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''Out of the Past'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''Build My Gallows High'') is a 1947 film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. The film was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring (using the pseudonym Geoffrey Homes), with uncredited revisions by Frank Fenton and James M. Cain, from his novel ''Build My Gallows High'' (also written as Homes). Film historians consider the film a superb example of film noir due to its convoluted, dark storyline, dark cinematography and classic femme fatale. The film's cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca also shot Tourneur's ''Cat People''. In 1991, ''Out of the Past'' was added to the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."〔 ==Plot== Joe Stefanos (Paul Valentine) arrives at small, out-of-the-way Bridgeport, California, in search of Jeff Bailey (Mitchum). Jeff is away, off on a picnic with local girl Ann Miller (Virginia Huston). Stefanos sends Jeff's deaf young assistant, The Kid (Dickie Moore), off to bring Jeff back. When he arrives Stefanos informs Jeff that Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas) wants to see him. Jeff has a past with Whit which Ann is unaware of. Ann trusts Jeff implicitly, but her parents are wary, as is Jim (Richard Webb), a local police officer who is Ann's long-time admirer. Jeff reluctantly agrees to go meet with Whit. That night, Jeff picks Ann up, and the two drive together to Whit's home on Lake Tahoe. On the way, Jeff tells Ann of how he came to know Whit. The story unfolds in a flashback, with Jeff narrating. Jeff's real name is Jeff Markham. He and partner Jack Fisher (Steve Brodie) were private investigators in New York. Jeff had been hired by Whit to find his girlfriend, Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer). Whit claimed she shot him and stole $40,000. Sensing his finding Kathy will result in her death, Jeff is reluctant to take the case. Whit assures Jeff he just wants her back, and will not harm her. Jeff learns from Kathie's maid that she had packed summer clothes. The maid suggests she's gone to Florida, but Jeff guesses Mexico because of Kathie's inoculations. He goes to Acapulco and waits for her there. She arrives, and Jeff strikes up an acquaintance with her. A love affair between the two soon develops, complicating Jeff's life. Ultimately Jeff reveals to Kathie that he had been sent by Whit to find her. Kathie apparently had sensed this from the start, and has been spinning a web for him. She tells Jeff she didn't take Whit’s money, and she pleads with Jeff to run away with her. Preparing to leave with her the next morning, Jeff is surprised by the arrival of Whit and Stefanos, who are checking up on his lack of progress. Jeff asks Whit to take him off the case, but Whit refuses, telling Jeff that he fires people but nobody quits on him. Jeff then tells Whit that Kathie slipped past him and is on a steamer going south. Whit instructs Jeff to track her down. Instead Jeff takes Kathie north to San Francisco. They live as inconspicuously as possible. Over time, they relax, but an outing to the race track goes bad when they are spotted by Jeff’s old partner, Fisher. Jeff and Kathie split up, with Jeff trying to throw Fisher off their trail. Jeff rejoins Kathie at a rural cabin, only to find Fisher has followed Kathie rather than him. Fisher demands money to keep quiet. The two men start fighting and Kathie shoots Fisher in the middle of it, then flees by car. Jeff finds Kathie’s bankbook. The pass book shows a deposit of $40,000, the money she said she did not take. Returning to the present, Ann drops Jeff off at Whit's estate. Surprisingly, Whit seems genuinely glad to see him. Jeff is even more surprised when Kathie comes out from the back. She had gone back to Whit. Whit tells Jeff he wants to hire him for a new job. He says it is the only way to make things right between them. Whit says his lawyer, Leonard Eels (Ken Niles), has been blackmailing him. Whit wants Jeff to recover incriminating income tax records. Sensing a trap, Jeff tries to turn the job down, but Whit insists he take it. Jeff tries to warn Eels when he first meets him, but when he returns later, he finds Eels dead. He hides the body. He returns to Bridgeport. Unbeknownst to either Whit or Jeff, Kathie has ordered Stefanos to trail the Kid so he can kill Jeff. The Kid drives to a fishing spot near Jeff's hideout and prepares to cast his line. Above him, Stefanos takes aim at Jeff. The Kid sees it and hooks Stefanos with his fishing line, causing Stefanos to lose his balance and fall to his death. Jeff goes back to Lake Tahoe and tells Whit of Kathie's double cross and the death of Stefanos. He offers that the death of Stefanos, who killed Eels, can be made to look like suicide out of guilt, removing Jeff from the frame. He tells Whit, in front of Kathie, that her affidavit stating Jeff shot Fisher must be destroyed and that Kathie must be handed over to the police for Fisher's death. Otherwise Whit will not be given Eels's blackmail material. Whit takes the offer, and Jeff believes he has found his way out of the trap. He leaves to speak with Ann back in Bridgeport. However, when Jeff returns to Tahoe, he discovers that Kathie has killed Whit. She gives Jeff the choice of running away with her or taking the blame for all three murders. He agrees to go with her, but secretly makes a phone call. The state police are waiting for them at a roadblock. Realizing Jeff has betrayed her, Kathie shoots him. The police begin firing. The car careens off the road and crashes. Inside the wreck, the police find the bodies of Kathie and Jeff. After Jeff's funeral Ann asks the Kid if Jeff had been planning to run away with Kathie. The Kid lies for Jeff and nods his head. Ann returns to Jim and she drives off with him, while the Kid looks up at the Jeff's name on the gas station's sign, smiles and nods to him. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Out of the Past」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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