Nobody Lives Forever

Nobody Lives Forever (1946)

This is a quirky but good film. If technically a film noir in tone and structure, it largely lacks the darkness of intention in any of the main characters. Part of this comes from the casting—John Garfield is just too sweet a guy to pull off a devious, malicious scammer, and Walter Brennan as the sidekick couldn't appear evil if he tried.

There are some classic noir elements which make the movie fun, like a nightclub (and nightclub owner), a femme fatale (played with restraint by Faye Emerson), and a host of thugs who are convincing (this is Warner Bros. after all). The main plot is a kind of crime romance, where Garfield, an ex-con man playing a returning soldier, has half an intention to go straight but then gets roped into one last big scam. The victim is a rich young widow, and as Garfield goes after his mark he naturally falls in love. The people backing Garfield have a stake in his success and they don't like what's going on—he could just marry the widow and they'd be left in the cold.

So there is a turning of who is against who in the scenario. And this matters, but a lot of the first half of the movie is about the growing romance between the two leads. And it doesn't quite take off. I suppose it was important to make this widow a straight up type, a "good" woman," but casting Geraldine Fitzgerald made sure the chemistry would be restrained. You do want these two very nice people to make it, but it's not spiked with anxiety enough, or dreamy highs enough, to make you quite get swept away.

Where it gets interesting is when the thugs get in the way. The plot takes some terrific twists, and there are some some terrific atmospheric scenes at a pier in the second half of the movie, with large pumps running and the mist rolling by at night. People's better natures are revealed. A tragedy for one man becomes a lesson for our leading couple.

Director Jean Negulesco, though not as well known as a dozen of his contemporaries, made a series of strong, highly dramatic movies after the war that are often worth watching just for their moods. Here he uses legendary cinematographer Arthur Edeson ("Casablanca," "Frankenstein") to make this mood memorable and visually stunning. Throw in the usual high standards of Hollywood, and Warner Bros., at the time and you have a lot of why this movie, whatever its flaws, is still completely absorbing. Well worth watching.

Many films from the mid-forties deal with men struggling to readjust to their civilian lives after their wartime service. NOBODY LIVES FOREVER offers a twist: the hero's pre-war career was as a successful con artist. He doesn't have any trouble getting his job back, but does he still want it? World War II is a source of anxiety and moral confusion in many postwar noirs, but this film (set during the war) suggests that a stint with Uncle Sam can straighten out a crooked guy.

In contrast to the convoluted plots so common in noir, this is a simple story. Just out of the army, Nick Blake (John Garfield) returns to New York to find his girlfriend has given the money he left in her keeping to another man. After clearing up that little business, he takes off for Los Angeles, where he is talked into fleecing a rich widow, Gladys Halvorson (Geraldine Fitzgerald.) Guess what? He falls for her and wants out, but has to deal with his vengeful accomplices. The plot is unoriginal but also foolproof, and the film's leisurely pace and rich characterizations are the primary appeal, evoking a raffish, Runyonesque world. Leading the troupe of colorful character actors is George Tobias as Blake's sidekick Al Doyle, who doesn't do much except tag along for the ride, cracking wise in thick New Yorkese and complaining bitterly when he realizes Nick has "gone overboard for this tomato." Walter Brennan is Pop Gruber, Nick's boyhood mentor in crime, now down on his luck and scraping a living with a telescope, selling "the moon and stars for a dime" and picking the pockets of his drunken customers. Then there's cadaverous, sinister George Colouris as Doc, a has-been con man consumed by jealousy of Nick. Even the smallest characters—from an ex-jockey bellboy to the counterman in an all-night diner who can't stand to hear the words "java" or "pal"—add flavor; they're a great bunch of "cheap, hungry chiselers." Richard Gaines (Jean Arthur's fiancé, Mr. Pendergast, in THE MORE THE MERRIER) is also amusing as Manning, the widow's business manager, whose only interest in life is golf. Only Faye Emerson, as the nightclub singer who betrayed Nick while he was overseas and keeps turning up for vague plot purposes, misfires; she sings well, but she's a little too bony, toothy and disgruntled for a femme fatale.

When someone suggests that after his sabbatical in the army Nick might not be up to conning the widow, he snaps scornfully, "For me that would be like turning over in bed." The same is true for Garfield playing this morally-conflicted-tough-guy role—but he never lets you feel he's just going through the motions. His performance is split between his "Jewish Jimmy Cagney" persona, spitting out lines like, "Come up with a rod and I'll make you eat it," and his sexy romancer mode. When he turns on the charm, his mark starts to melt like a snowman under a sun lamp. (I can sympathize, being a pushover for Garfield myself.) Geraldine Fitzgerald is lovely and gracious, with a frail, childlike innocence guaranteed to soften the toughest guy.

