Out of the Past (1947), directed by Jacques Tourneur, and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer and Kirk Douglas.

Jeff Bailey (Mitchum) owns a backwater gas station and is in love with a local girl, Ann. Then a stranger calls with a message, and Jeff reveals to Ann that he was once a private detective hired by a New York gambling big-shot (Douglas) to find his girl-friend (Greer), who had shot him and robbed him of $40,000.

Jacques Tourneur had upgraded from the RKO horror B-pictures for which he is best known to become an A-list director. The script was adapted from his own novel, Build My Gallows High, by Daniel Mainwaring, who also scripted the other Mitchum-Greer vehicle The Big Steal (1949).

Out of the Past is now regarded as one of the best film noir produced in the post-war period. In 2004, Roger Ebert said of it:

“Out of the Past is… the story of a man who tries to break with his past and his weakness and start over again in a town, with a new job and a new girl. The film stars Robert Mitchum, whose weary eyes and laconic voice, whose very presence as a violent man wrapped in indifference, made him an archetypal noir actor. The story opens before we’ve even seen him, as trouble comes to town looking for him. A man from his past has seen him pumping gas, and now his old life reaches out and pulls him back.”

Doors open at 18.30, for a 19.30 start.

Refreshments will be available in our licensed cafe/bar.

TICKETS & PRICING

Tickets £8.

Advance tickets may be purchased from Ticketlab, or direct from the Museum by calling 020 7840 2200 in office hours.