announcer signs off for the night identifying the station as KFWB. Another cartoon of the same year, The Timid Toreador , co-directed by Bob Clampett , shows an announcer broadcasting on this station, although
668-473: A "pathway" in his screenwriters taxonomy; explaining that a pathway has two parts: 1) the way the audience connects with the protagonist and 2) the trajectory the audience expects the story to follow. Other critics treat film noir as a "mood," a "series", or simply a chosen set of films they regard as belonging to the noir "canon." There is no consensus on the matter. The aesthetics of film noir were influenced by German Expressionism , an artistic movement of
835-584: A B-movie soul. Perhaps no director better displayed that spirit than the German-born Robert Siodmak , who had already made a score of films before his 1940 arrival in Hollywood. Working mostly on A features, he made eight films now regarded as classic-era noir (a figure matched only by Lang and Mann). In addition to The Killers , Burt Lancaster 's debut and a Hellinger/Universal co-production, Siodmak's other important contributions to
1002-405: A Dark Shadow (1955), directed by Lewis Gilbert . Terence Fisher directed several low-budget thrillers in a noir mode for Hammer Film Productions , including The Last Page (a.k.a. Man Bait ; 1952), Stolen Face (1952), and Murder by Proxy (a.k.a. Blackout ; 1954). Before leaving for France, Jules Dassin had been obliged by political pressure to shoot his last English-language film of
1169-499: A Lifetime (1932), but the studio eventually decided Ladd was too blond and too short, and it dropped him after six months. (All of Ladd's fellow "discoveries" eventually were dropped, including a young Tyrone Power .) At 20, Ladd graduated from high school on February 1, 1934. He worked in the advertising department of the San Fernando Sun Valley Record , becoming the newspaper's advertising manager. When
1336-679: A Lonely Place (1950) was Nicholas Ray 's breakthrough; his other noirs include his debut, They Live by Night (1948) and On Dangerous Ground (1952), noted for their unusually sympathetic treatment of characters alienated from the social mainstream. Orson Welles had notorious problems with financing but his three film noirs were well-budgeted: The Lady from Shanghai (1947) received top-level, "prestige" backing, while The Stranger (1946), his most conventional film, and Touch of Evil (1958), an unmistakably personal work, were funded at levels lower but still commensurate with headlining releases. Like The Stranger , Fritz Lang's The Woman in
1503-596: A TV series. In May 1951, Ladd announced he had formed Ladd Enterprises, his own production company, to produce films, radio, and TV, when his Paramount contract ended in November 1952. He optioned the novel Shadow Riders of the Yellowstone by Les Savage . The next month, his deal with Warner Bros. was announced: one film per year for five years. However, he expressed a desire to continue to work with Paramount. Ladd's final three movies for Paramount were Thunder in
1670-432: A chase film as might have been imagined by Jean-Pierre Melville in an especially abstract mood. Hill was already a central figure in 1970s noir of a more straightforward manner, having written the script for director Sam Peckinpah 's The Getaway (1972), adapting a novel by pulp master Jim Thompson , as well as for two tough private eye films: an original screenplay for Hickey & Boggs (1972) and an adaptation of
1837-494: A decent set of dentures." In 1936, Ladd played an unbilled role in Pigskin Parade . He had short-term stints at MGM and RKO and got regular professional acting work only when he turned to radio. Ladd had worked to develop a rich, deep voice ideal for that medium, and in 1936 he was signed by station KFWB as its sole radio actor. He stayed for three years at KFWB, working as many as 20 shows per week. One night Ladd
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#17327901903012004-501: A film noir, it has largely disappeared from considerations of the field. Director Jules Dassin of The Naked City (1948) pointed to the neorealists as inspiring his use of location photography with non-professional extras. This semidocumentary approach characterized a substantial number of noirs in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Along with neorealism, the style had an American precedent cited by Dassin, in director Henry Hathaway 's The House on 92nd Street (1945), which demonstrated
2171-399: A genre as determined by "conventions of narrative structure, characterization, theme, and visual design." Hirsch, as one who has taken the position that film noir is a genre, argues that these elements are present "in abundance." Hirsch notes that there are unifying features of tone, visual style and narrative sufficient to classify noir as a distinct genre. Others argue that film noir is not
2338-480: A genre. It is often associated with an urban setting, but many classic noirs take place in small towns, suburbia, rural areas, or on the open road; setting is not a determinant, as with the Western . Similarly, while the private eye and the femme fatale are stock character types conventionally identified with noir, the majority of films in the genre feature neither. Nor does film noir rely on anything as evident as
2505-466: A greater debt to French poetic realism than to the expressionistic American mode of noir. Examples of British noir (sometimes described as "Brit noir") from the classic period include Brighton Rock (1947), directed by John Boulting ; They Made Me a Fugitive (1947), directed by Alberto Cavalcanti ; The Small Back Room (1948), directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger ; The October Man (1950), directed by Roy Ward Baker ; and Cast
2672-454: A hapless grifter ( Night and the City ), a law-abiding citizen lured into a life of crime ( Gun Crazy ), a femme fatale ( Gilda ) or simply a victim of circumstance ( D.O.A. ). Although film noir was originally associated with American productions, the term has been used to describe films from around the world. Many films released from the 1960s onward share attributes with films noir of
2839-521: A hit man with a conscience. Ladd auditioned successfully, and Paramount signed him to a long-term contract in September 1941 for $ 300 per week. The New York Times wrote that: Tuttle and the studio are showing more than a passing enthusiasm for Ladd. He has been trying to get a foothold in pictures for eight years, but received no encouragement, although he tried every angle known to town—extra work, bit parts, stock contracts, dramatic schools, assault of
3006-704: A house painter (d. 1936). In the early 1920s an economic downturn led to Ladd's family moving to California, which took four months. They lived in a migrant camp in Pasadena, California , at first and then moved to the San Fernando Valley , where Beavers went to work at FBO Studios as a painter. Ladd enrolled in North Hollywood High School on February 18, 1930. He became a high-school swimming and diving champion and participated in high school dramatics in his senior year, including
3173-600: A humid, erotically charged Florida setting. Its success confirmed the commercial viability of neo-noir at a time when the major Hollywood studios were becoming increasingly risk averse. The mainstreaming of neo-noir is evident in such films as Black Widow (1987), Shattered (1991), and Final Analysis (1992). Few neo-noirs have made more money or more wittily updated the tradition of the noir double entendre than Basic Instinct (1992), directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas . The film also demonstrates how neo-noir's polychrome palette can reproduce many of
3340-410: A monstrous scale. The work of other directors in this tier of the industry, such as Felix E. Feist ( The Devil Thumbs a Ride [1947], Tomorrow Is Another Day [1951]), has become obscure. Edgar G. Ulmer spent most of his Hollywood career working at B studios and once in a while on projects that achieved intermediate status; for the most part, on unmistakable Bs. In 1945, while at PRC, he directed
3507-578: A noir cult classic, Detour . Ulmer's other noirs include Strange Illusion (1945), also for PRC; Ruthless (1948), for Eagle-Lion, which had acquired PRC the previous year and Murder Is My Beat (1955), for Allied Artists. A number of low- and modestly-budgeted noirs were made by independent, often actor-owned, companies contracting with larger studios for distribution. Serving as producer, writer, director and top-billed performer, Hugo Haas made films like Pickup (1951), The Other Woman (1954) and Jacques Tourneur, The Fearmakers (1958) . It
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#17327901903013674-532: A noir mode than Preminger; his other noirs include Fallen Angel (1945), Whirlpool (1949), Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) (all for Fox) and Angel Face (1952). A half-decade after Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend , Billy Wilder made Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Ace in the Hole (1951), noirs that were not so much crime dramas as satires on Hollywood and the news media respectively. In
3841-617: A novel by Ross Macdonald , the leading literary descendant of Hammett and Chandler, for The Drowning Pool (1975). Some of the strongest 1970s noirs, in fact, were unwinking remakes of the classics, "neo" mostly by default: the heartbreaking Thieves Like Us (1974), directed by Altman from the same source as Ray's They Live by Night , and Farewell, My Lovely (1975), the Chandler tale made classically as Murder, My Sweet , remade here with Robert Mitchum in his last notable noir role. Detective series, prevalent on American television during
