Poison blanc

I am not sure how this "film noir" turned into a romance, but this romantic is not complaining. I thought Fred MacMurray and Claire Trevor were wonderful together. I also loved the misunderstanding with each of them thinking that the other is part of a drug smuggling racket. What is particularly funny is their childhood stories that they tell each other!

This starts as the story of police woman, Madeleine Haley going undercover south of the border in Mexico in order to get information on a notorious drug smuggler. There she meets the nefarious Raymond Burr who plays Pete Ritchie. She is almost immediately embroiled in a drug run with a tough character named Johnny McEvoy (played by Fred MacMurray).

During this trip to the border, while posing as a newly married couple...these two are trying to get information out of each other. This in my opinion becomes the best part of the film.

I think this is misclassified as a film noir...I recommend this film to romantics. There is a little comedy and a nice romantic story told.

"Borderline" is a 1950 film that's just that - borderline good, borderline noir, borderline funny, borderline - well, just borderline. Though it stars Fred MacMurray, Claire Trevor and Raymond Burr, you'll come away with the impression (possibly true) that once the big stars came home from the war, MacMurray's services were no longer needed and that Trevor, like so many wonderful Hollywood actresses, had passed 30 and was now diving for roles.

It's a story about two undercover cops - one Fed, one local - after a major drug dealer (Burr). Neither knows the other's true identity as they fall in love.

This is the kind of film RKO could do with one hand tied behind its back - put Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell or Jane Greer in it and you can see it working just fine. Why? The MacMurray role is perfect for Mitchum's tongue-in-cheek, lazy delivery, and Russell, who crackles with him, could give as good as she got. Their presence guarantees you'll have smiles and romance mixed in with your suspense.

But here, the chemistry is off. Neither actor is quite right for their role. MacMurray plays it too straight while Trevor is off doing another movie. The film never establishes what it is - drama, comedy, what, so the viewer is constantly off-balance.

Disappointing, though Raymond Burr is plenty menacing as the drug dealer.

Hi, Everyone,

I bought the DVD of Borderline at the 99 Cent Store. One buck for the movie makes it low cost but also there is no menu or chapters to make it easy to find a specific place in the movie.

There are some fun moments in the film. If you are an old car buff, you will see a 1939 Buick (pushed front end first into a shallow ravine), a 1949 Mercury, an old Nash and other vintage cars and trucks and buses.

Some mistakes from the movie include at the 45 minute point, Fred MacMurray looks into his rear view mirror (39 Buick) to see a motorcycle cop who is chasing him. The only problem is there is no rear view mirror. It was common in these old movies to remove the rear view mirror at the top of the inside of the windshield so the camera could see the driver and the passengers in the car. At 76 minutes into the movie watch the 1949 Mercury as it comes toward the camera and merges with traffic. It is supposed to be a convertible with 2 people inside. This is a stock footage insert of a '49 Mercury 4 door sedan with one person inside.

Two excellent scenes to watch for include a plane landing beautifully on a beach and taxiing up to the camera (63 minutes into the film), and a scene where a dead man is in the back seat of Fred MacMurray's car. The man playing the corpse keeps his eyes wide open for what seems like a minute or longer without blinking. That is at the 44 minute spot in the movie.

The story is OK. It straddles somewhere between comedy and serious detective chase film.

A better Raymond Burr movie might be "Rear Window." Fred MacMurray was more memorable in "Double Indemnity."

Tom Willett

Clare Trevor had decorated many films in a range of roles which commonly portrayed her as a tough broad. She was able to assure her husband, producer Milton Bren, that she was also qualified to perform in comedic parts, and the result is his bankrolling of this action-comedy hybrid: BORDERLINE, which features Fred MacMurray and Trevor as undercover narcotics operatives working for different agencies with the same target, but unaware of each other's placement. The film just misses working on both levels of drama and comedy; the scenario by veteran Hollywood light musical scriptor Devery Freeman cuts its chances, but improves during the second half. MacMurray, generally unrecognized as a cinema tough guy, shines and teams well with Trevor, who in fact does demonstrate that she can do light comedy.

A noir thriller with comedic elements, dealing with two undercover agents unwittingly stalk the same target, but neither is aware of the other's identity. Customs agents are looking for information about Pete Ritchie (Raymond Burr), who is involved in smuggling drugs between Mexico and the US. Police officer Madeleine Haley (Claire Trevor) goes undercover in order to gain Ritchie's confidence, but there's also another undercover agent(Fred MacMurray), and before long she meets him through one of his associates. With their real identities hidden, they fall for each other and make a run for the border. As she is talking with Ritchie, Johnny Macklin and one of his men burst in, and they provoke a strong confrontation. From now on, Haley and Macklin are in constant danger as she attempts to figure out everything that is happening in the smuggling operation.

Thriller movie with hilarious incidents, suspense, action, car chases, and adequate interpretations. Although the leads work well together, they play two undercover agents infiltrate a drug-smuggling ring in Mexico, but neither is aware of the other's identity. Fred MacMurray and Claire Trevor are well accompanied by a fine support cast, such as: Raymond Burr, Morris Ankrum, Roy Roberts, José Torvay, Don Diamond, among others. They are hindered by an ocassionally confusing and uneven script that moves in fits and stars, blending comedy, drama and Film Noir with some thrilling pursuits. Unfortunately , director William A. Seiter never decides whether the material is of a comedic or dramatic nature.

Produced by the same main actors and director himsef who deferred their salaries to finance the movie. In fact, Borderline (1950) is the first production of Borderline Pictures, Inc, formed by producer Milton H. Bren, director-producer William A. Seiter, Claire Trevor and actor Fred MacMurray. The motion picture was professional, though regularly directed by William A Seiter. Seiter was a typical Hollywood craftsman who entered films in 1915 as a stuntman in westerns and was one of the founding members of the Directors Guild and directed films of all kinds of genres as drama, thriller , musical, Western and romantic comedy. But he is especially remembered for his handling of comedy. In his long career, he made films with Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, The Ritz Brothers, Shirley Temple, W. C. Fields, The Marx Brothers, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Among his most important films are the following: Belle of the Yukon, The cheerful fraud, This Is My Affair, Make Haste to Live, Champ for a day, Little Giant, Susannah of the Mounties, It is a date, Nice girl?, You were never lovelier and two films starred by John Wayne: Allegheny Uprising and A lady takes a chance. Rating: 5.5/10. Passable and decent picture for Fren MacMurray and Claire Trevor fans.