La brigade du suicide

Director Anthony Mann's hard-boiled, film noir approach coupled with the stylistic cinematography of John Alton make this semi-documentary tale of government treasury agents infiltrating a large counterfeit ring an exciting crime drama. Dennis O'Keefe is great as a hard-nosed agent who slowly earns the trust of the bad guys while his partner, Alfred Ryder, is his equal as the sacrificing newlywed whose duty to his country comes before his duty as a husband. The film offers a fascinating look into the world of undercover work and intrigue and even has an opening segment from the Treasury Office itself.

Some nice shadowy photography by John Alton and a well-paced storyline directed with style by Anthony Mann, makes for a diverting crime melodrama in crisp documentary style that was popular in the early to mid-'40s. Think BOOMERANG, THE HOUSE ON 92nd STREET, 13 ROUE MADELEINE and other Fox melodramas of that era.

But this was done on a poverty row budget by Eagle-Lion with the usually light-weight actor DENNIS O'KEEFE in the sort of role usually handed to someone like Dana Andrews, Mark Stevens, John Hodiak or William Eythe if the film was made at Fox.

He's surprisingly good as a noir hero whose task is to infiltrate a counterfeit gang with another Federal man, posing as would-be counterfeiters, and thus providing a succession of suspenseful moments where our hero is in danger of being exposed as a T-man for the government. Even more effective, in lesser roles, are CHARLES McGRAW and WALLACE FORD. In fact, McGraw would have been an even better choice for the lead than O'Keefe, his tight-lipped bearing and impressive physique suiting him for the role of a dangerous noir hero.

June Lockhart has only a fleeting appearance in one brief scene but others in the cast are properly sinister or authoritative, according to the way the script depicts the supporting characters.

Summing up: Worth a look, but not at the top of the film noir greats due to a script that is only slightly above average.

T-Men is yet another collaboration of director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton, a sizzling semi-doc done in the noir manner, it's the usual fed goes undercover story, and yet made with such verve and energy as to jump off the screen. The larger than life film-making, combined with the sober subject matter, almost tip this one into the realm of the surreal, as Mann and Alton were basically too talented for such mundane material, as essentially the script serves their talents, which are considerable, rather than the other way around. Routine as the story is, this is magnificent film-making.

This is one of the better examples of film noir cinematography. Once the introductions are over and the dramatization of the case begins, the film overflows with startling black-and-white contrasts and interesting camera angles. Director Anthony Mann and photographer John Alton were at the top of their game and the DVD transfer enhances their work.

The great camera-work more than makes up for the fact that the story is just so-so, the weakest of the three noirs the two did together on this 3-pack DVD (the others being, He Walked By Night and Raw Deal.) However, it does sport the typically-tough film noir characters and some great suspense over the last 10-15 minutes. What you have to wade through is the boring beginning but staying with it will be rewarding.

I thought the grim story could have used a little warmth, at least some wisecracking with some floozy "dame." But, no molls in this story this is man's gangster film all the way.

T-Men is directed by Anthony Mann and adapted by John C. Higgins from a suggested story written by Virginia Kellogg. It stars Dennis O'Keefe, Alfred Ryder, Mary Meade, Wallace Ford, June Lockhart, Charles McGraw and Art Smith. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by John Alton. Plot finds O'Keefe and Ryder as dedicated Treasury agents assigned to go undercover to break up the counterfeiting ring at the center of The Shanghai Paper Case. Posing as low ranked hoodlums left over from a long thought of disbanded gang, the two men find themselves immersed in a dark underworld of violence and deceit. Getting in was easy, coming out alive is a different matter.

The first pairing of director Anthony Mann and master cinematographer John Alton, T-Men is tough semi documentary type film noir that manages to break free of its plot simplicity confines to become a fine movie. Beginning with a foreword delivered by a stoic Treasury official, the film initially feels it's going to be standard gangster/cops fare. But once our two intrepid agents go undercover and we hit the underworld, Mann and Alton shift the tone and the film becomes a different beast. The psychological aspects start to dominate the narrative, as both O'Keefe and Ryder cast aside their humanity to be at one with the grubby world. Under examination is the thin line between the law and the lawless, our two good guys are battling inner conflicts, their natural good instincts, but being bad has come easy. The edges of the frame have become blurred.

The psychological tints would mean nothing without Alton's photography, it's the key element and therefore becomes essential viewing for film noir aficionados. His deep focus chiaroscuro compositions are very striking, and tell us more visually than anything being said vocally. How he frames the heroic agents in the same shadowy light as the bad guys helps keep us the audience in deep with the shift from good world to bad world. This mise-en-scène style has taken over, it's a life force all of its own, and as good as O'Keefe, Ryder and McGraw (always great to see him playing the muscle) are, it's the photography that is the main character here. Mann does his bit, also, sweaty close ups and up-tilt camera work adding to the general disquiet hanging heavy in every room. While his construction of the films most shocking scene, involving a steam bath, is so good its been copied numerous times since.

Not as gritty as Raw Deal, which Mann, Alton and O'Keefe made the following year, but still as tough as old boots and cloaked deliciously with a shadowy beauty. 8/10