4008-431: A number of movies. Young did not like working with Ladd: I found him petulant... I don't remember hearing him laugh, or ever seeing him laugh. Everything that concerned him was very serious... He had a certain screen personality... but as an actor... I never made any contact with him. He wouldn't look at me. He'd say "I love you...", and he'd be looking out there some place. Finally, I said "Alan, I'm he-ere!!"... I think he
4175-653: A regional Mexican music format as "La Mera Mera 980" (a colloquial expression in Mexican Spanish, meaning, "The Best of the Best"). In 2018, the station was named the official radio station for calling MLS 's Los Angeles FC matches. The original KFWB studios and transmitter location were at the Warner Bros. Studios, which is now KTLA , at 5800 Sunset Boulevard . One of the two original towers still stands prominently out front. Due to RF interference getting into
4342-531: A screenplay by Graham Greene . Set in Vienna immediately after World War II, it also stars two American actors, Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles , who had appeared together in Citizen Kane . Elsewhere, Italian director Luchino Visconti adapted Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice as Ossessione (1943), regarded both as one of the great noirs and a seminal film in the development of neorealism. (This
4509-399: A specialist in what James Naremore called "hypnotic moments of light-in-darkness". He Walked by Night (1948), shot by Alton though credited solely to Alfred Werker, directed in large part by Mann, demonstrates their technical mastery and exemplifies the late 1940s trend of " police procedural " crime dramas. It was released, like other Mann-Alton noirs, by the small Eagle-Lion company; it
4676-407: A staff of respected newscasters, including Cleve Herrmann, Charles Arlington, John Babcock, Beach Rogers, Mike Henry, Hal Goodwin, Al Wiman , Bill Angel, J. Paul Huddleston and Jackson King. In the mid 1960s, KFWB was overtaken by rival KRLA . Then KRLA was put in second place by the launch of " Boss Radio " at KHJ , and this relegated KFWB to the position of the third-place Top 40 music station in
4843-550: A step up the ladder, known as "intermediates" by the industry, might be treated as A or B pictures depending on the circumstances. Monogram created Allied Artists in the late 1940s to focus on this sort of production. Robert Wise ( Born to Kill [1947], The Set-Up [1949]) and Anthony Mann ( T-Men [1947] and Raw Deal [1948]) each made a series of impressive intermediates, many of them noirs, before graduating to steady work on big-budget productions. Mann did some of his most celebrated work with cinematographer John Alton ,
5010-471: A tough reporter; Captain Carey, U.S.A. , as a vengeful ex-OSS agent, for Maibaum; and Appointment with Danger , as a postal inspector investigating a murder with the help of nun Phyllis Calvert (shot in 1949, but not released until 1951). Paramount purchased the screen rights to the play Detective Story as a possible vehicle for Ladd, and he was keen to do it, but the role went to Kirk Douglas . Ladd
5177-533: A trend, let alone a new genre, for many decades. Whoever went to the movies with any regularity during 1946 was caught in the midst of Hollywood's profound postwar affection for morbid drama. From January through December deep shadows, clutching hands, exploding revolvers, sadistic villains and heroines tormented with deeply rooted diseases of the mind flashed across the screen in a panting display of psychoneurosis, unsublimated sex and murder most foul. Donald Marshman, Life (August 25, 1947) Most film noirs of
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5344-591: A trust headed by Diane Sutter, under the name "The KFWB Asset Trust." This was due to CBS Corp.'s ownership limitations after the network bought KCAL-TV in 2002. On September 22, 2014, KFWB became a CBS Sports Radio Network affiliate , cancelling all news blocks and general interest talk programs. The station began calling itself "The Beast 980." The Beast 980 featured a live and local morning show, The Home Team , hosted by Bill Plaschke and Jeanne Zelasko . The Beast 980's weekday lineup also featured Jim Rome and Fred Roggin . Sports updates were provided during
5511-587: A vibrant film noir period from roughly 1946 to 1952, which was around the same time film noir was blossoming in the United States. During the classic period, there were many films produced in Europe, particularly in France, that share elements of style, theme, and sensibility with American films noir and may themselves be included in the genre's canon. In certain cases, the interrelationship with Hollywood noir
5678-583: A war loan drive titled Letter from a Friend . While Ladd was in the armed services, a number of films that had been announced for him were postponed and/or made with different actors, including Incendiary Blonde , The Story of Dr. Wassell , Ministry of Fear , and The Man in Half Moon Street . Paramount started promoting Ladd replacements, such as Sonny Tufts and Barry Sullivan . Old Ladd films were reissued with his being given more prominent billing, such as Hitler, Beast of Berlin . He
5845-554: A wholly American film style." However, although the term "film noir" was originally coined to describe Hollywood movies, it was an international phenomenon. Even before the beginning of the generally accepted classic period, there were films made far from Hollywood that can be seen in retrospect as films noir, for example, the French productions Pépé le Moko (1937), directed by Julien Duvivier , and Le Jour se lève (1939), directed by Marcel Carné . In addition, Mexico experienced
6012-489: Is Kiss Me Deadly (1955); based on a novel by Mickey Spillane , the best-selling of all the hardboiled authors, here the protagonist is a private eye, Mike Hammer . As described by Paul Schrader , " Robert Aldrich 's teasing direction carries noir to its sleaziest and most perversely erotic. Hammer overturns the underworld in search of the 'great whatsit' [which] turns out to be—joke of jokes—an exploding atomic bomb." Orson Welles's baroquely styled Touch of Evil (1958)
6179-580: Is The Invisible Man (1933), directed by Englishman James Whale and photographed by American Arthur Edeson . Edeson later photographed The Maltese Falcon (1941), widely regarded as the first major film noir of the classic era. Josef von Sternberg was directing in Hollywood during the same period. Films of his such as Shanghai Express (1932) and The Devil Is a Woman (1935), with their hothouse eroticism and baroque visual style anticipated central elements of classic noir. The commercial and critical success of Sternberg's silent Underworld (1927)
6346-535: Is "arbitrary". Expressionism-orientated filmmakers had free stylistic rein in Universal horror pictures such as Dracula (1931), The Mummy (1932)—the former photographed and the latter directed by the Berlin-trained Karl Freund —and The Black Cat (1934), directed by Austrian émigré Edgar G. Ulmer . The Universal horror film that comes closest to noir, in story and sensibility,
6513-534: Is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California .KFWB is owned by Lotus Communications , and airs a classic regional Mexican music radio format . The station has a colorful history, being the radio voice of Warner Bros. Studios in the early days of broadcasting, and a long-time Group W (later CBS Radio ) station from 1966 to 2016. It has kept the same call sign throughout its nearly 100-year history. KFWB broadcasts with 5,000 watts of power from
6680-461: Is among the first crime films of the sound era to join a characteristically noirish visual style with a noir-type plot, in which the protagonist is a criminal (as are his most successful pursuers). Directors such as Lang, Jacques Tourneur , Robert Siodmak and Michael Curtiz brought a dramatically shadowed lighting style and a psychologically expressive approach to visual composition ( mise-en-scène ) with them to Hollywood, where they made some of
6847-548: Is associated with a low-key , black-and-white visual style that has roots in German expressionist cinematography . Many of the prototypical stories and attitudes expressed in classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression , known as noir fiction . The term film noir , French for "black film" (literal) or "dark film" (closer meaning),
Alan Ladd - Misplaced Pages Continue
7014-452: Is frequently cited as the last noir of the classic period. Some scholars believe film noir never really ended, but continued to transform even as the characteristic noir visual style began to seem dated and changing production conditions led Hollywood in different directions—in this view, post-1950s films in the noir tradition are seen as part of a continuity with classic noir. A majority of critics, however, regard comparable films made outside
7181-572: Is licensed to transmit with 5,000 watts, while KNX is licensed for 50,000 watts. In its final months as an all-news station, KFWB added more news about the movie and television industries, since many people in the Los Angeles market are employed in those fields. But the ratings continued to fall. The station's last all-news broadcast concluded at 1:00 am on September 8, 2009. Anchors Jan Stevens and Andi Marshall bid listeners farewell and thanked them for 41 years of support. On September 8, 2009,
7348-512: Is mirrored in the Warner Bros. drama I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), a forerunner of noir. Among films not considered noir, perhaps none had a greater effect on the development of the genre than Citizen Kane (1941), directed by Orson Welles . Its visual intricacy and complex, voiceover narrative structure are echoed in dozens of classic films noir. Italian neorealism of
