Aggiungi una trama nella tua linguaNew York Assistant District Attorney Howard Malloy investigates a series of murders and uncovers an extremist group.New York Assistant District Attorney Howard Malloy investigates a series of murders and uncovers an extremist group.New York Assistant District Attorney Howard Malloy investigates a series of murders and uncovers an extremist group.
- Regia
- Sceneggiatura
- Star
- Caroline Riggs
- (as Betty Harper)
Recensioni in evidenza
The movie itself is only mildly interesting. The elegant party scene with Tone's revealing voice-over is both novel and perhaps a highpoint. Director Markel shows some imagination with well- timed close-ups, while Tone delivers a nicely modulated performance, perhaps at times too modulated. Stealing the film, however, is unknown actress Winifred Lenihan as dowager schemer Mrs. Hartley, a premier mix of charm and menace. Overall, the movie remains something of an obscure curiosity, perhaps illustrative of the quandary liberals found themselves in during a vexed period in the nation's history.
It has some noir ingredients, especially with its visual style, so this movie should also be called a film-noir, even though I wouldn't regard this movie exactly as a full-blood film-noir. As this movie shows, having film-noir ingredients doesn't guarantee that the movie is always a good and intriguing one.
One thing the movie does handle well is its tension. It knows how to build up certain sequences, even though you don't always understand what is exactly happening. This is also due to the poor quality of the print. The movie is real dark and grainy in parts, so you really literally can't see what is happening at times. But because the movie features a couple of good and tense sequences doesn't mean that the movie as a whole is a very exciting one. On the other hand it however also not a complete bore, since the movie always maintains a good pace.
I am not surprised that this movie is not really a better known one. It's a forgettable film-noir attempt, with a weak story and perhaps even worse story-telling. No, not even the biggest film-noir fans shall enjoy this movie thoroughly.
5/10
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Franchot Tone plays the lead detective, and Jean Wallace plays a nightclub performer. Tone and Wallace were married at the time of this film, and would make other films together. This is still a few years away from the 1951 love triangle between Franchot Tone, Barbara Payton and Tom Neal, in which Tone was beaten to a pulp by Neal. In the aftermath of that event, Jean Wallace stabbed herself in an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Her and Tone had two children and the public humiliation of Tone and Paytons affair pushed her over the edge. Wallace herself was arrested numerous times in the 50s for drunken behavior.
This film appears to be a social commentary on communism. Though communists are never mentioned, the secret organization bears all the marks of a communist party. Several actors in the film, as well as some who simply had walk ons appear in the film, perhaps as a way of showing how they feel about communism. John Garfield, Marsha Hunt, Marc Lawrence all who were publicly involved in the witch hunts that occured in the late 40s and early 50s appear in this film. Other stars who have minor roles include Burgess Meredith, Marlene Dietrich and Henry Fonda. In the nightclub scene, look in the background for debutante Brenda Frazier, a kind of Paris Hilton of her day.
** 1/2 (out of four)
After his reporter friend is murdered, a D.A. goes off looking for the killers. Once again, the 1940's delivered all sorts of gems within the noir genre. This film here has quite a good reputation but I personally found it to be quite slow and boring in spots. The performances are all good but the director isn't able to get much out of the story and in the end nothing makes too much sense. Seeing stars like John Garfield and Henry Fonda is always great but their cameos add very little to the film.
Available on DVD through various PD companies.
Its chief interest is as a rare curiosity. Its paranoid politics and style mirror the anti-Communist films of the period, but it was made by a group of primarily liberal and leftist New Yorkers (exemplified by the famous actors who contributed cameo appearances), who turned the usual premise on its head. Franchot Tone plays a liberal crusading "special prosecutor" who investigates a shadowy secret organization that is menacing and killing its own members, whom they think may expose them. But this organization isn't Communist or leftist; rather it's a vaguely racist group that is really just a financial scam, run only to collect membership dues and gather other profits. As a result, even the political statement turns out to be rather weak compared with films of the period that explicitly opposed discrimination, such as "Pinky," "Gentlemen's Agreement," "Crossfire," "Lost Boundaries," "No Way Out," and so on.
Lo sapevi?
- QuizMarlene Dietrich has a cameo as a guest at the Blue Angel nightclub. One of Dietrich's most famous films is The Blue Angel.
- BlooperFranchot Tone, a New York City assistant district attorney, is angry when he hears that a criminal he arrested a few days earlier has been bailed. He says that he had ordered that the man be held without bail. This would not have been in his power. In New York, bail is decided by a judge - though they would be open to such a suggestion or outright recommendation from Tone's boss, the District Attorney, and "delays" in supplying a court with appropriate "paperwork" and complying with its directives are also common stratagems employed to elude the letter of the law.
- Citazioni
Charles Riggs: You know, I was born in this city, Howard. In our block, we had guys from practically every race and religion you ever hear of... and a couple you didn't. But we got along pretty well.
Howard Malloy: Well, that's the way it ought to be.
Charles Riggs: In our block, nobody cared what country your parents came from or where they went to church. Nobody called you a nasty name... until you were taught there were nasty names and some people were supposed to be called by them -Micks, Polacks, Wops, Limies, Spics, Hunties.
Howard Malloy: That's part of our history. America always has to melt away the differences between people.
Charles Riggs: Sure and most always you don't understand *why* they're supposed to be different. They're just somebody else's say so, somebody else's influence. Now we got people around who want to make people hate each other, be afraid of each other, just so they can make money out of it. I don't like that.
- ConnessioniReferences L'angelo azzurro (1930)
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Dettagli
Botteghino
- Budget
- 400.000 USD (previsto)
- Tempo di esecuzione1 ora 12 minuti
- Colore
- Proporzioni
- 1.37 : 1