Un taxi dans la nuit

Brian Donlevy goes undercover as a cab driver to catch counterfeiters in "Midnight Taxi" from 1937.

Something was definitely going on with taxis in the '30s - there are so many films about them. Most concern the fight between independent cab drivers and cab companies, and cabbies involved in nefarious activities.

In "Midnight Taxi," Donlevy plays Chick Gardner, a Fed out to catch a gang of counterfeiters using taxis to make and pick up deliveries. He wins the confidence of the head man Strickland (Alan Dinehart), but his associate, played by Gilbert Roland, continues to be suspicious of him. Frances Drake plays Gilda Lee, who works in Strickland's antique business, which is a front for the counterfeiting.

This is a good movie that starts out with a powerful sequence: a taxi forces a car off the road; the car explodes, and the driver is killed. The taxi driver (Harold Huber) pushes his own cab down the same hill, then rolls down the hill himself. The driver was about to turn on Strickland, so he's killed, making it look like an accident.

The exotic-looking Frances Drake is effective as a loyal employee; Gilbert Roland is terrific and so handsome as "Flash," who hates Chick. Sig Rumann, Lon Chaney Jr.,and Regis Toomey (the latter two in small roles) round out the cast.

Donlevy is natural, charming, and believable in this role - and if I'm not mistaken, he played a cab driver in another movie. Gosh, who knew being a cab driver was so tough in the '30s. It's probably not any easier given the competition they have today, but hopefully less violent.

1937's "Midnight Taxi" supplied Brian Donlevy with another starring role similar to "Half Angel," a federal agent, 'Chick' Gardner, posing as a cab driver to ferret out a dangerous counterfeit ring. The opening sequence is striking: a taxi forces another car off the road, its driver perishing in the flames, then the cabbie (Harold Huber) sends his own taxi down the same embankment, hurling himself after it to make it look like a tragic accident. We quickly learn that the dead driver was about to offer the feds some critical information, but was found out. Alan Dinehart makes a smooth villain, as does Gilbert Roland, but it's delightful to find gorgeous Frances Drake among them, her presence a welcome distraction for Roland (whose advances are firmly rejected) and Gardner (whose tough resolve makes an impression on her). Memorable turns come from Sig Ruman, Harry Semels, James Flavin, Otto Hoffman, and Zeffie Tilbury. As two federal detectives, Lon Chaney and Regis Toomey are a study in contrasts; Chaney is listed eighth out of ten, while Toomey is billed dead last, yet Lon's superfluous role as Erickson hardly registers (only two or three lines), while Toomey excels as Hilton, enjoying a standout scene in Donlevy's cab, disguised as an old woman before reporting the results back to headquarters. At this stage of Chaney's career, he had hopes that 20th Century-Fox would be using him extensively, but his two years there only resulted in an unbroken string of unbilled bits, few featured roles (his Fox farewell found him ignominiously listed 31st out of 31 in 1939's "Jesse James"). Despite such sterling results, Donlevy soon found himself moving down from leading men to supporting villains, particularly in the aforementioned "Jesse James" (he's the one who kills Jesse's mother).

... featuring Brian Donlevy as an undercover federal agent who poses as a cab driver in order to infiltrate a gang of counterfeiters.

The film gets off to a fairly jolting start in its opening scene in which a cab drives another car off a road, crashing down into a ravine. The driver of the taxi then shoves own vehicle tumbling down the same steep incline before he rolls himself down the hill as well. Soon afterward we see the cabbie (Harold Huber) appear banged up, talking of his "accident," the other driver (a newspaperman investigating the counterfeit ring, as it turns out) killed. With no witnesses to the murder, he gets off scott free.

Alan Dinehart is silky smooth as an antiques exporter who uses the business as a front for the counterfeit ring. His assistants are beautiful Frances Drake and a grim, humorless Gilbert Roland. Roland is effective as a cold blooded character who trusts nobody, a role considerably contrasting to the affable, good natured character parts he would later have in countless features during the '50s. Sig Rumann, often seen in comical parts, is anything but in this film as the head of the counterfeit ring, ready to double cross his own cohorts, if need be.

Donlevy, a specialist in tough guy roles, both leads and supporting, is convincing in yet another tough mug part, even if this one is a "good guy" risking his life as he mixes in with a ruthless mob. In smallish roles as federal agents are Lon Chaney Jr. In a wasted throwaway part and Regis Toomey (the latter, at least, having the opportunity to appear in disguise as an old woman).

Director Eugene Forde keeps this programmer moving at a fast pace, with the result a hard boiled crime drama, much of its action set at night, that remains an entertaining time waster.

Two interesting Fox 1937 "B" movies, both starring Brian Donlevy as a cab-driver, are available on a VintageFilmBuff DVD. The better of the two is Midnight Taxi, which has the advantage of a superior support cast in Alan Dinehart at his most menacingly stylish; Harold Huber sans ridiculous accent in one of his most convincing performances (yes, he does overact in one scene, but in that little bit he's supposed to be putting on an act); Gilbert Roland, who makes a surprisingly effective heavy; Sig Rumann, chillingly underplaying his unforgettable entrance; and Frances Drake as our charmingly crooked heroine. I was surprised to note the names Lon Chaney Jr, and Regis Toomey in the end credits. I hadn't noticed them at all, so I ran the movie again. They both play treasury men and in their scenes they are completely shaded by James Flavin and Norman Willis who enjoy just about all the dialogue, plus all the close-ups and all the action. Production values are remarkably high for a "B", and director Eugene Forde has taken advantage of this largess to snap up the pace and super-charge the action. Strikingly moody noirish photography from Barney McGill also helps. John Patrick and Lou Breslow take credit for the snappy script which also supplies some wonderfully vivid dialogue for masterful but little-known players like Harry Semels as the sleazy café proprietor who just manages to beat the rap.

There's something odd going on at the taxi company Brian Donleavy drives for. Fellow driver Harold Huber has him deliver a package, but when he's followed, he dumps it. Soon he picks up Alan Dinehart as a fare. Dinehart runs an antiques shop that fronts for a counterfeiting ring. Good thing Donleavy is an undercover Secret Service agent trying to crack the ring.

It's well written, well acted, and with Eugene Forde directing, there's nothing to complain about in that department, nor in Barney McGill's fog-bound camerawork. Still, there's something peculiarly weightless about this 20th Century-Fox B movie that keeps it curiusly uninvlving. This, despite a cast that includes Frances Drake as Dinehart's secretary who is ambivalent about what's going on, Sig Ruman, Gilbert Roland in a sizable role that he doesn't seem to put much effort into, and parts for Lon Chaney Jr., and Regis Toomey. Perhaps Roland knew something, because there's a certain amount of laziness in the details. Art director Hans Peters has decorated the set in a sequence that is supposed to be set on a ship anchored in the harbor; but the set is decorated with vases, glassware, and assorted props that would tumble to the deck were the ship to rock.