7515-636: Is obvious: American-born director Jules Dassin moved to France in the early 1950s as a result of the Hollywood blacklist , and made one of the most famous French film noirs, Rififi (1955). Other well-known French films often classified as noir include Quai des Orfèvres (1947) and Les Diaboliques (1955), both directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot . Casque d'Or (1952), Touchez pas au grisbi (1954), and Le Trou (1960) directed by Jacques Becker ; and Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (1958), directed by Louis Malle . French director Jean-Pierre Melville
7682-552: Is set in 1930s Los Angeles, an accustomed noir locale nudged back some few years in a way that makes the pivotal loss of innocence in the story even crueler. Where Polanski and Towne raised noir to a black apogee by turning rearward, director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader brought the noir attitude crashing into the present day with Taxi Driver (1976), a crackling, bloody-minded gloss on bicentennial America. In 1978, Walter Hill wrote and directed The Driver ,
7849-453: Is the pursuer rather than the pursued. A woman invariably joins him at a critical juncture, when he is most vulnerable. [Her] eventual betrayal of him (or herself) is as ambiguous as her feelings about him. Nicholas Christopher , Somewhere in the Night (1997) While many critics refer to film noir as a genre itself, others argue that it can be no such thing. Foster Hirsch defines
8016-536: Is widely recognized for his tragic, minimalist films noir— Bob le flambeur (1955), from the classic period, was followed by Le Doulos (1962), Le deuxième souffle 1966), Le Samouraï (1967), and Le Cercle rouge (1970). In the 1960s, Greek films noir " The Secret of the Red Mantle " and " The Fear " allowed audience for an anti-ableist reading which challenged stereotypes of disability. . Scholar Andrew Spicer argues that British film noir evidences
8183-539: The Nouvelle vague' s deeper waters), and Alan J. Pakula (1971's Klute ) directed films that knowingly related themselves to the original films noir, inviting audiences in on the game. A manifest affiliation with noir traditions—which, by its nature, allows different sorts of commentary on them to be inferred—can also provide the basis for explicit critiques of those traditions. In 1973, director Robert Altman flipped off noir piety with The Long Goodbye . Based on
8350-498: The American Film Institute ranked it as the greatest American film of the 1980s and the fourth greatest of all time—it tells the story of a boxer's moral self-destruction that recalls in both theme and visual ambiance noir dramas such as Body and Soul (1947) and Champion (1949). From 1981, Body Heat , written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan , invokes a different set of classic noir elements, this time in
8517-579: The Top 40 format on AM 980, calling it Channel 98 Color Radio . KFWB became one of the most listened-to stations in the Southland and a leader in the Top 40 format around the country. The air staff during the glory days included Roger Christian , Bill Ballance , B. Mitchel Reed , Bruce Hayes, Gary Owens , Al Jarvis, Bobby Dale, Joe Yocam, Elliot Field, Ted Quillin and Gene Weed. Hourly updates were delivered by
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#17327901903018684-592: The U.S. Army Air Forces ' First Motion Picture Unit . Initially, he was classified 4-F —unfit for military service because of stomach problems—but he later enlisted for military service on January 19, 1943. He was posted to the Walla Walla Army Air Base at Walla Walla, Washington, attaining the rank of corporal. He attended the Oscars in March 1943, and in September he appeared in a trailer promoting
8851-399: The gangster film to the police procedural to the gothic romance to the social problem picture —any example of which from the 1940s and 1950s, now seen as noir's classical era, was likely to be described as a melodrama at the time. It is night, always. The hero enters a labyrinth on a quest. He is alone and off balance. He may be desperate, in flight, or coldly calculating, imagining he
9018-536: The major studios or by one of the smaller Poverty Row outfits, from the relatively well-off Monogram to shakier ventures such as Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) . Jacques Tourneur had made over thirty Hollywood Bs (a few now highly regarded, most forgotten) before directing the A-level Out of the Past , described by scholar Robert Ottoson as "the ne plus ultra of forties film noir". Movies with budgets
9185-408: The 10 most popular stars in the U.S. in 1953. Films noir Film noir ( / n w ɑːr / ; French: [film nwaʁ] ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylized Hollywood crime dramas , particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American film noir . Film noir of this era
9352-419: The 15th-most popular star in the country. "When a star's off the screen, he's 'dead'", Ladd later reflected. "I like my home and my security and I don't intend to jeopardize them by being difficult at work." Ladd's next film was O.S.S , a wartime thriller, produced by Richard Maibaum . He then convinced Ladd that he should play the title role in an adaptation of The Great Gatsby , to which Paramount held
9519-575: The 1910s and 1920s that involved theater, music, photography, painting, sculpture and architecture, as well as cinema. The opportunities offered by the booming Hollywood film industry and then the threat of Nazism led to the emigration of many film artists working in Germany who had been involved in the Expressionist movement or studied with its practitioners. M (1931), shot only a few years before director Fritz Lang 's departure from Germany,
9686-622: The 1939 film Rulers of the Sea , in which he played a character named Colin Farrell, at $ 250 per week. He also received attention for a small part in Hitler – Beast of Berlin (1939). Ladd tested unsuccessfully for the lead in Golden Boy (1939) but obtained many other small roles in films such as the serial The Green Hornet (1940), Her First Romance (1940), The Black Cat (1941), and
9853-476: The 1940s, with its emphasis on quasi-documentary authenticity, was an acknowledged influence on trends that emerged in American noir. The Lost Weekend (1945), directed by Billy Wilder , another Vienna-born, Berlin-trained American auteur , tells the story of an alcoholic in a manner evocative of neorealism. It also exemplifies the problem of classification: one of the first American films to be described as
10020-555: The 2007 Pro Bowl , later switching to AM 790 KABC . With that, the slogan "all news, all the time" returned. However, in 2008, the NFL broadcasts returned for a brief period. Beginning in 2008, KNX and KFWB were jointly branded as "CBSNewsRadioLA." The CBSNewsRadioLA brand was used for simulcasting special programs and for marketing to advertisers. In addition, there were no longer separate field reporters for KNX and KFWB. CBSNewsRadioLA reporters filed stories for both stations. Also in
10187-614: The 2009 season, KFWB began broadcasting some weekday baseball games of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim , although the flagship station remained the Angels-owned KLAA . On August 13, 2009, CBS announced the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers had signed a multi-year broadcast rights pact, with KFWB carrying every Clippers contest. Over time, KFWB's ratings gradually dropped. A number of factors may have been involved. KFWB
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#173279019030110354-560: The Cain approach has come to be identified with a subset of the hardboiled genre dubbed " noir fiction ". For much of the 1940s, one of the most prolific and successful authors of this often downbeat brand of suspense tale was Cornell Woolrich (sometimes under the pseudonym George Hopley or William Irish). No writer's published work provided the basis for more noir films of the classic period than Woolrich's: thirteen in all, including Black Angel (1946), Deadline at Dawn (1946), and Fear in
10521-466: The Cold War. This cinematological trend reflected much of the cynicism and the possibility of nuclear annihilation of the era. This new genre introduced innovations that were not available to earlier noir films. The violence was also more potent. While it is hard to draw a line between some of the noir films of the early 1960s such as Blast of Silence (1961) and Cape Fear (1962) and the noirs of
10688-609: The Day Right was described as "Words and Music Straight from the Hart," and Martin Block , who shortened Jarvis's title to "The Make-Believe Ballroom." In those days, the DJs selected their own music, from either KFWB's extensive record library or new songs brought to them by " song pluggers ." Old and new, vocal and instrumental, were mixed together to the disc jockey's choice. In 1950, KFWB
10855-563: The Disney film The Reluctant Dragon (1941). Most notably, he had a small uncredited part in Citizen Kane , playing a newspaper reporter toward the end of the film. Ladd's career gained extra momentum when he was cast in a featured role in Joan of Paris (1942), a wartime drama made at RKO. It was only a small part, but it involved a touching death scene that brought him attention within
