Appointment with a Shadow

1957
Approved
1h 12m

IMDb RATING

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Joanna Moore and George Nader in Appointment with a Shadow (1957)

George Nader plays a reporter whose career is ruined by liquor. A comeback opportunity presents itself when he is a bystander at the arrest of a well-known criminal.George Nader plays a reporter whose career is ruined by liquor. A comeback opportunity presents itself when he is a bystander at the arrest of a well-known criminal.George Nader plays a reporter whose career is ruined by liquor. A comeback opportunity presents itself when he is a bystander at the arrest of a well-known criminal.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

517

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Top cast16

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George Nader

Paul Baxter

Joanna Moore

Penny Spencer

Brian Keith

Lt. Spencer

Virginia Field

Florence Knapp

Frank DeKova

Dutch Hayden

Stephen Chase

Sam Carewe

Ralph Brooks

Joe - Newspaper Man
(uncredited)

Raoul Freeman

Burlesque Club Patron
(uncredited)

Bill Hickman

Farrell - Police Detective
(uncredited)

Rusty Lane

Pat O'Connell - Bartender
(uncredited)

John Phillips

Reporter
(uncredited)
…

Fred Sadoff

Jeffrey Sayre

Burlesque Club Patron
(uncredited)

Charles Sherlock

Reporter
(uncredited)

Bert Stevens

Burlesque Club Patron
(uncredited)

Hal Taggart

Burlesque Club Patron
(uncredited)

Director
- Richard Carlson
Writers
All cast & crew
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User reviews15

6.5517

Featured reviews

10tiffanie_says_stay_in_your_lane

Character study meets noir

Well, I don't know about anybody else, but it gave off character study vibes to me. I'm fascinated by movies that examine someone's personal struggles, even more so if they grow and develop throughout the course of the story. Otherwise, if they're one-dimensional, and don't learn anything as they go along, that's just boring. Appointment with a Shadow is an exceptionally crafted film about former newspaper reporter Paul (George Nader) who lost his job as a result of his alcoholism. His girlfriend Penny (Joanna Moore), also a reporter, believes he has the potential to bounce back, so she gives him a tip that could help him re-launch his career. There is one condition: he has to go without a drink for 24 hours. Despite experiencing major withdrawal, he accepts the challenge. Penny's brother, Lt. Spencer (Brian Keith), thinks she's wasting her time trying to help him become sober. So essentially, Paul has to prove himself. This is one of many B films that contains brilliant performances. George Nader was so convincing as an alcoholic who was trying his hardest to stay sober for a full day. You could see the desperation, physically and emotionally. He was shaking, sweating, unable to stay focused on a task, jumpy - he got startled by every little noise. You don't see acting like that anymore. Also, a couple of amusing things were added in to lighten the mood: two beatniks playing music in a hotel room that he fell into through a window. The nerdy guy who works backstage in a gentleman's club and spends all of his time reading, completely unphased by the women around him. I just thought that was clever. The pacing was consistent and the characters were engaging. I was glad Paul wasn't made out to be a stereotypical alcoholic. He wasn't violent or nasty. He was an affable person, thus making his character likeable. Otherwise, if he was the raging type, I probably wouldn't have been interested. And to think, this was inspired by a story that was published in a magazine. It's a fantastic noir that will hold your attention. Don't pay attention to the negative reviews.

searchanddestroy-1

Rare little gem from Universal Studios

It is a rare item that I review now, it was totally unavoidable in France and I finally purchased it thru some collectors nets. It is a good atmospheric thriller from the fifties, shot in black and white and in LBX, which adds to the fifties charm. The story itself is not that exciting though, predictable and George Nader - Unversal Studios home star - is as lame as usual. He should not have had the lead role, he deserved supporting roles instead. That said, it is a more than worth watching thriller, which I highly recommend for fifties movies lovers. It is a good film from Richard Carlson, the famous actor.

6johno-21

Battle of the bottle

I recently saw this at the 2008 Palm Springs Film Noir Festival. Actor Richard Carlson is behind the camera as director for this film from the later part of the Film Noir genre. Paul Baxter (George Nader) is a former newspaper reporter who is washed up and unhireable at only 30 years old because he's an alcoholic. Penny Spencer (Joanna Cook Moore) is his soon to be former girlfriend who is giving him one last chance. She wants him to go on the wagon for one day and has arranged with her police detective brother Lt. Spencer (Brian Keith) for Paul to observe a stakeout and apprehension of the city's most wanted criminal. She's in the newspaper business herself and has put together a file on the criminal Dutch Hayden (Frank DeKova) for Paul to study up on so he can write a story of the arrest and scoop all the crime reporters which will lead to him getting a full-time newspaper job and he'll stop drinking and Paul and Penny will then be able to live happily ever after if only he can stop drinking for one day and write the story. I'm sure most people who have dealt with alcoholism and those who treat it would have a hard time buying into this 24 hour self curing treatment but the film does deal with the destructiveness of alcoholism. Paul is faced with a series of temptations throughout the film as he struggles to stay off the hooch. Virgina Field is in the cast as burlesque dancer Florence Knapp, the moll of Dutch Hayden. Alec Coppel and Norman Jolley write the screenplay based on an Argosy Magazine story by Hugh Penecost. Three time Oscar nominee William E. Snyder is the film's cinematographer. The story is highly implausible and simplistic but isn't too bad and it's a relatively short film at 73 minutes and I would give it a 6.0 out of 10.

