If Greek Tragedies were Film Noir (Part 1: The Oresteia)
Greek Tragedy and Film Noir share quite a few common points of style. They’re both bleak genres about characters’ flaws being their own undoing, hubris is rampant and they’re notoriously brutal. Justice is another key idea underlying both and, while the divinity of justice is center stage in Greek theater, the climaxes of films like The Maltese Falcon and The Killing certainly suggest that some force of order is at work. Of course, the Greeks were mostly concerned with the grand downfalls of the great and the good and Film Noir occupies itself with the denizens of back alleys, yet both are concerned with power. Kings and kingpins alike will go to extraordinary lengths to remain on their thrones, however small the throne room may be. The role of women in Greek theater was almost entirely unique in western literature until the advent of Film Noir. Characters like Electra and Clytemnestra could serve as easy templates for the femme fatale.
Personally, I’m shocked at how rarely the two are paralleled. So, I’ve decided to take some of the canon of Greek tragedy and reimagine them through the grainy, monochrome filter of Noir.
The Killing Blow (Agamemnon)
Otto Anderson is a new money industrialist, having inherited his company from his father, who acquired it under suspicious circumstances from an old money family, the Webbs. For the last six months, Otto has been in Europe, attempting to broker deals with the new governments of what used to be the German Empire. He returns to America, and his wife, Cynthia, but not alone. He has brought his Austrian mistress, Hilde, with him. Otto’s business ventures have proven embarrassing for Cynthia, an heiress herself, fueling rumors of war profiteering. This compounds Cynthia’s loathing of Otto, following the death of their daughter. Discovering Hilde proves the final straw for her.
With the help of Edward Webb, once the heir to the crown Otto wears, Cynthia has hatched an elaborate plan to get Otto out of her life. One of Otto’s long-time rivals has been hit heavily by the Great War, leaving certain properties fallow. With Otto’s government contracts, there is an opportunity to seize some of these properties via eminent domain. Cynthia rolls up her social-climber sleeves and begins convincing her husband to pull the strings needed to make the acquisitions. Otto is hesitant, as his new contracts in Europe will already stretch his company thin, without the resources needed to make any seized properties viable. Ultimately, however, she convinces him. Contracts are signed and the property changes hands.
Shortly thereafter, Cynthia follows her husband to the love nest he’s set up for Hilde. There, she murders both of them, then, with Edward’s help, frames Otto’s old rival for the killing, the property seizures making a perfect motive. Edward strong-arms the board of trustees into giving him Otto’s seat, as Cynthia plans their wedding. Yet, a dark portent closes the film as a young soldier arrives in the city, a copy of Otto Anderson’s obituary in his fist.
The Killing Look (The Libation Bearers/Electra)
Gregory Anderson served his country in the Great War and has returned home a changed man. When the war ended, he volunteered for a position in Vienna, wanting to help rebuild the war-torn nation. He even liaised for his father, believing that business ties to America would help in these efforts. However, when news reaches him of his father’s murder, he immediately returns intent on exacting justice.
When he goes to visit his father’s grave, he is reunited with his beloved sister, Ingrid. Ingrid informs Gregory of all she knows of the event, including their mother’s remarriage to Edward Webb and her plan to marry Ingrid off to an aging Webb family friend. Neither is convinced by the official story of their father’s death, suspecting Webb. They begin to investigate the circumstances surrounding it all, while Edward and Cynthia are off on their honeymoon. They discover that their grandfather blackmailed and likely killed Webb’s father, providing Edward with ample motive. Yet, more and more, it becomes clear that he couldn’t have done the deed, himself. The investigation is threatened when Edward and Cynthia return and Edward begins making threats on Ingrid. Gregory’s return is kept secret, going so far as to produce a letter from him saying he is still in Vienna.
When Cynthia allows a police officer, one on Edward’s payroll, to beat Ingrid right in front of her, she is convinced that her mother was the one that murdered her father. Edward, too, has been harried by crooked cops and realizes that the legal system will do nothing against Webb. Ingrid, showing herself to be her mother’s daughter, convinces Gregory to kill their mother. Posing as Ingrid’s boyfriend, Gregory gets into the family mansion and kills Edward. In a moment of hesitation, he opens himself to be attacked by his mother, but ultimately kills her, too. As police swarm the mansion, Gregory escapes and goes on the lam.
The Killing Hour (The Eumenides)
Ann Drake and Claudia Savage are the most relentless detectives in the otherwise slovenly city police department. So, when the police commissioner’s cousin, Edward Webb and his wife, are murdered, “the furies” are put on the case. Their lead suspect is Webb’s step-son, Gregory Anderson, and he’s in the wind. Shaking down the city’s criminal element is one thing, a thing Drake and Savage do well, but Anderson was a soldier and he’s got army buddies ready and willing to cover his tracks, then stonewall the cops.
Gregory, meanwhile, is looking for a way to prove Webb and his mother conspired to kill his father. He has a folder of incriminating evidence, but he can’t trust anyone in the city government with it. His only hope comes from a cousin, who says that a federal agent, Neal Thomas, was looking into Otto Anderson’s murder even after the case was officially closed. After a near miss with the furies, Gregory manages to contact Thomas. Thomas says the evidence is compelling, but he can’t offer him protection while the case is still closed. Thomas will take the evidence to a federal judge and do his best to hold up Drake and Savage, but Gregory will have to stay on the run.
Soon after, Ingrid gets in contact with Gregory. Fearing the police would destroy evidence, she has hidden the knife their mother attacked him with. With their mother’s fingerprints and Gregory’s blood, it’s a key piece of exonerating evidence. However, the meeting exposes Gregory, and Drake & Savage are back on his trail. A chase ensues and just as the furies are about to corner Gregory, Agent Thomas arrives. Thomas pulls jurisdiction and takes Gregory into federal custody, where he’ll be safe from the city police commissioner.
In court, Ingrid presents the knife and the evidence splits the jury. The case is declared a mistrial and much of the prosecuting evidence is thrown out, under suspicion of tampering. Gregory shakes hands with Drake & Savage, telling them he’ll return to Vienna while Ingrid takes over the company.
The Edgebrook Diaries 