Maré Cheia

High Tide is from 1947 and stars Lee Tracy and Don Castle, directed by John Reinhardt.

The film opens with two accident victims, still at the scene by the ocean. In the car, badly injured, is Hugh Fresney (Tracy) managing editor of the Los Angeles Courier. Outside the car, with his leg pinned underneath the vehicle is Tim Slade (Castle), ex-reporter turned PI.

High tide will drown them. As they wait, we see in flashback the events that led up to the accident. Slade is in LA from San Francisco at the request of Varney. Varney believes he is going to be murdered by a gangster, Nick Dyke, whom the paper has been crusading against.

If that happens, he wants Slade to avenge him and bring him to justice. While Slade is in town, the paper's publisher, Vaughn, has been murdered. Since Vaughn's wife is in love with Slade, it doesn't look good for him with the police.

Detective O'Haffey (Regis Toomey) in investigating Vaughn's death, suspects Slade, Vaughn's wife, and the gangster Dyke, but Slade has other ideas.

This was slow and talky, also a tad confusing. An average noir with a twist ending that comes out of nowhere. Some reviewers liked it more than I did.

There honestly is not a whole lot more I can add that the other positive reviewers didn't already say. I do disagree with the ones who said that the movie 'didn't hold together' or that there were plot holes. Not at all... Being an avid fan of Noir films I would say that this one for one of the lesser movies actually comes across as done much better than many of the 'Poverty Row' lower budget Noir films of the time.

The one thing that struck me as very good was the way the director seemed to elicit excellent performances from all involved. I really liked the subtle nuances in personality and style that, to me anyway, seemed a lot better than the way that many of the more 'Cardboard Cutout' Noir characters were cranked out at the time. I really liked the way the main reporter, and the cop, and even the secretary were portrayed. They didn't just seem like stereotypes, but actually 'Came Alive' in their roles which added a real richness to the story.

Take the bad guy, Dike... You only see him really in one brief scene, but I love the way he came across. Not as the usual tough talking 'Heavy', but actually very smoothly with a smile and genuine humour that I thought gave his character, although very brief, a nice genuine and classy touch that you normally didn't see in the run of the mill Noir villains. Also, and this one is SUPER subtle... The driver of the taxi when Slade is being followed, had this almost otherworldly, odd calmness and matter of fact manner when told there was a 'Fiver in it' if he could ditch the other taxi. Extremely brief and subtle, but in my lowly and wretched opinion it's these little and not so little character touches that to me really add up to a very engaging and compelling film.

This is just another good example of how VERY important the director of a movie is in being able to draw out subtle nuances and performances from the actors that can really add a lot of flavour to a film.

Flicker Alley and The Film Noir Foundation's latest release focuses on two forgotten films from Monogram Pictures that were shot back to back in 1947. They feature the same director (John Bernhard), the same producer (Jack Wrather), the same cameraman (Henry Sharp) and the same leading man (Don Castle). Both clock in at 71 minutes and are Film Noir stripped down to its bare essentials. The two films were intended to be companion pieces and make an excellent double feature which is the best way to see them. The movies are THE GUILTY and HIGH TIDE and they should be viewed in that order. Also contributing to their ressurection are the UCLA Film & Television Archive and the British Film Institute.

THE GUILTY is truly an example of minimalist filmmaking. It was shot on just three sets with a minimum of exteriors. There are 3 principal characters along with just a couple of supporting roles. The movie was shot in less than 2 weeks on a budget of $150,000 and looks it but that is a plus not a minus. The source material is a short story by Noir specialist Cornell Woolrich. It concerns two army buddies who share a dingy apartment. They both love the same woman who has a twin sister. When the twin is murdered, one of the roommates (who also is the film's narrator) tries to figure it out. He does but with a neat little twist at the end. Former juvenile actress Bonita Granville plays the twins.

HIGH TIDE had a higher budget which allowed for more sets and more exteriors although many are rear projections. The movie is a showcase for Lee Tracy who portrays his archetypal newspaper character from the 1930s except he's now older and more hard edged. An unscrupulous editor takes out a life insurance policy and names a former reporter turned private investigator (Castle) as the beneficiary. After attempts on the editor's life are made, the P. I. tries to track down those responsible. Complicating matters are an old flame and a criminal kingpin. The film opens and closes with Tracy and Castle trapped in a wrecked car on the beach while the high tide is rolling in. Most of the movie is a flashback explaining how they got there.

Future Disneyland hotel owner and 1950s TV magnate Jack Wrather (he produced the hit shows THE LONE RANGER, SGT PRESTON OF THE YUKON, and LASSIE) financed both of these movies. THE GUILTY was meant to showcase his future wife Bonita Granville and his fellow Texan, Don Castle. Castle is very good as the lead in both films but is overshadowed by Tracy in HIGH TIDE as Tracy has the juicier part and better dialogue. Both pictures were adapted by Robert Presnell Sr. Who does a good job in tweaking the plots and keeping most of the original dialogue intact. HIGH TIDE is based on a story by Raoul Whitfield who wrote alongside Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler at BLACK MASK magazine.

Sincere thanks are due to the British Film Institute as they provided the prints used for these restorations. In fact both movies open with the British Board Of Censors' approval certificates. After finding them in their archives, the BFI turned the films over to the Film Noir Foundation who gave them to the UCLA Film & Television archive for restoration. After the restoration was complete, the FNF in conjunction with Flicker Alley prepared this Blu-Ray for commercial release. As we have come to expect from this partnership, we not only get the two movies but lots of supplements as well from documentaries on the creators to a 22 page booklet featuring book to movie comparisons. An outstanding release for Noir fans...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Private eye Tim Slade (Don Castle) and newspaperman Hugh Fresney (Lee Tracy) are trapped by their car crash. They wait for their deaths with the incoming high tide. The movie flashes back. Fresney had been writing columns against gangster Nick Dyke. Dyke goes over Fresney's head to make a deal with his boss Clint Vaughn. Fresney hires Slade, "good reporter gone wrong", to join his crusade.

Normally, I love me some film noir. I like the opening premise. Maybe Slade could be trapped in a more precarious position. The waves should be slapping his face to elevate the intensity. In general, I'm not feeling these characters. They are very noir stereotypes. It's falling a little flat but I still like the overall tone. It's a borderline case.

"High Tide" is a totally obscure but wonderful B-movie film noir from the Monogram mill. It opens with a car careening off a desolate seaside cliff -- its two occupants (Lee Tracy and Don Castle) injured and trapped in the wreckage. As the turbulent tide quickly threatens to engulf them, the events leading up to their predicament are recounted -- a twisty tale of a cynical, crusading newspaper editor (Tracy, naturally) taking on the mob while the high-living owner frets. The latter has even more problems when Tracy hires his jaded wife's ex-lover (Castle) as a private investigator.

Solidly directed by John Reinhardt (who also triumphed with another seedy, minimally-budgeted Monogram noir called "The Guilty"), the dialog is snappy but eloquent, there are plenty of venetian-blind shadows, silhouetted figures and moody low-key lighting, and the plot is nicely unraveled. Only the annoying library-style music lets the side down (lending it that inevitable "B" quality, of course). Tracy was playing out the string on poverty row at the time, but his wry staccato readings and weary-but-steadfast demeanor are a perfect fit here.