Mala moneda

Some nice shadowy photography by John Alton and a well-paced storyline directed with style by Anthony Mann, makes for a diverting crime melodrama in crisp documentary style that was popular in the early to mid-'40s. Think BOOMERANG, THE HOUSE ON 92nd STREET, 13 ROUE MADELEINE and other Fox melodramas of that era.

But this was done on a poverty row budget by Eagle-Lion with the usually light-weight actor DENNIS O'KEEFE in the sort of role usually handed to someone like Dana Andrews, Mark Stevens, John Hodiak or William Eythe if the film was made at Fox.

He's surprisingly good as a noir hero whose task is to infiltrate a counterfeit gang with another Federal man, posing as would-be counterfeiters, and thus providing a succession of suspenseful moments where our hero is in danger of being exposed as a T-man for the government. Even more effective, in lesser roles, are CHARLES McGRAW and WALLACE FORD. In fact, McGraw would have been an even better choice for the lead than O'Keefe, his tight-lipped bearing and impressive physique suiting him for the role of a dangerous noir hero.

June Lockhart has only a fleeting appearance in one brief scene but others in the cast are properly sinister or authoritative, according to the way the script depicts the supporting characters.

Summing up: Worth a look, but not at the top of the film noir greats due to a script that is only slightly above average.

Director Anthony Mann's hard-boiled, film noir approach coupled with the stylistic cinematography of John Alton make this semi-documentary tale of government treasury agents infiltrating a large counterfeit ring an exciting crime drama. Dennis O'Keefe is great as a hard-nosed agent who slowly earns the trust of the bad guys while his partner, Alfred Ryder, is his equal as the sacrificing newlywed whose duty to his country comes before his duty as a husband. The film offers a fascinating look into the world of undercover work and intrigue and even has an opening segment from the Treasury Office itself.

When the American Treasure Department finds that a gang in Los Angeles is making false currency, agents Dennis O'Brien (Dennis O'Keefe) and Tony Genaro (Alfred Ryder) are assigned to investigate the counterfeit gang using the identities of Vannie Harrigan and Tony Galvani in Detroit. Along their investigation they join the gang of mobsters trying to discover who the boss behind the scheme is.

"T-Men" is a great thriller labelled of film-noir. The documentary style is interesting and there are surprising twists along the story. The performances are great and the direction of Anthony Mann is top notch. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Moeda Falsa" ("False Coin")

This film is rather reminiscent of the excellent Alan Ladd Noir film, APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER (about a postal inspector infiltrating a murderous gang). In this case, the undercover work is done by two Treasury agents--Dennis O'Keefe and Alfred Ryder. I really liked these two as leads because despite being far from household names, the acting was excellent and believable. Also, true to Noir, they weren't exactly handsome guys--more like a tough average man instead of the usual non-Noir heroes.

O'Keefe and Ryder play undercover agents who are trying to infiltrate a gang of counterfeiters. It's dangerous work and they can't just arrest people because they have no idea who is in charge. Throughout the film, tough bad guys (such as Charles McGraw) and unflinching but realistic violence is present--as well as an excellent level of suspense. Unlike some Noir films, this one pulls no punches nor does it give way to sentimentality. This is a seldom-seen but exceptional film for lovers of the genre.

By the way, I had one minor complain and that was the terrible narration. My score for the film, because of this, is knocked from an 8 to 7. When the film began, a Treasury official gave an introduction that was VERY stilted and he simply couldn't read his lines well. Then, throughout the film, a different narrator spoke on occasion and just wasn't necessary to the film--it was a minor distraction.

The oldest federal law enforcement outfit going are the Treasury Men, those intrepid folks who see that no one avoids paying the federal duties on various items or counterfeits our money. That was the subject that Director Anthony Mann decided to tackle in the documentary style made famous over at 20th Century Fox in such films as Boomerang, The Street With No Name, and The House on 92nd Street.

Over at Fox it was done for effect. But as good as T-Men is and it is a crackling good film, let's not forget the reason for John Alton's camera work with lights and shadows is because he and Mann were working on a B picture. These guys got creative because they had to. Later on Anthony Mann in the Fifties got some real good size budgets to work with in those technicolor westerns he did with James Stewart. You'd hardly know it was the same director.

T-Men involves treasury agents Dennis O'Keefe and Alfred Ryder going undercover to get a very slick group of counterfeiters. The murder of an informer brings the Treasury Department to the decision to use undercover men. They meet all kinds of criminal types of both sexes and in good noir style the tension mounts before they too become informed on.

Our good guys blend well into the criminal world in their performances. But the outstanding acting in T-Men is done by hit man Charles McGraw and Wallace Ford who is aptly nicknamed Schemer in this film.

This is definitely a film for fans of the noir genre.