Incident

This is one of the better B-level crime movies from the late 40s. It won't stack up to Crime Wave, The Narrow Margin or Armored Car Robbery, but it has enough intrigue and atmosphere to keep things interesting. At the start we hear a voice-over talking about "incidents" in our lives and how a seemingly minor one can make a huge difference. When Joe (very good Warren Douglas) turns down a ride, misses his bus and decides to walk he falls victim to a criminal plan that turns his life upside down. That's mostly because Joe insists on investigating the situation himself, getting into more hot water along the way. But he also, by chance, meets a woman who might take things in a better direction. This would qualify as Film Noir: dark city streets, a sense of fate stalking Joe, tough-talking gangsters and a tough-talking gangster's girlfriend (there's even a cat-fight). The only small drawback is Joyce Compton as the wife of Joe's friend: a real motor-mouth and very annoying. The movie is fun to watch, with some pretty good action and decent dialog.

Warren Douglass (Joe) leaves for home after spending the night with friends Harry Lauter (Bill) and Joyce Compton (Joan). He refuses a lift home and decides to make his own way. Uh-oh, he's made the wrong decision and from this we get the incident. Basically, he gets beaten up in a case of mistaken identity. He wants to know more about why this happened and has a name - Slats - to go by. So, he revisits the scene and starts to make his own enquiries. Cue a meeting with Jane Frazee (Marion).

The story is quite packed. By that I mean pay attention or you might lose your way. Still, it's an entertaining short story with Frazee on good form in the lead female role. Compton is really irritating in this film. I fell asleep briefly on a few occasions as I'd eaten a huge pasta meal but the film is still an ok overall experience. Nothing too special. I'll pay attention all the way through next time I see it.

... and not really a film noir to me. There are lacking the main elements of my favorite genre : a dark destiny in a dark city shot with dark photo with dark bad violent guys. Nothing of this in Incident, invisible for decades. You even have some comic scenes.

Remember it is a Monogram picture directed by the fast William Beaudine. The photo and the city is at the opposite of film noir, the cast is nothing explosive and the bad guys are really ordinary : no thrill at any moment. I really wouldn't call Incident a film noir, it was shot in 1948 and a lot of true masterpieces of film noir were behind.

Warren Douglas, who plays the lead, has a much more interesting career as a screen writer : "Loophole" (with Charles Mc Graw), "Finger Man" (with incredible Timothy Carey), the violent noir melodrama "The Cruel Tower" (again with Charles Mc Graw completely insane, sexy Mari Blanchard and handsome John Ericson) and more. Especially for the underrated Mark Stevens as a director : "Cry Vengeance" and "Jack Slade". Without forgetting "The Return of Jack Slade" directed by Harold Schuster with again Mari Blanchard and John Ericson.