Out of the Past (1947)

Director:

Jacques Tourneur

Writers:

Daniel Mainwaring (screenplay)
Daniel Mainwaring (novel)
(more)

Release Date:

13 November 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

A MAN - Trying to run away from his past... A WOMAN - Trying to escape her future!

Plot:

Jeff Bailey, small-town gas pumper, has his mysterious past catch up with him one day when he's ordered to meet with gambler Whit Sterling...

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Small Town | Cabin | Flashback | Murder

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert Mitchum	...	Jeff Bailey
Jane Greer	...	Kathie Moffat
Kirk Douglas	...	Whit Sterling
Rhonda Fleming	...	Meta Carson
Richard Webb	...	Jim
Steve Brodie	...	Jack Fisher
Virginia Huston	...	Ann Miller
Paul Valentine	...	Joe Stephanos
Dickie Moore	...	The Kid
Ken Niles	...	Leonard Eels
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brooks Benedict	...	Kibitzer in Blue Sky Club (uncredited)
Oliver Blake	...	Tillotson - Night Clerk (uncredited)
Eumenio Blanco	...	Mexican Waiter (uncredited)
Wesley Bly	...	Harlem Club Headwaiter (uncredited)
Mildred Boyd	...	Woman at Harlem Club (uncredited)
Hubert Brill	...	Car Manipulator (uncredited)
James Bush	...	Doorman (uncredited)
Ted Collins	...	Man at Harlem Club (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Bartender in Acapulco (uncredited)
Homer Dickenson	...	Kibitzer in Blue Sky Club (uncredited)
Lee Elson	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Jess Escobar	...	Mexican Doorman (uncredited)
Mary Field	...	Marny - Diner Owner (uncredited)
Adda Gleason	...	Mrs. Miller (uncredited)
Theresa Harris	...	Eunice Leonard (uncredited)
Harry Hayden	...	Canby Miller (uncredited)
John Kellogg	...	Lou Baylord (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Kibitzer in Blue Sky Club (uncredited)
Primo López	...	Mexican Bellhop (uncredited)
Philip Morris	...	The Porter (uncredited)
Manuel París	...	Croupier (uncredited)
Caleb Peterson	...	Man with Eunice (uncredited)
Jose Portugal	...	Mexican Waiter (uncredited)
Charles Regan	...	Mystery Man (uncredited)
Victor Romito	...	Mexican Waiter (uncredited)
Tony Roux	...	Jose Rodriguez (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Extra in Nightclub Cloakroom (uncredited)
Wallace Scott	...	Petey - Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Archie Twitchell	...	Rafferty (uncredited)
William Van Vleck	...	Cigar Store Clerk (uncredited)
Bill Wallace	...	Kibitzer in Blue Sky Club (uncredited)
Sam Warren	...	Harlem Club Waiter (uncredited)
Frank Wilcox	...	Sheriff Ed Douglas (uncredited)

Directed by
Jacques Tourneur

Writing credits
Daniel Mainwaring		(screenplay) (as Geoffrey Homes)
Daniel Mainwaring		(novel "Build My Gallows High") (as Geoffrey Homes)
Frank Fenton		uncredited and
James M. Cain		uncredited

Produced by
Warren Duff	....	producer
Robert Sparks	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Roy Webb

Cinematography by
Nicholas Musuraca

Film Editing by
Samuel E. Beetley

Art Direction by
Albert S. D'Agostino
Jack Okey

Set Decoration by
Darrell Silvera

Costume Design by
Edward Stevenson		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
James H. Anderson	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harry Mancke	....	assistant director
Earl Harper	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Lynn Shores	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Clem Portman	....	sound
Francis M. Sarver	....	sound

Special Effects by
Russell A. Cully	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Linwood G. Dunn	....	optical effects (uncredited)

Music Department
C. Bakaleinikoff	....	musical director

Other crew
Boyd Cabeen	....	stand-in: Robert Mitchum (uncredited)
Robert De Grasse	....	fill-in photographer (uncredited)
Frank Fenton	....	screenplay constructor (uncredited)
M. Gutterman	....	stand-in: Jane Greer (uncredited)
Leonard Shannon	....	unit publicity writer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures (presents)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (as An RKO Radio Picture)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1953) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1957) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Nostalgia Merchant, The (198?) (USA) (video)
• Fox Hills Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• RKO Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• Manga Films (2000) (Spain) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Build My Gallows High (UK)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | American Sign Language

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:12 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (1998) | Germany:12 (re-rating) | Germany:18 (original rating) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Sweden:15 (re-rating) (1965) | Argentina:13 | Sweden:(Banned) | USA:Approved (PCA #12082) | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1991.

Quotes:

Jeff Bailey: I sell gasoline, I make a small profit. With that I buy groceries. The grocer makes a profit. We call it earning a living. You may have heard of it somewhere.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sesión continua (1984)

Soundtrack:

THE FIRST TIME I SAW YOU

Excellent example of film noir at its best

Full of atmosphere and heat, "Out of the Past" is a classic film noir, directed by a master, Jacques Tourneur. Although considered only an above-average B movie at the time of release, it's doubtful anyone thinks of it that way today, as it is superior to many "A" films. With a top-notch cast and a deceptively easy pace that belies the tension and danger underneath, "Out of the Past" makes for an intriguing, absorbing film.

Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer make a great pair - both are sultry, sexy, hard to read, and gorgeous. I found Greer's performance quite interesting. In the beginning, she appears quite warm, frightened, and sincere, as opposed to, say, Lizabeth Scott in "Dead Reckoning." When she turns hardboiled, it's subtle, with only a change in her eyes and voice, when she comments that Fisher isn't going to say anything to anybody. I love the way Mitchum sizes up women. He absolutely smolders, and 40 years later, in "The Winds of War," he was still smoldering.

Kirk Douglas is appropriately edgy in his supporting role as Whit. Rhonda Fleming has a small role, but no one that incredibly beautiful was going to go unnoticed for long.

What a wonderful film, what a perfect example of a genre.