11022-604: The East , Shane , and Botany Bay . Once Ladd finished Botany Bay in February 1952, it was announced Ladd's contract with Paramount would end early and be amended, so that he would make two more movies for the studio, at a later date. (In the end, Ladd did not make another film at Paramount until The Carpetbaggers .) Paramount staggered the release of Ladd's final films for the company, with Shane and Botany Bay not being released until 1953. Ladd later said that leaving Paramount
11189-570: The FCC. The station received its call sign just after KFWA in Ogden, Utah , and before KFWC in San Bernardino , both granted in February 1925. Nevertheless, Warner Bros. Cartoons regularly used KFWB as a running gag in its productions. On February 8, 1937, KFWB opened a new facility on the south end of the Warner Bros. lot. It included six large studios, one of which was a 500-seat theater, and
11356-513: The L.A. market. In 1966, KFWB was purchased by Westinghouse Broadcasting . The previous year, Westinghouse had successfully launched an all-news radio format on WINS in New York City, after that station had been playing Top 40 music. On March 11, 1968, KFWB ended its Top 40 era, and was relaunched as an all-news radio station. The station promoted itself with the slogans "All news, all the time" and "You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you
11523-450: The Lake (1947)—he was an important screenwriter in the genre as well, producing the scripts for Double Indemnity , The Blue Dahlia (1946), and Strangers on a Train (1951). Where Chandler, like Hammett, centered most of his novels and stories on the character of the private eye, Cain featured less heroic protagonists and focused more on psychological exposition than on crime solving;
11690-403: The Night (1947). Another crucial literary source for film noir was W. R. Burnett , whose first novel to be published was Little Caesar , in 1929. It was turned into a hit for Warner Bros. in 1931; the following year, Burnett was hired to write dialogue for Scarface , while The Beast of the City (1932) was adapted from one of his stories. At least one important reference work identifies
11857-470: The Third Floor still lost its studio, RKO , US$ 56,000 (equivalent to $ 1,217,900 in 2023), almost a third of its total cost. Variety magazine found Ingster's work: "...too studied and when original, lacks the flare [ sic ] to hold attention. It's a film too arty for average audiences, and too humdrum for others." Stranger on the Third Floor was not recognized as the beginning of
12024-579: The U.S. and Canada; Two Years Before the Mast was a blockbuster, earning over $ 4 million and ranking among the top 10 most popular films of the year. Ladd's roles in This Gun for Hire , The Glass Key , and The Blue Dahlia , firmly established him as a no-nonsense tough guy in a popular genre of crime films later to become known as film noir . Ladd earned a reported $ 88,909 for the 12 months up to June 1946. (The following year, he earned $ 107,000.) In 1947, he
12191-535: The Window (1944) was a production of the independent International Pictures. Lang's follow-up, Scarlet Street (1945), was one of the few classic noirs to be officially censored: filled with erotic innuendo, it was temporarily banned in Milwaukee, Atlanta and New York State. Scarlet Street was a semi-independent, cosponsored by Universal and Lang's Diana Productions, of which the film's co-star, Joan Bennett ,
12358-465: The action takes place in Mexico. The 1934 Looney Tunes short Buddy's Bearcats directed by Jack King also contains an announcer broadcasting the station where KFWB was written on a wooden sign and was narrated by a parody of Joe E. Brown . The 1933 Merrie Melodies cartoon for I've Got To Sing A Torch Song released in conjunction with Gold Diggers of 1933 has KFWB written on the microphones in
12525-417: The basis for Double Indemnity (1944), Mildred Pierce (1945), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), and Slightly Scarlet (1956; adapted from Love's Lovely Counterfeit ). A decade before the classic era, a story by Hammett was the source for the gangster melodrama City Streets (1931), directed by Rouben Mamoulian and photographed by Lee Garmes , who worked regularly with Sternberg. Released
12692-488: The careers of such stars as Ronald Reagan , Alan Ladd and Bing Crosby during the " Golden Age of Radio ." The station was the first to broadcast the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena . Although theorists believed the call letters stood for its original owner (examples such as "Keep Filming Warner Brothers" and "Four Warner Brothers"), the call sign was sequentially issued by the Department of Commerce , predecessor to
12859-415: The casting offices. Sue Carol, the former silent star who is now an agent, undertook to advance the youth's career two years ago, and only recently could she locate an attentive ear. Then, the breaks began. According to author David Thomson (film critic) in 1975, "Once Ladd had acquired an unsmiling hardness, he was transformed from an extra to a phenomenon. Ladd's calm slender ferocity make it clear that he
13026-408: The classic era to be something other than genuine film noir. They regard true film noir as belonging to a temporally and geographically limited cycle or period, treating subsequent films that evoke the classics as fundamentally different due to general shifts in filmmaking style and latter-day awareness of noir as a historical source for allusion . These later films are often called neo-noir . While
13193-437: The classic films noir were referred to as " melodramas ". Whether film noir qualifies as a distinct genre or whether it should be considered a filmmaking style is a matter of ongoing and heavy debate among film scholars. Film noir encompasses a range of plots; common archetypical protagonists include a private investigator ( The Big Sleep ), a plainclothes police officer ( The Big Heat ), an aging boxer ( The Set-Up ),
13360-489: The classic noir period in Great Britain: Night and the City (1950). Though it was conceived in the United States and was not only directed by an American but also stars two American actors— Richard Widmark and Gene Tierney —it is technically a UK production, financed by 20th Century-Fox 's British subsidiary. The most famous of classic British noirs is director Carol Reed 's The Third Man (1949), from
13527-473: The classic period were similarly low- and modestly-budgeted features without major stars— B movies either literally or in spirit. In this production context, writers, directors, cinematographers, and other craftsmen were relatively free from typical big-picture constraints. There was more visual experimentation than in Hollywood filmmaking as a whole: the Expressionism now closely associated with noir and
13694-452: The classical period, and often treat its conventions self-referentially . Latter-day works are typically referred to as neo-noir . The clichés of film noir have inspired parody since the mid-1940s. The question of what defines film noir and what sort of category it is, provokes continuing debate. "We'd be oversimplifying things in calling film noir oneiric , strange, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel ..."—this set of attributes constitutes
13861-434: The conventions of classic film noir as historical archetypes to be revived, rejected, or reimagined. These efforts typify what came to be known as neo-noir. Though several late classic noirs, Kiss Me Deadly (1955) in particular, were deeply self-knowing and post-traditional in conception, none tipped its hand so evidently as to be remarked on by American critics at the time. The first major film to overtly work this angle
14028-534: The day mostly by Sam Farber, Amy Bender and Ted Sobel, with Hall-of-Fame USC Trojans broadcaster Pete Arbogast providing sports updates and as a fill-in host from time to time. The Beast 980 was the flagship radio station of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers and the LA Galaxy soccer team of the MLS . The Beast 980 also carried NFL games, NCAA college football games and NCAA basketball games. On January 5, 2016, it
14195-449: The early 2010s, the station was authorized by the FCC to boost its power to 50,000 watts, using a directional antenna involving multiple towers. But the power increase was short-lived. A few years later, new owners returned to KFWB's original 5,000-watt output, so the station could broadcast from a single non-directional antenna and take up less acreage of valuable Los Angeles real estate. On November 2, 2011, CBS Radio placed KFWB into
14362-406: The era; at least four qualify by consensus: Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Notorious (1946), Strangers on a Train (1951) and The Wrong Man (1956), Otto Preminger 's success with Laura (1944) made his name and helped demonstrate noir's adaptability to a high-gloss 20th Century-Fox presentation. Among Hollywood's most celebrated directors of the era, arguably none worked more often in
14529-494: The expressionistic effects of classic black-and-white noir. Like Chinatown , its more complex predecessor, Curtis Hanson 's Oscar-winning L.A. Confidential (1997), based on the James Ellroy novel, demonstrates the opposite tendency—the deliberately retro film noir; its tale of corrupt cops and femmes fatale is seemingly lifted straight from a film of 1953, the year in which it is set. Director David Fincher followed
14696-458: The femme fatale, the private eye, came to the fore in films such as The Maltese Falcon (1941), with Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade , and Murder, My Sweet (1944), with Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe . The prevalence of the private eye as a lead character declined in film noir of the 1950s, a period during which several critics describe the form as becoming more focused on extreme psychologies and more exaggerated in general. A prime example
