Cast:
Scott Brady (Tony Reagan), John Russell (Danny Morgan), Dorothy Hart (Sally Lee), Peggy Dow (Ann McKnight), Bruce Bennett (Reckling), Gregg Martell (Frost), Robert Anderson (Stoner), Dan Ferniel (Gene), and Rock Hudson (Detective) Directed by William Castle (#369 - House on Haunted Hill (1959), #1071 - 13 Ghosts, and #1418 - The Night Walker)
Review:
Honestly, if you didn't know that the director was William Castle, would you bat an eye for this film? From 1943 to 1974, he made 56 films as a director, but it is strange to think that the films that you would recognize from him came in the last third of his career, one that saw him move past low budget crime affairs to low budget B-movies with sensational showmanship. But hey, the important part is that Castle was not just a director with one trick. He honed his desire of wanting to scare the pants out of audiences as a teenager to work in Broadway in a variety of jobs to a shot at Columbia Pictures before he was even 25 years old, and his first feature was The Chance of a Lifetime (released in 1943 as part of the Boston Blackie series of crime dramas). He moved to Universal Pictures with Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949). There isn't exactly a great deal of facts to talk about this feature, one where I can't explain why it is called Undertow, since that apparently sounded like a better one to market over the working titles of Frame-Up and The Big Frame (I guess framing is like a current of water?). The film was written by Arthur T. Horman (a busy writer for two decades) and Lee Loeb.
Honestly, for the brief sentences one can struggle to think about a movie that falls along the line of Castle's extensive early work, it proves to be a decent filler kind of movie. For a film noir, it works alright in generating tension in the moments that try to give off a sense of claustrophobia, one that has a selection of clichés you would see from a noir (such as the femme fatale or a race against time) that for the most part manages to not flub itself in getting to the finish line at 71 minutes while packing in a few nice shots of Chicago. Brisk is not a bad word to describe a movie, if you think about it. Granted, there are things to quibble about a movie involving a guy on the run having to prove his innocence for the murder of a kingpin where you don't even see the kingpin. It really is the kind of movie that focuses on the dry side of plotting that is exactly what you would expect from a programmer kind of movie. If you don't have that many cast members to begin with, the mystery can only go in a few directions that are more passable than clever; besides, having a small run-time means you can't have too much time spent on motivation, which affects Dow's character more so than anyone. It manages to have no terrible or great moments present, which means that the highlights really come from little sequences, such as a chase sequence with some steps or perhaps its quick climax that relies on a little confusion. Brady fares pretty well in one of his early roles in film, partaking in a slew of tough-guy roles while eventually adding on television to his line of work, which also can apply to Russell (each had a star role in a Western show in the following decade), who plays it pretty lean and fair. This was the first feature film for Dow, who had dabbled in modeling and radio before having a brief feature career; she does okay with a quiet part, one that can't be too contrived in innocence without seeming completely out of touch with the attempts at thrills and chemistry with Brady that pales when thinking of the allure generated in parts by Hart. Having Bennett's character be the way he is in the script is a bit of a stretch (an old buddy detective), but he at least makes it seem passable to what is needed in dry company. As a whole, one will either find comfort in its accomplishments of making a decent thriller with no frills or find it just a bit off their tastes. But one cant deny that Castle was the kind of director capable enough to try and make something out of nothing, and I suppose that makes it more than enough for the curious.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
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