Il pozzo maledetto

"This Side of the Law" is a noirish film with mostly unknown or second-tier actors...but it is quite enjoyable and worth your time. It's just that the plot is REALLY tough to believe...and you must suspend disbelief to get through it.

Kent Smith plays a drifter who is up on vagrancy charges. However, a lawyer plays his fine and offers him a proposition...pretend to be someone else for a few days and earn $5000! The difficult to believe things are that the drifter could look like the long-lost Malcolm AND that he'd ever agree to such a preposterous plan. Plus, it seems pretty clear who the villain is in all this. But, it IS interesting and is well acted. Smith, in particular, was a very good actor and despite being a minor leading man, he's very good here.

Overall, it's a neat film with noir elements (such as the narration, some of the camera work and the bleak nature of the story) and one that is very good but mostly unknown. Well worth seeing...and I found a copy of this on HBO Max.

By the way, Warner Brothers evidently had little confidence in the film, as after they completed it, it sat on a shelf for about 18 months...a sure sign they thought they'd wasted their money on this one.

Kent Smith, Viveca Lindfors, Janis Paige, Robert Douglas, and John Alvin star in "This Side of the Law," a 1950 film directed by Richard L. Bare. Smith plays David Cummins, a vagrant who is baled out by an attorney named Phillip Cagle (Douglas) who wants him to impersonate a missing millionaire in order to divide a $3,000,000 estate. Cummings agrees to do it for $5,000, but he walks into a hornet's nest: a wife (Viveca Lindfors) who doesn't seem to like him much, a brother (Alvin) who detests him, and a sister-in-law (Paige) who likes him a little too much. It's all pretty confusing, as Cummins tries to do the right thing by the millionaire's obviously hurt wife. Then murder complicates the situation further.

The story is told in flashback, as we see in the beginning that Cummins is in grave danger -- as he tries to save himself, he goes over the events that brought him to his present problems.

Fairly interesting story. I'm sure for Lindfors, a wonderful actress brought over from Sweden, this was hardly the stuff of star-making, but she does a good job. Paige is gorgeous.

All in all, fast-moving and satisfying.

This Side Of the Law is a rather fun thriller from the early fifties and concerns a man hired to impersonate someone else, a greedy family and other unwholesome things. The cast is decidedly of the second-string variety; however that doesn't make it bad. Kent Smith and Viveca Lindfors were both talented performers and play their starring roles well. It's particularly nice to see Smith in a leading role for a change, as he was a decent actor who never quite made the cut in Hollywood. Character actor John Alvin does nicely in a showy supporting part. I wouldn't quite call the movie film noir, though it's close. It plays somewhat like an episode of the Perry Mason TV series, as it's full of similar plot twists and surprises. If one likes dark mysteries this is a good one to look for.

At the beginning, a narrator speaks as we are shown a residence and the dog named "Angel" that guards it. The viewer is shown the top of a cistern, with "David" the narrator (played by Kent Smith) at the bottom of the cistern. Here's the flashback to tell his story...

When David is picked up for vagrancy, someone pays his fine, and has a proposition for him: He is to pretend to be a millionaire, who had disappeared several years prior. Even the millionaire's wife can't tell he is an impostor, but things start to go wrong. The man he is impersonating wasn't very well liked, and David must find out why. Viveca Lindfors gets top billing as "the wife", but it's Janis Paige as the sister- in-law who (rightfully) steals the show. Watch for Monte Blue as the Sheriff. The acting isn't anything special, but the story is mildly compelling, and since we know right from the start that David ends up in the well, we get hooked on finding out how he ends up there.

Written by Richard Sale, who had several novels and screenplays made into films. This one IS available on DVD, although you can catch it on Turner Classic Channel about once a year. Directed by Richard Bare, who wrote a book on the proper technique on film directing.

I really liked this one. I wasn't steeped in dark, shadowy style like many of the Noir films of the time were. And, there aren't any real stylistic flourishes really.

However, being a lover of all Film Noir I must say that the story is a solid little Thriller, well written and acted by all concerned.

I'm not familiar with the director and I don't know if he did many films, but I felt he did an excellent job setting up the situation and then slowly and steadily building the suspense and tension as you begin to realize what is happening.

I'm also not familiar at all with the star, but he really did a great job and portrayed his character in a very believable and sympathetic way. The dialog was not forced or overly 'Noirish' at all, but very natural and fit well with the ongoing story.

So, although I usually prefer the more Dark, Moody, stylish Noirs of the period, I must say that this simple little story was very effective and quite entertaining.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Particular Way of Rating:

5 - Flawed, but perhaps with some entertainment value.

6. A decently passable story maybe worth a watch.

7. A solid film, well made, effective, and entertaining.

And, obviously, you can probably figure out what above and below these would mean... : )