14863-447: The film rights; Ladd became enthusiastic at the chance to change his image, but the project was delayed by a combination of censorship wrangles and studio reluctance. Eventually, The Blue Dahlia was released to great acclaim (Raymond Chandler was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay), quickly followed by O.S.S. , and finally, Two Years Before the Mast . The first two films were solid hits, each earning over $ 2 million in rentals in
15030-647: The film's commercial success and seven Oscar nominations made it probably the most influential of the early noirs. A slew of now-renowned noir "bad girls" followed, such as those played by Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946), Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), Ava Gardner in The Killers (1946), and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947). The iconic noir counterpart to
15197-479: The filming of This Gun for Hire , Paramount knew it had a potential star and announced Ladd's next film, an adaptation of Dashiell Hammett 's story, The Glass Key (1942). This had been a successful vehicle for George Raft several years earlier, and Paramount wanted "a sure-fire narrative to carry him on his way." There had also been talk Ladd would appear in Red Harvest , another story by Hammett, but this
15364-461: The first "true" film noir is Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), directed by Latvian-born, Soviet-trained Boris Ingster . Hungarian émigré Peter Lorre —who had starred in Lang's M —was top-billed, although he did not play the primary lead. (He later played secondary roles in several other formative American noirs.) Although modestly budgeted, at the high end of the B movie scale, Stranger on
15531-559: The first of many attempts to define film noir made by French critics Raymond Borde [ fr ] and Étienne Chaumeton in their 1955 book Panorama du film noir américain 1941–1953 ( A Panorama of American Film Noir ), the original and seminal extended treatment of the subject. They emphasize that not every noir film embodies all five attributes in equal measure—one might be more dreamlike; another, particularly brutal. The authors' caveats and repeated efforts at alternative definition have been echoed in subsequent scholarship, but in
15698-490: The genre include 1944's Phantom Lady (a top-of-the-line B and Woolrich adaptation), the ironically titled Christmas Holiday (1944), and Cry of the City (1948). Criss Cross (1949), with Lancaster again the lead, exemplifies how Siodmak brought the virtues of the B-movie to the A noir. In addition to the relatively looser constraints on character and message at lower budgets, the nature of B production lent itself to
15865-588: The genre's films. Because of the diversity of noir (much greater than that of the screwball comedy), certain scholars in the field, such as film historian Thomas Schatz, treat it as not a genre but a "style". Alain Silver , the most widely published American critic specializing in film noir studies, refers to film noir as a "cycle" and a "phenomenon", even as he argues that it has—like certain genres—a consistent set of visual and thematic codes. Screenwriter Eric R. Williams labels both film noir and screwball comedy
16032-483: The immensely successful neo-noir Seven (1995) with a film that developed into a cult favorite after its original, disappointing release: Fight Club (1999), a sui generis mix of noir aesthetic, perverse comedy, speculative content, and satiric intent. Working generally with much smaller budgets, brothers Joel and Ethan Coen have created one of the most extensive oeuvres influenced by classic noir, with films such as Blood Simple (1984) and Fargo (1996),
16199-414: The inceptive noir, Stranger on the Third Floor , was a B picture directed by a virtual unknown, many of the films noir still remembered were A-list productions by well-known film makers. Debuting as a director with The Maltese Falcon (1941), John Huston followed with Key Largo (1948) and The Asphalt Jungle (1950). Opinion is divided on the noir status of several Alfred Hitchcock thrillers from
16366-409: The industry blacklist—as well as Henry Hathaway ( The Dark Corner (1946), Kiss of Death (1947)) and John Farrow ( The Big Clock (1948), Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)). Most of the Hollywood films considered to be classic noirs fall into the category of the B movie. Some were Bs in the most precise sense, produced to run on the bottom of double bills by a low-budget unit of one of
16533-415: The industry. RKO eventually offered Ladd a contract at $ 400 per week. However, he soon received a better offer from Paramount . Paramount had owned the film rights to A Gun for Sale , a novel by Graham Greene , since 1936 but waited until 1941 before making a movie out of it, changing the title to This Gun for Hire . Director Frank Tuttle was struggling to find a new actor to play the role of Raven,
16700-427: The late 1950s, new trends emerged in the post-classic era. The Manchurian Candidate (1962), directed by John Frankenheimer , Shock Corridor (1963), directed by Samuel Fuller , and Brainstorm (1965), directed by experienced noir character actor William Conrad , all treat the theme of mental dispossession within stylistic and tonal frameworks derived from classic film noir. The Manchurian Candidate examined
16867-440: The latter as a film noir despite its early date. Burnett's characteristic narrative approach fell somewhere between that of the quintessential hardboiled writers and their noir fiction compatriots—his protagonists were often heroic in their own way, which happened to be that of the gangster. During the classic era, his work, either as author or screenwriter, was the basis for seven films now widely regarded as noir, including three of
17034-562: The latter considered by some a supreme work in the neo-noir mode. The Coens cross noir with other generic traditions in the gangster drama Miller's Crossing (1990)—loosely based on the Dashiell Hammett novels Red Harvest and The Glass Key —and the comedy The Big Lebowski (1998), a tribute to Chandler and an homage to Altman's version of The Long Goodbye . The characteristic work of David Lynch combines film noir tropes with scenarios driven by disturbed characters such as
17201-757: The leading-men category, but had gone beyond it to films which were constructed around his personality. Ladd then appeared in Lucky Jordan (1943), a lighter vehicle with Helen Walker , playing a gangster who tries to get out of war service and tangles with Nazis. His new status was reflected by the fact he was the only actor billed above the title. He had a cameo spoofing his tough guy image in Star Spangled Rhythm , which featured most of Paramount's stars, and then starred in China (1943) with Loretta Young for director John Farrow , with whom Ladd made
17368-492: The major studios that have been chosen for the United States National Film Registry . Of the others, one was a small-studio release: Detour . Four were independent productions distributed by United Artists , the "studio without a studio": Gun Crazy ; Kiss Me Deadly ; D.O.A. (1950), directed by Rudolph Maté and Sweet Smell of Success (1957), directed by Alexander Mackendrick . One
17535-455: The monstrous or supernatural elements of the horror film , the speculative leaps of the science fiction film , or the song-and-dance routines of the musical . An analogous case is that of the screwball comedy , widely accepted by film historians as constituting a "genre": screwball is defined not by a fundamental attribute, but by a general disposition and a group of elements, some—but rarely and perhaps never all—of which are found in each of
17702-452: The month before Lang's M , City Streets has a claim to being the first major film noir; both its style and story had many noir characteristics. Raymond Chandler , who debuted as a novelist with The Big Sleep in 1939, soon became the most famous author of the hardboiled school. Not only were Chandler's novels turned into major noirs— Murder, My Sweet (1944; adapted from Farewell, My Lovely ), The Big Sleep (1946), and Lady in
17869-474: The most famous classic noirs. By 1931, Curtiz had already been in Hollywood for half a decade, making as many as six films a year. Movies of his such as 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932) and Private Detective 62 (1933) are among the early Hollywood sound films arguably classifiable as noir—scholar Marc Vernet offers the latter as evidence that dating the initiation of film noir to 1940 or any other year
18036-612: The most famous: High Sierra (1941), This Gun for Hire (1942), and The Asphalt Jungle (1950). The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the classic period of American film noir. While City Streets and other pre-WWII crime melodramas such as Fury (1936) and You Only Live Once (1937), both directed by Fritz Lang, are categorized as full-fledged noir in Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward's film noir encyclopedia, other critics tend to describe them as "proto-noir" or in similar terms. The film now most commonly cited as
18203-481: The most understandable of femme fatales; Dan Duryea , in one of his many charismatic villain roles; and Lancaster as an ordinary laborer turned armed robber, doomed by a romantic obsession. Some critics regard classic film noir as a cycle exclusive to the United States; Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward, for example, argue, "With the Western, film noir shares the distinction of being an indigenous American form ...
