“I’ve known women who plodded through life…but the women I knew did their plodding on the pavement, not the soil. I know very little about the simple life. I’m a product of crowded places and jammed-up emotions, where right and wrong weren’t always clearly defined and life wasn’t always sweet, but it was life.” —Barbara Stanwyck

I thought I would formally welcome you to the last couple weeks of Noirvember with a quote from one of my favorite noir ladies, Barbara Stanwyck. For the same reason I love bitter chocolate and black coffee and stale cigarette smoke alleyways, I love film noir.

I kicked off the month watching The File on Thelma Jordan, starring the above femme fatale. I have made it few only a few new ones (Night in the City, You Only Live Once), and several old ones (Detour, Kansa City Confidential), before this month got a little busy. But I like to carry noir with me all year long, so I make no qualms about Noir Christmas/New Years, et al.