Coffee and Noir: MOONTIDE

every instance of coffee in noir: 044

You can learn a lot about a character by how they take 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.

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Didn’t care too much for this as a movie, but Ida Lupino and Jean Gabin are inherently hot and watchable!

Their coffee scene is also about breakfast and gender roles:

Anna has changed into men’s clothes — “you didn’t expect me to sell bait in that, did you?” and made breakfast.

As their relationship progresses, it’s clear she expects to share the work overall, but for now she serves up the eggs and pours the coffee . . .

then takes her cup to the corner, the better to observe Bobo without herself being so easy to observe.

Let’s be real: Ida Lupino puts on my clothes, ties the pants up around her waist with some rope, makes me coffee and eggs, and looks at me over her cup like that . . . I, too, will marry her within the week.