18370-566: The movie studio's "talkies" sound equipment, the transmitter was moved in 1928 to the roof of the Warner Theater, now the Hollywood Pacific Theatre , at 6423 Hollywood Boulevard. Eventually the studios were also moved to the Warner Theater. Those two towers are still standing. Years later, when KFWB was sold to KFWB Broadcasting Co. (Harry Maizlish), the studios moved to 6419 Hollywood Boulevard (now demolished), and
18537-686: The next 27 years, the two stations would be competitors, airing television commercials and sponsoring billboards, in an effort to be L.A.'s top radio news outlet. In 1995, Westinghouse bought CBS Inc., merging the broadcast operations of the two companies, with KFWB coming under the ownership of CBS Radio . For the first several years after their parent companies merged, KFWB and KNX continued to operate separately, as friendly rivals. In addition to being an all-news station, KFWB also had sports play-by-play contracts. It previously aired Los Angeles Dodgers baseball games and many National Football League games from Westwood One . The NFL broadcasts stopped after
18704-501: The noir style for economic reasons: dim lighting saved on electricity and helped cloak cheap sets (mist and smoke also served the cause). Night shooting was often compelled by hurried production schedules. Plots with obscure motivations and intriguingly elliptical transitions were sometimes the consequence of hastily written scripts. There was not always enough time or money to shoot every scene. In Criss Cross , Siodmak achieved these effects, wrapping them around Yvonne De Carlo , who played
18871-416: The novel by Raymond Chandler, it features one of Bogart's most famous characters, but in iconoclastic fashion: Philip Marlowe, the prototypical hardboiled detective, is replayed as a hapless misfit, almost laughably out of touch with contemporary mores and morality. Where Altman's subversion of the film noir mythos was so irreverent as to outrage some contemporary critics, around the same time Woody Allen
19038-408: The paper changed hands, Ladd lost his job. He sold cash registers and borrowed $ 150 to open his own hamburger and malt shop, across from his previous high school, which he called Tiny's Patio (his nickname at high school was Tiny), but he was unable to make a success of the shop. In another attempt to break into the film industry, Ladd went to work at Warner Bros. as a grip and stayed two years. He
19205-578: The parallel influence of the cinematic newsreel. The primary literary influence on film noir was the hardboiled school of American detective and crime fiction , led in its early years by such writers as Dashiell Hammett (whose first novel, Red Harvest , was published in 1929) and James M. Cain (whose The Postman Always Rings Twice appeared five years later), and popularized in pulp magazines such as Black Mask . The classic film noirs The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Glass Key (1942) were based on novels by Hammett; Cain's novels provided
19372-399: The part of Rick Blaine in an adaptation of Casablanca . In 1948, he starred and produced Box 13 , a regular weekly series for syndication, which ran for 52 episodes. From 1949–1951, he appeared in a nine-issue series of comic books published by DC Comics , portraying Ladd in a variety of adventurous situations; the first six issues had photos of him on the covers. Ladd's next role
19539-459: The period, updated the hardboiled tradition in different ways, but the show conjuring the most noir tone was a horror crossover touched with shaggy, Long Goodbye -style humor: Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974–75), featuring a Chicago newspaper reporter investigating strange, usually supernatural occurrences. The turn of the decade brought Scorsese's black-and-white Raging Bull (1980, cowritten by Schrader). An acknowledged masterpiece—in 2007
19706-542: The post-classic area. Some of these are quintessentially self-aware neo-noirs—for example, Il Conformista (1969; Italy), Der Amerikanische Freund (1977; Germany), The Element of Crime (1984; Denmark), and El Aura (2005; Argentina). Others simply share narrative elements and a version of the hardboiled sensibility associated with classic noir, such as Castle of Sand (1974; Japan), Insomnia (1997; Norway), Croupier (1998; UK), and Blind Shaft (2003; China). The neo-noir film genre developed mid-way into
19873-566: The proto-noirs They Drive by Night (1940), Manpower (1941) and High Sierra (1941), now regarded as a seminal work in noir's development. Walsh had no great name during his half-century as a director but his noirs The Man I Love (1947), White Heat (1949) and The Enforcer (1951) had A-list stars and are seen as important examples of the cycle. Other directors associated with top-of-the-bill Hollywood films noir include Edward Dmytryk ( Murder, My Sweet (1944), Crossfire (1947))—the first important noir director to fall prey to
20040-661: The role of Ko-Ko in The Mikado . His diving skills led to his appearance in the aquatic show Marinella in July 1933. Ladd's performance in The Mikado was seen by a talent scout. In August 1933 Ladd was one of a group of young "discoveries" signed to a long-term contract with Universal Pictures . The contract had options that could continue for seven years, but they were all in the studio's favor. Ladd appeared unbilled in Once in
20207-457: The scenes of the torch singers. KFWB was also written on one of the microphones at the end of 1953's Catty Cornered . In 1932, a KFWB personality, Al Jarvis, began playing recorded music, a rarity on radio at the time, where music was usually performed live. He called his show "The World's Largest Make Believe Ballroom ." In 1946, KFWB brought in two disc jockeys from New York City: Maurice Hart of WNEW , whose morning drive time show Start
20374-405: The screenplay, and it was filmed in late 1943 and early 1944. According to Shipman: It was a pitch to sell Ladd to women filmgoers, though he had not changed one iota and he did not have a noticeable romantic aura. But Paramount hoped that women might feel that beneath the rock-like expression there smouldered fires of passion, or something like. His black-lashed eyes, however, gave nothing away; it
20541-435: The second most popular male film star in the world, after Gregory Peck . In 1951, Ladd's contract had only one more year to run. "Paramount is like a home to me", he said, "and I'd like to remain on the lot for one picture a year. But I want to be free to take pictures at other studios if offered to me." The main studio Ladd was in discussion with was Warner Bros . He also received a six-year offer to make Adventure Limited ,
20708-559: The semi-documentary style that later emerged represent two very different tendencies. Narrative structures sometimes involved convoluted flashbacks uncommon in non-noir commercial productions. In terms of content, enforcement of the Production Code ensured that no film character could literally get away with murder or be seen sharing a bed with anyone but a spouse; within those bounds, however, many films now identified as noir feature plot elements and dialogue that were very risqué for
20875-470: The situation of American prisoners of war (POWs) during the Korean War . Incidents that occurred during the war as well as those post-war functioned as an inspiration for a "Cold War Noir" subgenre. The television series The Fugitive (1963–67) brought classic noir themes and mood to the small screen for an extended run. In a different vein, films began to appear that self-consciously acknowledged
21042-666: The sociopathic criminal played by Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet (1986) and the delusionary protagonist of Lost Highway (1997). The Twin Peaks cycle, both the TV series (1990–91) and a film, Fire Walk with Me (1992), puts a detective plot through a succession of bizarre spasms. David Cronenberg also mixes surrealism and noir in Naked Lunch (1991), inspired by William S. Burroughs ' novel . KFWB KFWB (980 AM )
21209-451: The station added motivational speaker Les Brown to its afternoon lineup. Brown left the station in 2012. Ramsey's show was discontinued in 2014. By the summer of 2014, KFWB's weekday line-up included: LA's Morning News with Penny Griego and Phil Hulett; Money 101 with Bob McCormick; "As We See It" with Phil Hulett and friends; LA's Afternoon News with Maggie McKay and Michael Shappee; and The Amani & Eytan Show from NBC Sports Radio . In
21376-424: The station adopted a news-talk format, limiting the all-news blocks to AM and PM drive times. The station added nationally syndicated shows, including Dave Ramsey , Laura Ingraham , Michael Smerconish and Dr. Laura Schlessinger (who moved from longtime flagship KFI ). In 2011, Dr. Laura's show was dropped when she moved from broadcast radio to Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Dave Ramsey shifted to 11am-2pm and
