Kathie Moffat. Phyllis Dietrichson. Kitty Collins. Cora Smith. You know what they all have in common. You can picture all of them in your head without me even naming their films. You've seen all of their names on countless lists of great noir femmes fatale. They're a film noir staple. Femme fatale is as common an expression as 'film noir' itself. But what about their male counterparts? A while back, I wrote on The Old Hollywood Garden that the homme fatale is and should be a thing, and I listed five of them. Cal Bruner was on that list.
In Private Hell 36 (1954), written by Ida Lupino and Collier Young, and directed by Don Siegel, Cal Bruner (Steve Cochran) and Jack Farnham (Howard Duff) are cops and friends. They meet with Lili Marlowe (Ida Lupino, coincidentally Duff’s then-wife), a nightclub singer, to try and get information about a robbery that happened the night before. About halfway through the film, Bruner and Farnham come across the missing money. And Bruner keeps it. Farnham has no choice but to go along with it, as Bruner gives him the key to the trailer where he's going to keep the money. Trailer number 36. Their private hell.
'Because I'm irresistible' Cal Bruner
He is. Cal Bruner is irresistible. He's sly, smooth and totally aware of it. And so is Lili. When the two of them start their little flirtation, it is Cal who does most of the seducing. He massages her neck and her feet, he smooth-talks her, he flashes his toothy grin, he stares her down with his sparkly eyes, he kisses her deeply and promises her the world... you know, the way Kathie, Phyllis, Kitty and Cora do.
Cal Bruner goes from good cop to homme fatale to bad cop. All within forty minutes. Lili may appear at first to be the femme fatale, but not every noir has to have one. No, this one goes out to the bad boys. The tables turn. What we've come to know in this world isn't true in this case. Not least because our sense of security is gone. In a previous post, I've referred to Bruner's actions in the second half as 'a blow' to the audience. And they are. Cops are supposed to be good, right? They're supposed to be the voice of reason, aren't they? No, not in these streets. They're not supposed to be good and they can be just as 'fatale' as their female counterparts.
And who can resist these hommes fatale? Specifically Cal Bruner? He knows what he's doing. And he's shameless. His greed gets the better of him. His moral compass is non-existent. And he has no qualms about letting his best friend in on the secret. He has no problem ruining his friendship with Farnham and letting his friend's life spiral out of control.
'What's the matter? You two had a lover's spat?' Lili Marlowe
Jack and his wife Francey, played by the always wonderful Dorothy Malone, have a stable home life with a newborn daughter, despite Francey's concerns about his job. But with Cal in the picture, everything changes. In fact, one could argue that he works his charm on Farnham as well as Lili. In one particular scene, the two of them sit in the car, and Bruner convinces his friend and partner that this is a good idea. They should keep the money in a trailer, because why not? Bruner's eyes stare coldly, almost piercingly at Farnham and he goes along with it. Reluctantly, but still. Soon enough, his conscience starts eating away at him, and the double date dinner with Lili and Bruner the following night is one of the most deliciously awkward moments in the film.
'You're sick, Cal. I should have known that a long time ago. You don't care about anything or anybody.' Jack Farnham
Damn right. Cal Bruner is wicked. A character you love to hate. His evilness comes out slowly... lurking underneath the surface... until there is no more hiding it. And Steve Cochran makes you want to punch him. He's that good. A talent that elavated any film he was in, who had no business dying so young and so tragically, only 11 years after Private Hell 36.
Femme fatale, crooked cop, nightclub singer, absent-minded bartender, fedoras, cigarettes, Miklos Rosza scores... with all the tropes that have populated the streets of film noir, one wonders why homme fatale isn't one of them. With cads such as Cal Bruner, Mr Brown from The Big Combo (1955), which I covered here, Bruno Antony from Strangers on a Train (1951, dir. Alfred Hitchcock), or Tom Ripley in Purple Noon (1960, dir. Rene Clement), you'd think it would have become a thing by now. Not that I'm advocating for hommes fatale's awful deeds in those movies, of course, who do you take me for?
We bid farewell to Cal Bruner and Private Hell 36. Our next loser is a mysterious woman caught up in a maddening murder mystery. The movie is Dead Reckoning (1947), the actress is Lizabeth Scott and the loser... is Coral Chandler.
See you on the sunny side of the street.
Excellent article. Ida Lupino knew exactly what she was doing when she created this character.
Great post Carol. I can see why your film noir blog is number one. very good film. He really does turn into a villain right before our eyes. I wish Ida Lupino made more films.