There are some scenes in smoky back-rooms, and a terrific show-down on a misty oil rig, but this noir is really about as dark as chocolate ice cream. It's full of low-key charm, often stemming from the culture clash between the mugs and the ritzy world they invade. Nick belies his pose as a sophisticate by making paper airplanes out of his program during a concert of classical music. ("Don't you adore Bach?" Manning asks, and Al, awoken from a deep slumber, replies, "Bock? Yeah, cold, with a nice big head on it.") Nick is also uncomfortable leading Gladys through a rumba ("A man looks sort of silly doing this") and looks like a fish out of water when she takes him to the mission of San Juan Capistrano. As was the case with Garfield (the former Julie Garfinkle) in Hollywood, it's precisely Nick's streetwise grit and bad-boy charm that win over the classy dame.

NOBODY LIVES FOREVER was the last film at Warner Brothers for both Garfield and Fitzgerald, who were equally thrilled to escape the studio. Garfield went on to form an independent company that produced his finest films, including BODY AND SOUL and FORCE OF EVIL. He and many others had good reason to resent the studio's relentless pigeonholing and the poor material they were sometimes forced to accept; but this farewell film is a reminder of what the factory system had going for it: a reliable output of supremely watchable movies. With its witty script, easy craftsmanship and excellent cast, NOBODY LIVES FOREVER is a prime example of how good an average, formulaic studio product could be during Hollywood's "golden age." It's a shame that, like so much of Garfield's output, this film is so hard to find.

Home from service in World War II, roughly handsome hotshot gambler John Garfield (as Nick Blake) tries to reconnect with sexy blonde Faye Emerson (as Toni Blackburn), but learns she's used up his dough, and hooked up with another stud. Discouraged, he moves to Los Angeles, with fawning companion George Tobias (as Al Doyle). There, con artists Walter Brennan (as Pop Gruber) and George Coulouris (as Doc Ganson) persuade Mr. Garfield to bilk $2,000,000 out of wealthy widow Geraldine Fitzgerald (as Gladys Halvorsen). "She's a dish," says Tobias, and Garfield proceeds predictably...

Probably due to its release amid so many other great Garfield films, "Nobody Lives Forever" seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. It labors somewhat, during the last act, as the production seeks to take full advantage of a moody setting. Still, this is an excellent "film noir" from the forties. A perfect lead, Garfield is magnetically smooth. He receives great assist from Jean Negulesco's stylishly hiccuping direction, Adolph Deutsch's sweet musical score, Arthur Edeson's black-and-white camera, and the usual suspects at Warner Bros. And, the players breathe some nuance into W.R. Burnett's fine script.

******* Nobody Lives Forever (11/1/46) Jean Negulesco ~ John Garfield, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Walter Brennan, Faye Emerson

A very usual plot covers this story. A manipulator wants to fleece a wealthy widow but falls for her instead. The problem is that he had made previous commitments with other hoods to take this woman for a ride.

John Garfield is perfect as Nick. He falls for Mrs.Halverson, a wonderful Geraldine Fitzgerald.

The gang is in top form with Walter Brennan as Pop, George Coulouris'Doc is excellent. By the way, for a hood Coulouris speaks very well and in fact sounds like a very educated person in some scenes. George Tobias really provides some comic relief, but in a straight role as Nick's sidekick.

You wonder why the Fitzgerald character can't fall in love with her financial adviser, nicely played by Richard Gaines. The two seem to be a perfect match but I guess there would be no story if that occurred.

Faye Emerson is the dame that Nick had previously hooked up with. She is a real hot number here. Few realize that in real life she had been married to Eliot Roosevelt, FDR's son.

The first half sets up a promising noir as returning vet and con-man Nick Blake (Garfield) deals with double-crossing sweetie Toni (Emerson) and a civilian life changed by the war. To get better bearings, he relocates to the coast of Southern California, whose miles of sun- drenched, sandy beaches looks like an advertisement for the big post-war migration that was to follow. There he's persuaded to take up his old ways by fleecing a trusting rich widow played by Fitzgerald, only he gets more than he bargained for.

It's a well thought out screenplay (WR Burnett) that provides plausible motivation for most of the many twists and turns-- except for the sultry Toni's sudden presence in California, a padded segment that perhaps justifies the actress's featured billing. The young, ruggedly handsome Garfield is excellent, as usual, and makes a persuasive con artist. Ditto Fitzgerald, whose sweetly innocent beauty could turn any man's head, including Nick's. But especially good is George Tobias in a questionable role for noir of comic relief-- he manages to be both mildly amusing and convincingly tough as Nick's loyal henchman. And, of course, there's the great Walter Brennan as aging con-man with heart, Pop Gruber. Note also the atmospheric dive where Pop hangs out, with its clamorous clientele and a barkeep who really looks like he could handle them— director Negulesco knows how to stock an effective background.

The movie contains many elements of noir, as well as the fine cast. Despite these positive elements, Negulesco's slow, deliberate pacing is more consistent with a romantic or psychological approach than with a crime drama. Consider, the final sequence on the pier and how slow and drawn-out the action is, even draining away some of the intended suspense. Ditto the agonizing wait in the coffee shop—it's colorful with the counterman, but over-done, nevertheless. I agree with reviewers who think the movie ends up straddling several movie categories, without excelling at any. In my little book, the result comes across smoothly, but doesn't combine its parts into anything more memorable than a generally entertaining studio product.