21543-598: The station's sports format was discontinued on March 1, 2016. After one day of continuous airings of a five-minute retrospective of KFWB, the station began carrying the full service South Asian Bollywood music format which also was airing on KKDZ in Seattle and KLOK in San Jose . KFWB called itself " Desi 980". On March 16, 2016, the Los Angeles Clippers entered into a multi-year deal making KLAC
21710-615: The studio lost Ladd to the military once again. However, in May 1945, the U.S. Army released all men 30 or over from induction, and Ladd was finally free from the draft. Along with several other film stars likewise spared, Ladd promptly enlisted with the Hollywood Victory Committee for the entertainment industry's overseas arm, volunteering to tour for USO shows. Ladd next made Calcutta (1947), which reteamed him with John Farrow and William Bendix. Release for this film
21877-773: The team's new flagship station, removing the games from KFWB. On October 4, 2016, Lotus Communications agreed to purchase KFWB from Universal Media Access for $ 11.2 million. The sale was finalized on March 7, 2017. Lotus owns 34 stations in California, Nevada and Arizona , including three in Southern California: Farsi-language KIRN in Simi Valley , ESPN Deportes affiliate KWKW in Los Angeles, and its simulcast partner, KTMZ in Pomona . On October 31, 2016, KFWB switched to
22044-558: The time. Thematically, films noir were most exceptional for the relative frequency with which they centered on portrayals of women of questionable virtue—a focus that had become rare in Hollywood films after the mid-1930s and the end of the pre-Code era. The signal film in this vein was Double Indemnity , directed by Billy Wilder; setting the mold was Barbara Stanwyck 's femme fatale , Phyllis Dietrichson—an apparent nod to Marlene Dietrich , who had built her extraordinary career playing such characters for Sternberg. An A-level feature,
22211-582: The transmitter moved to a site near La Cienega Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, about three blocks south of the KECA/KABC studio/transmitter site. To make way for the construction of a FEDCO membership department store, in July 1958 the transmitter moved to its present location, diplexed with 570 KLAC in East Los Angeles. The studios moved in 1977 to 6230 Yucca Street, also in Hollywood. In June 2005, KFWB moved into new studios on Wilshire Boulevard in
22378-411: The words of cinema historian Mark Bould, film noir remains an "elusive phenomenon." Though film noir is often identified with a visual style that emphasizes low-key lighting and unbalanced compositions , films commonly identified as noir evidence a variety of visual approaches, including ones that fit comfortably within the Hollywood mainstream. Film noir similarly embraces a variety of genres, from
22545-472: The world", as first used by WINS, although KFWB's format used a 30-minute news cycle. The 22 minutes referenced the then-average length of a Los Angeles commute. Like WINS and co-owned KYW Philadelphia , KFWB had a running Teletype sound effect in the background during regular newscasts. Also in Spring 1968, another Los Angeles radio station jumped into the all-news format, KNX , owned by CBS Radio . For
22712-588: Was "a big upset" for him and that he only left for "business reasons...future security for the children and ourselves". Shane , in which he played a strong, silent, courageous title character, was particularly popular. It premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in April 1953, grossing over $ 114,000 in its four weeks there (a large sum at the time), and earning $ 8 million in North America over its initial run. This led to Ladd's being voted one of
22879-408: Was 'take me as I am' or 'I'm the boss around here'. He never flirted nor even seemed interested (which is one of the reasons he and Lake were so effective together). In March 1944, Ladd took another physical and was reclassified 1A. He would have to be reinducted into the army, but a deferment was given to enable Ladd to make Two Years Before the Mast (the release of which was postponed two years). He
23046-425: Was French director Jean-Luc Godard 's À bout de souffle ( Breathless ; 1960), which pays its literal respects to Bogart and his crime films while brandishing a bold new style for a new day. In the United States, Arthur Penn (1965's Mickey One , drawing inspiration from Truffaut's Tirez sur le pianiste and other French New Wave films), John Boorman (1967's Point Blank , similarly caught up, though in
23213-533: Was a significant change of pace, playing Jay Gatsby in the 1949 version of The Great Gatsby , written and produced by Richard Maibaum . This film had been planned since 1946, but production was delayed due to a combination of difficulties with the censor, and Paramount's reluctance for Ladd to play such a challenging part. It was not a big success at the box office, and its mixed critical and commercial reception caused Ladd to avoid serious dramatic roles. His next films were standard fare: Chicago Deadline , playing
23380-464: Was adapted into film in 1960. Among the first major neo-noir films—the term often applied to films that consciously refer back to the classic noir tradition—was the French Tirez sur le pianiste (1960), directed by François Truffaut from a novel by one of the gloomiest of American noir fiction writers, David Goodis . Noir crime films and melodramas have been produced in many countries in
23547-436: Was an independent distributed by MGM , the industry leader: Force of Evil (1948), directed by Abraham Polonsky and starring John Garfield , both of whom were blacklisted in the 1950s. Independent production usually meant restricted circumstances but Sweet Smell of Success , despite the plans of the production team, was clearly not made on the cheap, though like many other cherished A-budget noirs, it might be said to have
23714-567: Was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas , on September 3, 1913. He was the only child of Ina Raleigh (also known as Selina Rowley) (1888–1937), and Alan Ladd (1874–1917), a freelance accountant. His mother was English, from County Durham , and had migrated to the U.S. in 1907 when she was 19. His father died of a heart attack when Ladd was four. On July 3, 1918, young Alan accidentally burned down the family home while playing with matches. His mother moved to Oklahoma City , where she married Jim Beavers,
23881-691: Was cast, instead, in Branded , a Western. In February 1950, Paramount announced that Ladd would star in a film version of the novel Shane . Before he made this film, he appeared in Red Mountain , produced by Hal Wallis . In 1950, the Hollywood Women's Press Club voted Ladd the easiest male star to deal with in Hollywood. The following year, a poll from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association listed Ladd as
24048-521: Was delayed. Ladd was meant to make California with Betty Hutton , but he refused to report for work in August 1945. "It wasn't on account of the picture", said Ladd. "There were other issues." Ladd wanted more money, and Paramount responded by suspending him. The two parties reconciled in November with Ladd's getting a salary increase to $ 75,000 per film, but without story approval or the right to do outside films, which he had wanted. Exhibitors voted him
24215-448: Was delighted. The majority of stars were earmarked as such when they appeared on the horizon—from Broadway or from wherever they came; if it seemed unlikely that public acceptance would come with one film they were trained and built up: The incubation period was usually between two and five years. As far as Ladd was concerned, he was a small-part actor given a fat part faute de mieux , and after his second film for them, he had not merely hit
24382-400: Was first applied to Hollywood films by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, but was unrecognized by most American film industry professionals of that era. Frank is believed to have been inspired by the French literary publishing imprint Série noire , founded in 1945. Cinema historians and critics defined the category retrospectively. Before the notion was widely adopted in the 1970s, many of
24549-417: Was given an honorable medical discharge because of a stomach disorder complicated by influenza. When Ladd returned from the army, Paramount announced a series of vehicles for him, including And Now Tomorrow and Two Years Before the Mast . And Now Tomorrow was a melodrama, starring Loretta Young as a wealthy deaf woman who is treated (and loved) by her doctor, played by Ladd; Raymond Chandler co-wrote
24716-400: Was in this way that accomplished noir actress Ida Lupino established herself as the sole female director in Hollywood during the late 1940s and much of the 1950s. She does not appear in the best-known film she directed, The Hitch-Hiker (1953), developed by her company, The Filmakers, with support and distribution by RKO. It is one of the seven classic film noirs produced largely outside of
