Deadline at Dawn

Terrific performances by many actors make this 1946 noir a joy to watch. Nifty murder mystery directed by Harold Clurman and written by Clifford Odets. As mentioned elsewhere on this board the dialog is wondrous; you never know what anyone will say, and everyone seems to "wax philosophic" throughout the film.

The action follows a murder of a woman and how it involves a sailor on leave, a dance-hall girl, and a taxi driver. The story takes place on a sweltering New York night in the early hours. The sailor must catch a 6 AM bus, so there's the "deadline at dawn." As the protagonists track down clues, they run across a bizarre collection of shady types, and everyone seems to to capable of murder, especially of this particular woman.

Susan Hayward gives a stunning performance as June. She starts out as a wisecracking and downhearted taxi dancer who resists getting involved but can't help herself since the sailor (Bill Williams) seems so innocent and naive. She calls him Boob McNutt. As they race around the city tracking down clues (this city never sleeps) they meet a world-weary taxi driver (Paul Lukas) who helps out. All three stars give amazing performances here.

Supporting players are also a knockout with Lola Lane terrific as the victim, Joseph Calleia as her creepy brother, Osa Masson (with a limp), and Marvin Miller, Jerone Cowan, Constance Worth, Al Bridge, Steven Geray, Joseph Crehan and others all solid.

Odets' writing is excellent even if all the characters seem to talk in the same poetic language. But it becomes mesmerizing as the characters seek the truth and talk. It seems that everyone is city wise but a poet at heart.

Hayward looks great with her hair pinned up (it's a sultry night) with bobby pins. She wears little makeup. Williams is also wonderful as the sailor who's not quite as dumb as he seems. Lukas is also solid as the surprising taxi driver.

Great film noir with touches of poetry and humor. What more could you want?

The real star of this underappreciated noir is Clifford Odets' dialogue, which you either love or you hate. I love it. Really terrific performances, and even the bit players are memorable. Look for Group Theater vet Roman Bohnen in a tiny role as the building janitor with a dead cat-- "she could practically speak." Or Jerome Cowan, a B-movie actor in a zillion Forties flicks, wonderfully slimy as a Broadway producer. Filmed on a backlot, but it seethes New York more than most location movies.

A decent story based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich, good performances, and snappy dialogue by Clifford Odets elevate "Deadline at Dawn" from 1946. A small film, clocking in at 83 minutes, it packs in a lot of drama.

The film begins with a blind man (Marvin Miller, Mr. Anthony from "The Millionaire") visiting a young woman and demanding $1400 that he is owed. Next thing you know, she's dead.

A young sailor on leave, Alex, (Bill Williams) sobers up after a blackout and sees that he has a lot of money that belonged to one Edna Bartelli (Lola Lane), a girl who invited him to her home to "fix her radio."

Alex has the radio, and at a dime a dance place, he asks for help from June Goth (Susan Hayward) to help him return it. When they get to Edna's, she's dead. Alex is afraid that he did it, but he can't remember.

His leave ends in four hours, so that's all they have to find out what happened. They team up with a friendly cab driver (Paul Lukas). In their investigation, they meet a bunch of low-lifes and it becomes apparent that Edna had a few enemies.

Both Hayward and Williams give delightful performances. Hayward vacillates from the tough girl she is at the dance hall and softness as she gets to know Alex. Williams, who was TV's Kit Carson is the dad of actor William Katt ("Greatest American Hero") and the husband of Perry Mason's Barbara Hale.

True to its New York City wee small hours of the morning scenario, the film is peppered with various actors, each with his or her own story: Joseph Calleia, Osa Massen, Stephen Geray, Roman Bohen, and Constance Worth.

Harold Clurman, a theater director, directed this with an excellent idea of what it's like to be in New York City in the summer - hot, and the weirdos who come out at night.

Very entertaining, though probably too ambitious given the budget and time frame. The ending is a little convoluted.

This is a strange little movie, which I'm sure is primarily due to Clifford Odets bizarre screenplay, but I freely admit that I really enjoyed it! The plot is somewhat convoluted (although not as hard to follow as some make out) and the ending is a little 'feel good' for a noir but Odets' dialog is what will bring you into it - or push you out. I still can't figure if the way his characters speak is closer to real life than 'regular' movie dialog, or nothing at all like anyone speaks; it somehow manages to be a little of both. One thing for sure is this is not how people normally speak in movies. Strong performances by Susan Hayward and Paul Lukas contribute to the fun; and that's what I found it to be. You've got likable characters, clever dialog, a mystery to solve before dawn, and Susan Hayward looking as good as I can remember. What else do you need?

This modest film noir is flat-out crazy and a tremendous amount of fun.

Bill Williams plays a sailor on leave who follows a floozy back to her room, passes out and then finds upon waking that the floozy is dead and can't remember what if anything he had to do with it. He's got to catch a boat (or is it train?) at dawn, and is afraid he'll be implicated in the murder if he doesn't find the true killer before then. He teams up with a dance hall hostess (Susan Hayward) and, before the evening's out, a cab driver (Paul Lukas) and sets out into the New York midnight to solve the crime.

The screenplay doesn't make a lick of sense, and my wife and I found ourselves actually laughing at the preposterous developments and turns in the story. It's hilarious how committed these three people are to solving this crime despite the fact that there's absolutely nothing attaching the sailor to it, and how easy a time they have following up on clues in as huge a city as NY despite the fact that the clues are things like "he was wearing a tuxedo" and "she had blonde hair." A plot twist at the movie's end, when the real killer is revealed, is right up there with the best of them. Oscar winner Paul Lukas brings much more acting ability to his performance than his role requires, and Susan Hayward is absolutely riveting. This was my first and so far only exposure to this acclaimed actress, and I look forward to many more.

What a blast this movie is!

Grade: A-