Ratos Humanos

Ginger Rogers is good as the tough-talking woman sprung from prison to testify in a trial. What a strange career she had! Best known for her movies with Fred Astaire, she was also a delightful comedienne. She did some serious work in her prime, winning an Oscar for an only-OK soap opera. But she's good in "Primrose Path." She turned tough in many of her fifties outings, and she looked tough too. Here she has sort of a pixie haircut that doesn't quite work with the character and isn't flattering to her. But she's excellent.

Edward G. Robinson, billed second to her, is superb. He always was. That man was incapable of giving a bad performance, no matter how oddly cast he might have been at times. Brian Keith, whom many know for sunny outings in later television, is exceptional as a very tough cop. He really is the focus of this movie, though the Rogers character is the lead.

Who in the world was Lucy Marlow, who got fourth billing? It says prison girl. Hmm. The woman playing the matron, Katherine Anderson, is important to the plot. She is very touching as well.

Lorne Green is another actor who played some mean hombres before he became the benevolent dad on TV's "Bonanza." His character is less nuanced than the one he plays in "Autumn Leaves." But he does well by it.

Phil Karlson was an excellent director, who had some of the nastiest, darkest, roughest noirs of the fifties under his belt. This is among the best of them.

I love it when Mississippi Mac bangs out a tune on his head using a rubber mallet, a clever touch getting comedy relief from a TV parody of a country and western telethon. Otherwise, it's a pretty somber movie and extended showcase for Rogers then coming off a reverse blacklist of Hollywood right-wingers.

As it is, Rogers gets ninety minutes of snappy dialog with more brass than spent cartridges on a rifle range. But, frankly, all the tough talk and attitude does get tiresome despite her spirited effort. The fact that she's 40-something and starting to bulge strikes me as just right for the aging party-girl part. Remember, Sherry (Rogers) is supposed to have been around the block more than a few times and is now looking back over what she suspects is a misspent life. That's what makes her otherwise hardened character rather poignant and vulnerable.

What a shrewd piece of casting to pair the high-key Rogers with the low-key Bryan Keith. At this career stage, Keith was one of the more subtle actors around, able to convey a lot by doing very little. Director Karlson apparently liked him too, casting him also in his 5 Against the House (1955). And for Robinson and Rogers, it must have seemed like old home week at Warner Bros.

But truth be told, cult director Karlson is wasted in a crime drama that any one of a dozen lesser directors could have handled. At the same time, I didn't see the major plot twist coming which strikes me as the most memorable part of a too-stagey film; although, like other reviewers, that family spat with sister Clara (McVeagh) is a real barn burner and high point. Anyway, the film's an okay crime story that really serves as a vehicle for a Ginger Rogers career revival.

Ginger Rogers' performance (straight out of "Roxie Hart") makes this film. Others have found Ms. Rogers to be too old for the film. I think that the fact that she is a bit "past her prime" adds to her character, which has (let's face it) been "around the block" a few times. She and Brian Keith (doing his patented tough-as-nails copper) make a potent team. It is a pity that they did no more work together. The film itself is a strange mixture of Rogers' comic sass and Karlson's brand of hard-hitting melodrama. Ultimately, the film is sunk by an unbelievable plot contrivance that leaves the audience feeling betrayed. However, the performances (including, of course, Robinson's) make this a worthwhile experience.

Tight Spot is directed by Phil Karlson and adapted to screenplay by William Bowers from the play "Dead Pigeon" written by Leonard Kantor. It stars Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson, Brian Keith, Lorne Green and Eve McVeagh. Music is by George Duning and cinematography by Burnett Guffey.

Sherry Conley (Rogers) is offered a way out of her prison term if she agrees to testify as a witness in the trial of mobster Benjamin Costain (Green). Holed up in a hotel room under police protection, Sherry starts to form a close relationship with Lt. Vince Striker (Keith). Just as Costain's hit-men start to close in...

Is it noir or not? That's a question that has cropped up quite a bit since Columbia released it as part of their Film Noir Classics III Collection. The presence of Karlson (Kansas City Confidential), Guffey (In A Lonely Place), Bowers (The Mob) and Robinson (Scarlet Street) certainly gives it strong noir credentials on the makers front. What transpires is more crime melodrama than noir, but Tight Spot does feature noir traits. From Guffey's shadows and half lights photography, to the characterisations portrayed by Rogers and Keith, there's enough here to keep the noir faithful replenished.

Rogers' performance (casting) has also been much cause for debate, which is understandable as it is a role that could quite easily have been given to better femme fatale actresses of the time. Yet although she takes some getting used to, and that hair cut is just bizarre, Rogers does a nice line in sharp tongued sass, even putting some sexy sizzle in to the bargain during a slow dance sequence with Keith. She does fine work, a bit over theatrical maybe? But she nestles in nicely alongside the strong turns from Keith, Green and Robinson to lift an average story to better heights.

Much of the film is set within the confines of one hotel room, which is both a blessing and a curse. At times it works in the film's favour because Karlson is able to wring out some claustrophobia, a real sense of impending threat is evident at times. However, at other times the picture feels just too stage bound, stripping away some of the realistic atmosphere the makers strive for. There's also a problem of tonal shifts as comedy sticks its oar in at regular intervals, including a frequent visit to a hillbilly television show that serves no purpose other than to annoy Keith's increasingly agitated detective.

A mixed bag without doubt, and at the half way point some may be wondering what they have let themselves in for? But the cast and makers come through in credit once the second half arrives. Because then we get action, twists and a grand finale. 7/10

As a big fan of Ginger Rogers', I think this film, although late in her career, is rather good. Of course with Edgar G. Robinson as the district attorney, there's no way this could be bad. The opening prison laundry scenes are more than a little hard to believe (after all, when was the last time you were in prison with perfectly manicured nails). Over all, drama and comedy nicely balanced.