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IMDbPro

Out of the Past

  • 19471947
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 37m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
38K
YOUR RATING
Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947)
Watch Trailer
Play trailer2:29
1 Video
99+ Photos
CrimeDramaFilm-Noir
A private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses, and dup... Read allA private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses, and duplicitous dames.A private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses, and duplicitous dames.
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
38K
YOUR RATING
    • Jacques Tourneur
    • Daniel Mainwaring(screen play by)
    • James M. Cain(uncredited)
    • Frank Fenton(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Robert Mitchum
    • Jane Greer
    • Kirk Douglas
    • Jacques Tourneur
    • Daniel Mainwaring(screen play by)
    • James M. Cain(uncredited)
    • Frank Fenton(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Robert Mitchum
    • Jane Greer
    • Kirk Douglas
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 276User reviews
    • 152Critic reviews
    • 85Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:29
    Watch Trailer

    Photos112

    Robert Mitchum and Rhonda Fleming in Out of the Past (1947)
    Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947)
    Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past (1947)
    Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947)
    Robert Mitchum, Steve Brodie, and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947)
    Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947)
    Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947)
    Kirk Douglas and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947)
    Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947)
    Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947)
    Kirk Douglas and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947)
    Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Robert Mitchum
    Robert Mitchum
    • Jeff
    Jane Greer
    Jane Greer
    • Kathie
    Kirk Douglas
    Kirk Douglas
    • Whit
    Rhonda Fleming
    Rhonda Fleming
    • Meta Carson
    Richard Webb
    Richard Webb
    • Jim
    Steve Brodie
    Steve Brodie
    • Fisher
    Virginia Huston
    Virginia Huston
    • Ann
    Paul Valentine
    Paul Valentine
    • Joe
    Dickie Moore
    Dickie Moore
    • The Kid
    Ken Niles
    • Eels
    Brooks Benedict
    Brooks Benedict
    • Kibitzer in Blue Sky Club
    • (uncredited)
    Oliver Blake
    Oliver Blake
    • Tillotson - Night Clerk
    • (uncredited)
    Eumenio Blanco
    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
    James Bush
    • Doorman
    • (uncredited)
    Ted Collins
    • Man at Harlem Club
    • (uncredited)
      • Jacques Tourneur
      • Daniel Mainwaring(screen play by) (based on his novel "Build My Gallows High")
      • James M. Cain(uncredited)
      • Frank Fenton(uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Robert Mitchum told Roger Ebert he smoked so much that when the camera was rolling and Kirk Douglas offered him a pack and asked, "Cigarette?" Mitchum, realizing he'd carried a cigarette into the scene, held up his fingers and replied, "Smoking." His improvisation saved the take and they kept it in the movie.
    • Goofs
      Leonard Eels' apartment at 114 Fulton Street would be part of the block then occupied by the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library (now the Asian Art Museum).
    • Quotes

      [Kathie is playing roulette]

      Jeff: That's not the way to win.

      Kathie: Is there a way to win?

      Jeff: There's a way to lose more slowly.

    • Alternate versions
      Also available in a computer colorized version.
    • Connections
      Edited into American Cinema: Film Noir (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      The First Time I Saw You
      (uncredited)

      Music by Nathaniel Shilkret

      From The Toast of New York (1937)

      Used as main theme in score

    User reviews276

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    One of best 40's film noir - and where is it ?
    Tremendously stylish, brilliantly scripted and wonderfully directed noir classic about a man who cannot escape from his past. Rarely does the genre get away from the grimy city streets with it's dark corridors and alleyways only partially lit by un-realistic streams of bright light. In this film we not only see the underworld gangs, the bars and floozies, the heavies and the fatales, but we also see the bright beautiful countryside, the streams and the rocks - a complete otherworld.

    Mitchum is superb as the man who has escaped the city to live a new life in the country only to be dragged back by powerful forces. This broadening of the cinematic landscape makes the movie more affecting than your assorted Bogarts' & Ladds'. As with 'I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang' I feel much more sympathy for the lead actor who gets dragged back into the bear pit to wrestle for his life and soul.

    'Out of the Past' also has some of the finest dialogue and narration I have ever heard, probably matched only by 'The Maltese Falcon'. 'She was like an autumn leaf blowing from gutter to gutter', is one gem that sticks in my mind.

    The mood of the film is pleasantly melancholic and the portrayal of the fatale figure (Jane Greer) is particularly sympathetic. In most noir movies the male perspective of the double-crossing woman predominates (not that there's anything wrong with that, it's usually very funny). Here however, whilst Greer presents one of the blackest of women you at least know why she does what she does and can sympathise with her plight. She is trapped too.

    Tourneur, tragically made few films but was a master at getting messages deep into your psyche, into your soul. 'Cat People 'and 'I Walked With a Zombie' both had otherworlds where the demons lived. We all have otherworlds too, places we'd rather not go very often, but as with Mitchum we are sometimes confronted with those demons and have to do battle once again. When I go next I hope to be wearing my hat at an exquisite angle and have my trench coat well belted.
    helpful•73
    18
    • xander-2
    • Feb 6, 1999

    FAQ13

    • How did Jeff know Kathie is in San Francisco and her adress?
    • Is "Out of the Past" based on a book?
    • Who really wrote the screenplay?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 1947 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
      • American Sign Language
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Lake Tahoe, California, USA
    • Production company
      • RKO Radio Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 37 minutes
      • Black and White

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