I Walk Alone

I just saw this film two nights ago at the San Francisco Film Noir Festival. This was a beautiful movie filled with subtle shades of noir. The underrated Lizbeth Scott has the best performance in this rarely seen drama. There's great snappy dialog. Kirk Douglas is the perfect villain of this clever movie. It is so easy to see his son Michael's face on him. Burt was fun to watch as usual in giving his best to this intriguing screenplay. What was interesting to see unfold (in this almost 60 year old film) was how challenging the crime corporations are in pinpointing the vastness of what exactly they own. How they get around the skimming of the profits. As well as stating that they only "get" a minimal amount of the percentages ~ by the books. There was a lot of thought that went into this film and the three stars gave it their best. Pure quality.

After waiting for years to see this fine film-noir, I finally did today. Two young hoodlums (Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas) are running illegal booze into another county during prohibition and get chased by the cops. The two separate after one of the cops is killed, and Douglas escapes, but Lancaster is caught and goes to jail. 14 years later, Lancaster is out and finds that Douglas has gone legit and is the owner of a major nightclub and doing quite well. Lancaster feels Douglas owes him something, and wants to become a full partner. Douglas then makes plans to eliminate him. Part of Douglas's plans include using his own mistress (Lizabeth Scott) to lead Lancaster on. A good thriller all around,predictable at times but very stylish, gritty and involving all the time. A "can't miss" for noir-fans.

Two thugs make good and then fight over a nightclub and Lizabeth Scott. I watched this for Lizabeth. She is even more stunning than usual but given little to do but grace glamorous evening gowns and lip synch. Its worth a watch but don't go in with high expectations because if the leads.

I Walk Alone is directed by Byron Haskin and adapted to screenplay by Charles Schnee, Robert Smith and John Bright from the play written by Theodore Reeves. It stars Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Lizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey. Music is by Victor Young and cinematography by Leo Tover.

Frankie Madison (Lancaster) returns to New York after 14 years in prison. Noll Turner (Douglas), Frankie's former partner in bootlegging, is now a wealthy nightclub manager, and Frankie is expecting him to honor a verbal '50:50' agreement they made when he was caught and Noll got away...

This is perfect noir foil for the three main stars, Lancaster is all macho mismanagement and edgy, Douglas is suave, cunning and intense, while Scott smoulders and portrays her conflicted character with believable confusion and an earnest yearning for worth.

The story intrigues mainly through Frankie being a man out of his time, after serving 14 years in prison, he comes out to find the underworld he once knew has changed considerably. Yet he wants what is his and will put himself through the mangler in the old day way to get what he thinks he rightly deserves. Kay Lawrence (Scott) isn't a femme fatale, she just borders the type by default until the truth will out and the story arc folds inwards (love the way Tover lights her scenes).

Douglas revels in being a villain, and the Noll Turner character gives him the chance to smarm, charm and trample on anyone who could affect his monetary gains. And so it is left to Corey as Dave to round out the key affecting perfs. He's the man closest to Frankie, but as a milquetoast type of lawyer, he has, while Frankie was in prison, helped legally cover the financial angles for Noll Turner. All characters are entering noirville and it makes for a satisfying experience for fans of such. 7/10

No need to recap the plot. There's one key scene unlike anything in the rest of 40's noir. Frankie (Lancaster) invades Dink's (Douglas) office to muscle in on what he's owed of Dink's big operation. But Frankie's a gangster of the uncomplicated 1930's, while Dink's a white-collar criminal of the coming 1950's. So. By the time Dink's accountant Dave (Corey) is through answering each of Frankie's threats with another layer of corporate ownership that can't possibly be divided, Frankie's reduced to a bundle of quivering frustration. In short, Dave has beaten all Frankie's assembled thugs with what amounts to a maze of legalese. As a result, piles of paper prove ultimately more powerful than gangs of gunmen in what amounts to a great unexpected scene.

All in all. The movie's decent 40's noir, long on atmosphere but too long on talk, at least to my liking. I suspect the screenplay was tailored to showcase producer Wallis's top 3 new stars, especially Scott who gets a lot of romantic dialog along with sultry screen time. The overall result is a movie composed of too many under-blended showcase scenes- - some quite good-- that nevertheless don't really gel into a compelling whole. It's the kind of movie where the stars are more memorable than the story.

Scott and Douglas, for example, really shine. Scott does some of the best acting of her career as the conflicted glamour girl. But I especially like Douglas's slimy version of a smooth-talking mastermind who's so self-assured, you can't wait to see him get what he's got coming. Douglas's early career specialized in such compromised types, a revelation to those only familiar with his later, more heroic, career. For his part, Lancaster does well enough with his distinctive looks, but Frankie is a less showy role than the other two.

Anyway, one thing for sure—producer Wallis certainly had an eagle eye for new talent, as this movie more than demonstrates.