6boblipton

Just Shy Of The Delirium Tremens

George Nader is a reporter. Perhaps more accurately, he was a reporter until his extreme alcoholism got him canned from every newspaper. Only fellow reporter Joanna Moore cares, and she persuades her brother, police lieutenant Brian Keith, to let Nader know about the forthcoming arrest of evil criminal Frank DeKova. But DeKova is dead, and Nader has the shakes so bad he can't hold a shot glass with two hands. Or is he? And can he?

Nader was never a big star, even by the standards of Universal, taking the roles that Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis turned down. Here, under the direction of Richard Carlson, he turns in a fine performance of a drunk on his last legs. Director Richard Carlson -- he was much better known as an actor -- also gets a fine performance out of Miss Moore, who is far sexier here than stripper Virginia Field. It's a movie worth watching for the performances.

10clanciai

The Phoenix passage through horrors just to stay sober

Richard Carlson was one of Hollywood's most underrated stars, as he never really achieved stardom but from the beginning was rather modest in his appearances. He made some brilliant performances in the 40s and then gradually also started to direct. His direction here is flawless. His penetration into the problems of an alcoholic, the detailed close-up curtailing of his Via Crucis into sobriety with too many death traps on the way, is on the level with Billy Wilder's "The Lost Weekend" with Ray Milland 1945, but the ordeal is more arduous and intensive here, as George Nader only has one day to go through it all. He gets the chance of his life as a journalist when he gets the opportunity to witness the capture of a long sought murderer at close hand, while this sensational adventure turns out the wrong way, and he is faced by worse sensations than he bargained for. You will bite your nails through in this tremendous challenge of life and death, following the nasty trials of the unwilling hero. Fortunately the film is only 70 minutes, so you will get through it all alive after all, but you would never for your life want to be in a similar situation. George Nader's passage through hell to sobriety leads to some kind of redemption, but that one day through that hell would teach you more than a lifetime of infernal passages.

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Storyline

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Trivia
Filming began with Jeffrey Hunter in the lead, but a serious case of hepatitis caused him to be replaced by George Nader after one day of shooting.

Quotes
[In an apartment, a woman can be seen approaching a door when she hears the bell ringing. This is Penny Spencer. When she opens the door, she sees Police Lieutenant Spencer carrying a man, the latter is Paul Baxter]
Lt. Spencer: Do you mind if I say I'm glad this is the last time I'm gonna have to do this?
Penny Spencer: [starts walking towards another room] Bring him in here, Spence.
Lt. Spencer: [looks at the intoxicated Baxter] Come on...
[Penny and the Lieutenant enter a room where they lay Baxter on a bed. After positioning him, they take a closer look at him]
Lt. Spencer: Look at him. Paul Baxter and clean sheets they just don't add up. Do they, sis?
Penny Spencer: A shower and shave will help.
Lt. Spencer: It'll take a lot more than a shower and a shave to make anything add up for him again.
Penny Spencer: You just don't have any faith in him at all. Do you, Spence?
Lt. Spencer: Penny, I got more faith in these guys than most people have. In fact, I got so much faith in them I can predict exactly what'll happen when you clean them up and turn them loose. He'll go get drunk again.
Penny Spencer: Anybody deserves another chance.
Lt. Spencer: We got him another chance on every newspaper in town.
Penny Spencer: [turns towards the door] Well, he still needs help.
Lt. Spencer: Oh, come on, sis, why don't you just settle for being a good newspaper woman till the right guy comes along, huh?
Penny Spencer: He is the right guy.
Lt. Spencer: And the top reporter in town at twenty-five and he's an alcoholic bum before he's thirty. You call it right?
Penny Spencer: You made me a promise, Spence.
Lt. Spencer: I know, I know, I just don't want to see you through your life away, I want to see you happy, that's all.
Penny Spencer: Then keep your promise... I love him.
Lt. Spencer: Alright, you'll love him. You're my sister, I happen to love you. Believe me, that's the only reason I'm going through with this deal. I took me a long time to make Lieutenant you know, I could be back pounding a beat in thirty seconds if the department found out what I'm up to. So I think that gives me a right to make you promise.
[Penny remains silent]
Lt. Spencer: Look, if he goofs this one up, you see him for the last time. I mean it, Penny. I want you to promise me this is the end of the line.
Penny Spencer: [softly] It's the end of the line.
Lt. Spencer: [puts his hand on his sister's shoulder] Good night, sis.
[the Lieutenant leaves the apartment]