Coffee and Noir: DESERT FURY
every instance of coffee in noir: 032
You learn a lot about a noir character by their coffee: sugar? cream? more whiskey than caffeine?
I’m cataloging every noir scene where coffee plays a role — rote and ritual, soul-dark or cream and sugar, served from dingy diners to shiny penthouses.
I talked about how gay Desert Fury is on Letterboxd, and it makes its coffee inextricable from its love triangle.
The first scene is a lover’s squabble; after Eddie (John Hodiak, with the mustache) and Paula (Lizabeth Scott) commit to their love affair, Johnny (Wendell Corey) serves coffee for three.
This action is a clear demonstration of domesticity; Johnny and Eddie have lived together for years, and Johnny wants to prove his bona fides to Paula.
Making and pouring coffee like this feels intimate, and tellingly, specifically demonstrates how many breakfasts and mornings they’ve shared.
The framing of characters in this scene underscores how Paula and Johnny are fighting over Eddie, and for their romantic and sexual desires.
I love how furiously Lisbeth Scott smokes, preferring nicotine to the caffeine Johnny offers.
The second coffee scene comes after Eddie “walks out on” Johnny with Paula, and Johnny tracks the couple down.
They’re crowded into the front seat of a car, driving overnight, and need smokes to calm their nerves. Eddie stops to buy som, Paula follows, and Johnny can’t let the two be alone, so we get this confrontation.
Fellas, is it gay to dump your hot coffee over a uniformed cop eating a donut?
Again Johnny uses the situation to insists on his long-running status.
“Oh, Eddie’s always got an ace. A gun. Me.”
Coffee used well here as noir ever does: as a sign of domesticity; as a reminder of many nights shared between two men; as an excuse to sit and scheme a minute; as a weapon and outlet for a gangster’s aggression.
Delicious.