T-Men.

Review #2489: T-Men.

Cast: 

Dennis O'Keefe (Dennis O'Brien, a.k.a. Vannie Harrigan), Mary Meade (Evangeline), Alfred Ryder (Tony Genaro – aka Tony Galvani), Wallace Ford (The Schemer), June Lockhart (Mary Genaro), Charles McGraw (Moxie), Jane Randolph (Diana Simpson), Anton Kosta (Vantucci), Art Smith (Gregg), with Reed Hadley (Narrator), and Herbert Heyes (Chief Carson) Directed by Anthony Mann (#1048 - He Walked by Night, #1408 - El Cid, #2010 - Winchester '73)

Review: 

"Violence is always pictorially shocking. You can achieve fantastic effects of violence just by implication and design. And it is one of the good parts of our medium - it tends to shock and tends to excite the imagination and to rouse feelings in the audience that they’ve seen something and experienced something."

Sure, here's another movie involving a government department. Okay, we're not actually talking a paragraph about the U.S. Department of the Treasury, but they are the ones who oversee the U.S. Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, so yes, it is important that fake currency is investigated and taken out as quickly as possible. The film even features an introduction by Elmer Lincoln Irey, who served as an official for the department before serving as the first Chief of the IRS Intelligence Unit, which prosecuted thousands of people for tax evasion (so yes, the guys who busted Al Capone). Ironically, the movie actually had partial financing from organized crime with John Roselli, a member of the Chicago mob that happened to like movies and formed a silent partnership with Joseph Breen (head of the Production Code Office)*. T-Men was the first film Mann stated as "the first big one" as his previous works were basically ones that were thrust upon him (Mann stated that his days at Republic were fairly grim). Mann worked on the script from scratch and had involvement from William Eirie from the Treasury Department to bring files and create a story with John C. Higgins (of course, Virginia Kellogg was credited with the story while Higgins was credited with the screenplay - however, it has been speculated Henry Blackfort may have been involved somewhere); the research they did there led to them discovering the story of what later became Border Incident (1949). The key producer was Edward Small, who produced one other film with Eagle-Lion and Mann with Raw Deal (released in 1948 that also had O'Keefe as the star) but didn't get fully involved with the company due to feeling like they minimized his contributions. 

Released in late December 1947 on a budget of roughly over $400,000, the movie made over two million dollars, and it was the first of five collaborations between Mann and cinematographer John Alton. I'm sure you can figure out why it matters to have money that isn't fake going around in the general public (hell, how many places do you know that don't have one of those markers around that marks fake money?). What we have here is a lean affair that is definitely entertaining in showing tight work and the people that surround it. Even with the film telling you of its inspiration from an actual case (nicknamed "Shanghai Paper Chase"), you get a worthy semi-documentary feel early on with how it treats the material with efficiency and respect. It's a noir that has respect for its audience and builds its house of excitement for 92 minutes of generally involving fare, which mostly comes at the hands of O'Keefe, who apparently wanted to break into dramas (it helps to have Small as an agent). He proves pretty first rate for what the movie needs in crafty charm that has to play undercover with sincerity that rolls along like a typewriter in rattling consistency. Ford (a vaudevillian in earlier days) makes for a quality gangster presence in usefully odd disposition that gets a particularly brutal end (a steam room). The machinations that arise in trying to seep into the underbelly, even at the cost of being recognized on the street or seeing the death of those who can't cut it, is executed with swift interest by Mann and company (Alton was a pro after all) that makes one invested with the chase from the get-go. As a whole, T-Men is a solid effort for involved, having clear interest for its subject matter with useful energy in its foundation to make a worthy crime noir to recommend.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

*Roselli apparently was later involved in recruitment by the CIA in an attempt to kill dictator Fidel Castro. And then I guess he might be implicated in the boring and worthless conspiracy web of the Kennedy assassination (here's the only take: Kennedy was killed by one and only one loser. The end.). A decade later, he was found dead in a 55-gallon drum in Florida because yes, even 71-year-olds have to get whacked.

Quicksand (1950).

Review #1374: Quicksand.

Cast: 
Mickey Rooney (Dan), Jeanne Cagney (Vera), Barbara Bates (Helen), Peter Lorre (Nick), Taylor Holmes (Harvey), Art Smith (Mackey), Wally Cassell (Chuck), Richard Lane (Lt. Nelson), Patsy O'Connora (Millie), John Gallaudet (Moriarity), and Minerva Urecal (Landlady) Directed by Irving Pichel (#617 - Destination Moon and #709 - The Most Dangerous Game)

Review: 
Every decade has its dawn and characteristics that distinguish it from the one before it, particularly for film. The 1920s served as a prosperous time for silent film while the 1930s cultivated sound into a permanent trend alongside finding ways to entertain Great Depression audiences and the 1940s
found war along with film noir and the beginning of the end of the studio system. With the beginning of the Atomic Age, one could only wonder how different things could get for film and the world at large. With scares of the television and red kind, stars and directors found themselves at a crossroad over where to go with a choice beyond studio loyalty in free-lance work. In this case, this film served as a crossroad for its stars and director. Rooney, to put it lightly, had one of the most distinguished careers in acting. He had his debut in film at the age of six, having started in vaudeville with his parents before they separated and his mother moved with him to Hollywood. The following year, he starred in the short film series Mickey McGuire, doing 78 films in seven years. He would find himself into stardom in the latter half of the 1930s with films such as A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), A Family Affair (1937), and Boys Town (1938). He had reached the peak of his career by the time of his 30s (including an Academy Juvenile Award at the age of 18), but he kept on in a variety of media for 88 years until his death in 2014, whether it was a big or small film role, television, or even Broadway. Lorre had come from the stage to film through Fritz Lang's M (1931) before settling in Hollywood four years later. He had a career of B-movies and character roles that allowed for some highlights, such as Mad Love (1935), The Maltese Falcon (1941), and The Beast with Five Fingers (1946). His career had slowed down in the late 1940s, but he continued on until his death in 1964. Pichel had his start in the theater after graduating from Harvard, soon finding himself into directing alongside character roles in film in the 1920s and 1930s. He had his debut in film direction with The Most Dangerous Game (1932). His career slowed down in the 1950s as a victim of blacklisting (a consequence of fear over certain activity of American writers and directors), with a subsequent heart condition leading to his death in 1954.

This is a decent little film noir, one with a quiet presence of careful pace and a standout performance from Rooney that makes this ever-growing web of seediness and naivety work out fine. Rooney makes things work as well as they do because we can see ourselves in this everyman though his various moments with others in an attempt to play against type, playing tension with grace. Cagney does well with in a role oozing alongside a descent, while Bates serves as a decent contrast, although both have just slight chemistry with Rooney. Lorre is nice to see with his careful seedy presence, but he disappears from the film after the first half (speaking of sudden appearances, Bates really only becomes a presence in the last 25 minutes), since the real villain of the film is ill-advised decision making. Noirs can find themselves in binding twists and turns, and this one (written by Robert Smith) moves along for 79 minutes with an aim for descent that one can at least think is possible (where one mistake can lead to several others) without shaking their heads too much, particularly with its ending, where crime may not pay, but that doesn't mean one mistake is too much to overcome with time. Ultimately, this is a fairly competent little noir from Pichel as a useful curiosity through Rooney and Lorre that serves itself well in the public domain to view at some point in time.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.