24883-442: Was injured falling off a scaffold and decided to quit. Ladd managed to save and borrow enough money to attend an acting school run by Ben Bard , who had taught him when he was under contract at Universal. Ladd appeared in several stage productions for Bard. Bard later claimed Ladd "was such a shy guy he just wouldn't speak up loud and strong. I had to get him to lower his voice too; it was too high. I also insisted that he get himself
25050-501: Was largely responsible for spurring a trend of Hollywood gangster films. Successful films in that genre such as Little Caesar (1931), The Public Enemy (1931) and Scarface (1932) demonstrated that there was an audience for crime dramas with morally reprehensible protagonists. An important, possibly influential, cinematic antecedent to classic noir was 1930s French poetic realism , with its romantic, fatalistic attitude and celebration of doomed heroes. The movement's sensibility
25217-407: Was meant to be re-inducted on September 4, 1944, but Paramount succeeded in getting this pushed back again to make Salty O'Rourke . He also found time to make a cameo in a big-screen version of Duffy's Tavern . Ladd's reinduction was then set for May 1945. Paramount commissioned Raymond Chandler to write an original screenplay for him titled The Blue Dahlia , made relatively quickly in case
25384-525: Was never produced. The movie was Ladd's second pairing with Lake, with Ladd offering confident support of Brian Donlevy —so confident he even ended up with Donlevy's girl. Ladd's cool, unsmiling, understated persona proved popular with wartime audiences, and he was voted by the Motion Picture Herald as one of the 10 "stars of tomorrow" for 1942. His salary was raised to $ 750 per week. According to critic David Shipman : Paramount of course
25551-494: Was not even the first screen version of Cain's novel, having been preceded by the French Le Dernier Tournant in 1939.) In Japan, the celebrated Akira Kurosawa directed several films recognizable as films noir, including Drunken Angel (1948), Stray Dog (1949), The Bad Sleep Well (1960), and High and Low (1963). Spanish author Mercedes Formica's novel La ciudad perdida (The Lost City)
25718-425: Was noted for its contributions to the genre. Ladd also appeared in ten films with William Bendix . His other notable credits include Two Years Before the Mast (1946) and The Great Gatsby (1949). His popularity diminished in the mid-1950s, though he continued to appear in numerous films, including his first supporting role since This Gun for Hire in the smash hit The Carpetbaggers released in 1964. Ladd
25885-480: Was paying affectionate, at points idolatrous homage to the classic mode with Play It Again, Sam (1972). The " blaxploitation " film Shaft (1971), wherein Richard Roundtree plays the titular African-American private eye, John Shaft , takes conventions from classic noir. The most acclaimed of the neo-noirs of the era was director Roman Polanski 's 1974 Chinatown . Written by Robert Towne , it
26052-401: Was playing the roles of a father and son on radio when he was heard by the agent Sue Carol . She was impressed and called the station to talk to the actors and was told it was one person. She arranged to meet him and, impressed by his looks, she signed him to her books and enthusiastically promoted her new client in films as well as on radio. Ladd's first notable part under Carol's management was
26219-479: Was ranked among the top 10 popular stars in the U.S. That year finally had the release of Calcutta , along with Wild Harvest , where he reteamed with Robert Preston. Ladd made a cameo appearance as a detective in the Bob Hope comedy, My Favorite Brunette (1947), and he made another cameo in an all-star Paramount film, titled, Variety Girl , singing Frank Loesser 's "Tallahassee" with Dorothy Lamour . He
26386-484: Was replaced by a smoother, better looking, and better dressed bad man was largely the work of Mr. Ladd." – The New York Times obituary (January 30, 1964). Though the romantic lead went to established star Robert Preston , Ladd's teaming in support with female lead Veronica Lake captured the public's imagination. Their overnight sensation pairing continued in three more films and included three more in guest spots in wartime all-star Hollywood musical revues. Even during
26553-457: Was reported that KFWB was in the process of being sold to an operator of foreign-language radio stations. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission stated that the station would be acquired by Principle Broadcasting, a company backed by Mercury Capital Partners, for $ 15 million. The final price in the contract filed with the FCC was $ 8 million. As a result of the sale,
26720-586: Was reportedly receiving 20,000 fan letters per week. The New York Times reported that "Ladd in the brief period of a year and with only four starring pictures to his credit... had built up a following unmatched in film history since Rudolph Valentino skyrocketed to fame." In December 1943, he was listed as the 15th most popular star in the U.S. Ladd fell ill and went to the military hospital in Santa Barbara for several weeks in October. On October 28, he
26887-650: Was reteamed with Lake for the final time in Saigon (1948), then made Whispering Smith (1948), his first Western since he became a star (and his first movie in color). He followed this with Beyond Glory (1948), a melodrama with Farrow, which featured Audie Murphy in his film debut (and was released before Whispering Smith ). Since he had become a star, Ladd continued to appear in radio, usually in dramatizations of feature films for such shows as Lux Radio Theatre and Screen Directors Playhouse . He created roles played both by himself, but also other actors, including
27054-522: Was sold to its longtime general manager Harry Maizlish. It soon moved its studios off the Warner Bros. lot to join Maizlish's FM station, KFMV (now KTWV ), on Hollywood Boulevard. In 1958, the original "Seven Swingin' Gentlemen" (a nickname for the DJ staff) turned KFWB into a rock & roll powerhouse in Los Angeles. Under new owners Crowell-Collier Broadcasting , program director Chuck Blore pioneered
27221-445: Was the first American actor to show the killer as a cold angel." John Houseman later wrote that Ladd played "a professional killer with a poignant and desolate ferocity that made him unique, for a time, among the male heroes of his day." Both the film and Ladd's performance played an important role in the development of the gangster genre: "That the old-fashioned motion picture gangster with his ugly face, gaudy cars, and flashy clothes
27388-684: Was the inspiration for the Dragnet series, which debuted on radio in 1949 and television in 1951. Several directors associated with noir built well-respected oeuvres largely at the B-movie/intermediate level. Samuel Fuller 's brutal, visually energetic films such as Pickup on South Street (1953) and Underworld U.S.A. (1961) earned him a unique reputation; his advocates praise him as "primitive" and "barbarous". Joseph H. Lewis directed noirs as diverse as Gun Crazy (1950) and The Big Combo (1955). The former—whose screenplay
27555-762: Was the second biggest shareholder. Lang, Bennett and her husband, the Universal veteran and Diana production head Walter Wanger , made Secret Beyond the Door (1948) in similar fashion. Before leaving the United States while subject to the Hollywood blacklist , Jules Dassin made two classic noirs that also straddled the major/independent line: Brute Force (1947) and the influential documentary-style The Naked City (1948) were developed by producer Mark Hellinger , who had an "inside/outside" contract with Universal similar to Wanger's. Years earlier, working at Warner Bros., Hellinger had produced three films for Raoul Walsh ,
27722-514: Was very conscious of his looks. Alan would not look beyond a certain point in the camera because he didn't think he looked good... Jimmy Cagney was not tall but somehow Jimmy was at terms with himself, always. I don't think Alan Ladd ever came to terms with himself. Ladd's next film was meant to be Incendiary Blonde , opposite Betty Hutton , but he was inducted into the army on January 18, after reprising his performance in This Gun for Hire on radio for Lux Radio Theatre . Ladd briefly served in
27889-412: Was written by the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo , disguised by a front—features a bank hold-up sequence shown in an unbroken take of over three minutes that was influential. The Big Combo was shot by John Alton and took the shadowy noir style to its outer limits. The most distinctive films of Phil Karlson ( The Phenix City Story [1955] and The Brothers Rico [1957]) tell stories of vice organized on
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