Kidnapping

By sheer luck reporter Dennis O'Keefe runs into Gale Storm in town looking for her sister and a baby she gave birth to. Sadly they find her in the morgue, but no trace of the infant. What O'Keefe does notice is a sleazy private eye played by Raymond Burr shadowing Storm.

That's the start of Abandoned a good noir film about a baby adoption racket where the queenpin is society matron Marjorie Rambeau. In a cast of some excellent character players she tops the list. Had this been an A and not a B film Rambeau might have been in Oscar contention, she's that good and that scary.

As for Burr he's really rather stupid and out of his league with Rambeau and her gang. It costs him big time.

Up and coming Jeff Chandler is 3rd billed playing the police chief and friend of O'Keefe. As he did in a few films for Universal Chandler also narrates. Will Kulava and Mike Mazurki play a pair of Rambeau's goons , Meg Randall plays a pregnant border at Rambeau's house and Jeanette Nolan is a socially conscious Salvation Army major.

A good B film from Universal which should be better known.

This excellent thriller deals with the sale of stolen babies by baby broker racketeers. It is thus more relevant to today, when this problem is much more widespread, than it was in 1949. The plot is sound, the script first rate, and the acting is extremely good. It is interesting to see an early Jeff Chandler performance, in a supporting role, before his hair went prematurely white, and when he was so thin he looked like he needed a good meal. There is some crackling dialogue: 'I couldn't sleep, so I took my gun for a walk,' and 'The idea of you going straight is like a vulture becoming a vegetarian.' Raymond Burr, to whom the latter remark is addressed, is a heavy of suitably sour disposition. Dennis O'Keefe is an excellent clean-cut B hero, and Gale Storm is a rather sombre and expressionless 'good girl' from a small town who has come to the wicked city in search of her murdered sister and her stolen baby; she is convincing, though unexciting. A sinister sub-plot about the father of the two sisters making his daughter get rid of her illegitimate baby seems to have been cut because it was too shocking, but enough of it survives to show that it was clearly once there. Maybe the producers thought they had enough of a social message without getting that grim and frightening their audiences further. The sale of stolen babies was an issue that needed raising, and it was thoroughly portrayed in this film well ahead of its time. The director, Joseph Newman, did an excellent job, and at one point showed off by cutting from a match being struck by one character to a lit match being used by another character. Every thriller director is entitled to at least one arty moment, especially if it hypes the pace of the action, though this was probably in the script by Irwin Gielgud. Probably the few good one-liners constituted the 'extra dialogue' by William Bowers.

A young woman arrives in an unnamed town in search of her missing sister, whom she discovers in the morgue registered as a "Jane Doe" and an evident suicide. An investigative reporter befriends her, and together, while they seek the sister's illegitimate child, the pair uncover an illegal baby brokering ring. A taut, well-paced mystery, "Abandoned" features a voice-over reminiscent of television's "Dragnet" and superb black-and-white cinematography by William H. Daniels. Daniels wraps characters in deep shadows, creates striped abstracts from starkly-lit stairways, and cubic patterns that penetrate deep inky corridors. While Irwin Gielgud's screenplay holds attention and builds in suspense, Daniels's captivating images often compete with the plot for attention.

Gale Storm, better known for her comedic talents on early television shows, plays Paula Considine, the sister in search; unfortunately, the role is generic and undemanding, and Storm makes little impression. However, Dennis O'Keefe as Mark Sitko, the aggressive reporter, hits the right notes as a tough relentless investigator. Often enshrouded in William H. Daniel's shadows, burly Raymond Burr is memorable as Kerric, a corrupt private eye, whose only loyalty is to himself. A third-billed Jeff Chandler is effective as the district attorney, and Marjorie Rambeau is appropriately sinister as the two-faced ringleader.

Despite an obviously low budget, "Abandoned" benefits from location filming, which adds a documentary touch, enhanced by narration that implies some truth to the story. A fine cast of "B" players, memorable photography, and steady direction by Joe Newman, a veteran of modestly budgeted second features, together produced an entertaining, engaging film noir that is well worth catching.

Director Joe Newman, about whom I know very little, does a fine job with ABANDONED, extracting excellent performances from male lead Dennis O'Keefe as a reporter who instantly falls in love with Gale Storm, who is looking for her missing sister; dirty gumshoe Raymond Burr, probably the pick of the bunch; and chief villainess Marjorie Rambeau. For a B, this picture boasts an above average cast that includes police boss Jeff Chandler, heavy Mike Mazurki and top male baddy Will Kuluva.

Solid script resting on generally credible and crisp dialogue, attention to detail, and well shot action sequences.

Superb cinematography from William Daniels. Definitely warrants watching.

If you ask a dozen film experts about what constitutes a movie that is 'film noir', you will likely get a dozen different answers. But a couple things will be constant...the toughness of the plot, the violence of the screenplay and the terrific camerawork and shadows. In this sense, clearly, "Abandoned" would qualify as Noir.

When the film begins, Mark, a nosey reporter (Dennis O'Keefe) notices that a lady is being followed. It seems that a very shady private dick (Raymond Burr) is following Paula (Gale Storm) and Mark intervenes. After chasing away the evil detective, Mark learns from Paula that she's in town looking for her sister...who has been missing for some time. The trail, it turns out, leads to a baby selling racket...and one which apparently killed this sister and stole her baby! Can the pair manage to get a lead on who is behind all this?

I loved the camerawork...particularly in the early portions of the film. The angles and shadows are great...and very moody. I also loved the incredibly violent and gritty ending where evil clearly is punished big time! Overall, a well written and acted film that never is dull and is well worth your time.