Traficantes da Morte

In what I rate as the greatest year in the golden age of movies, 1949, the ever reliable William Castle cranks out what would seem to be a routine B programmer about federal agents getting in the thick of crime (drug smuggling) to weed out some highly execrable outlaws, only this time Castle has a super cast at his disposal which clearly lifts this noir above B status.

To Castle's credit, he extracts very good performances from Duff, Winters, McIntire, Kelley and, especially, Dan Duryea, a con doing time who has sworn revenge against US Treasury agent Duff, but turns out to be more decent than imagined after seeing his wife killed as a consequence of consuming narcotics.

Soaring above the film's lofty acting standards, Duryea posts possibly his career-best show in a rare and surprising role as a seemingly inveterate baddie with a decent streak which ultimately redeems and finds him love and happiness. The revenge he warns Duff about turns out to be the wonderful woman who recognizes his worth in the end.

Winters and McIntire also deliver superb performances, the latter as the cold and calculating master villain. Interesting to note that the following year, 1950, Duryea, Winters and McIntire would re-assemble in one of the greatest Westerns ever, WINCHESTER '73.

As would a very young Anthony (Tony) Curtis, who in JOHNNY gets a small and wordless but crucial part as a baby-faced good for nothing... other than killing.

Cinematography deserves considerable praise throughout, the highlights being the early scenes at a dockyard, the apparent alacrity of all in a restaurant/dancing room, and the hangar at the end.

Chases and other action sequences are crackingly well staged, including the shootouts and, above all, the decisive plane-police car crash.

True, the script does not rise above some predictability, but then it is based on true FBI reports, and you know that good will win over evil. Thank God!

One of the more underrated actors of his day was Dan Duryea. He never became a household name but the actor had a great knack for playing all sorts of characters...some good, some pure evil and many in between. Here, you get a good chance to see him at his best. Along for the ride is Howard Duff, whose part is strictly by the book and not particularly interesting. Additionally, in one of his first films is Tony Curtis who plays a mute assassin of all things!

There is an international drug ring running from Mexico all the way to Vancouver. The federal authorities have some leads...but not much. So, to help them infiltrate this mob, George (Duff) arranges to have Johnny Evans (Duryea) released early from prison. The problem is George isn't very sure how far he can trust his new partner and they go undercover at a dude ranch outside of Tucsan, Arizona. Things get complicated when Johnny brings along a dame he feels sorry for (Shelley Winters), though having her along might easily jeopardize everything.

The film is mostly unremarkable but enjoyable. However, the movie really had a terrific ending--and this alone help elevate the movie above the ordinary. Well worth seeing.

Dan Duryea only had a few years in Hollywood before Richard Widmark came on the scene and took all the good roles, and in Johnny Stool Pigeon, he pulled out all the stops to make audiences loyal to him instead of the newer blond bad boy. It was a very good performance, and I hope he had a lot of fun playing the title character.

Against his better judgment, he agrees to work with the police in exchange for his freedom. He hates Howard Duff, the federal agent who helped put him behind bars in the first place, but he has to work closely with him to plan a huge drug bust across the Mexican border. Shelley Winters goes with the pair, and while Dan is smitten, she only has eyes for Howard. Poor guy!

Check out this exciting crime flick to find out if she ever changes her mind. It's a great salute to Dan Duryea, and the story has some twists and turns you won't see coming. Plus, you'll probably recognize the mute, menacing villain even though he doesn't reveal his distinctive accent: young "Anthony" Curtis.

The movie starts off like a police procedural of the period, but twists into something quite different and intense. Howard Duff is a cop and Dan Duryea is a criminal who infiltrate a drug mob. Both are top notch actors who keep us guessing as to what they're really thinking. Shelley Winters is sexy as the girl who flirts with both in order to escape from her life as a gangster moll. Hanging around on the edges of the film is Anthony (Tony) Curtis. He is quite chilling portraying a cruel thug without saying a word. This was the 24 year-old Bernard Schwartz's third film, but the first one where he is really generating interest. William Castle is known as a director of gimmicky films, but he has some surprisingly effective horror films, "The House on Haunted Hill," and "the Tingler" to his credit. This movie is also surprisingly effective.

Feels fairly by-the-numbers but, honestly, it's also a ton of fun. Solid cultivation of suspense, really fun characters and a fantastic ending. I recommend it!