Chuck Connors! He was my Dad's roommate at Villanova University. Chuck was originally a baseball allstar who got a scholarship to become a professional baseball player. However he was discovered as an actor for his size and good looks. He went for it. My Dad was also an all-star football player who got his scholarship for sports. Son of Irish immigrants from Philadelphia.
Gary Merrill was ALWAYS underestimated as a versatile actor. Critics claimed his performances were wooden, but they failed to appreciate his expressive face and voice. This was one of his best performances, and one I never saw before. Jan Sterling came from a well to do family, but played the round heel tramp perfectly. Regis Toomey was his usual professional self and even the unknowns like Joe Turkel and the rest were in top form. Thanks for digging this one up. It was a winner.
I totally agree with your comment about Mr Merrill. Am looking forward to watching this mid-50s crime drama. Noir is my favorite genre & this looks like it's right up my alley !
Gary Merrill's versatility as an actor was often overlooked by critics who failed to appreciate his expressive face and voice. However, this film showcased one of his best performances. Jan Sterling played the role of a tramp convincingly and Regis Toomey was his usual professional self. Even the lesser-known actors like Joe Turkel were in top form. Overall, it was a great film.
Many people leaving Comments here are obsessed with defining this film as 'noir' or as not 'noir'. *I'd suggest that we just relax and watch the film rather than spending our time categorizing everything in sight.
Man watches with categories. Man guides his life w/categories, whether he knows it or not. He needs categories to live. Good categories. Life should guide the categories. Atlas Shrugged
"Rustle up some stenographers and get it all down while it's still hot!" I've watched a lot of film noir and this one is definitely both obscure and well made. Thanks!
I watched this one twice within a week. Surprisingly good. I have new respect for Gary Merrill in this film. He is really good. Well done in every way.
Gary Merrill was a great and very believable actor whether playing the lead role or as a supporting actor. Enjoyed his performance in 12 o'clock high with Gregory Peck very much. Had never seen this one before, so watching him as the lead was a nice treat! Thanks for posting, you just got another subscriber.
Jan Sterling was an amazing actress. Easy on the eyes, too. Loved her in a supporting role in Caged, starring the great Eleanor Parker, as an inmate. Jan was a fine film noir presence.
Merrill shouldn't have to keep apologizing to his wife for the career he's chosen. She could be more supportive instead of being a wet blanket. This was an interesting film; Toomey and Miss Sterling especially stand out among the competent cast. Thanks for posting!
Emile Meyer is the tough cop in this one. In SHANE (1953), his Riker character was the theme of the entire picture, dominating the dialog, and the fccus of the conflict. His acting was powerful and gave us an indelible screen heavy. But Hats Off To Hollywood, he got 6th or 7th billing, among those with their names in the small print. Here, he really shines.
@@p.stephens9305 Ha ! I remember that line from "Sweet Smell of Success" ! Emile's corrupt cop Lt. Kello was describing Tony Curtis' sleazy publicity agent character.
An aspiring young beautiful woman finally gets a part in a movie. She calls her parents: " Hey, Mom & Dad, I'm finally gonna be in a Hollywood movie...hooray !! It's just a short scene. I play a dead girl. All my hard work is paying off..!!"
Regis Toomey was a real find for me. I watched "Other Men's Women" and wanted to see more of him. I love to see him by surprise. Throw in Jan Sterling and I'll watch all night. They both appear in "The High and the Mighty" (1954) a film that started my facination for Jan Sterling. The intro for that movie states that it was "Introducing Jan Sterling" even though I'm sure I've seen her in earlier productions including this one, also 1954 and "Ace in the Hole" (1951). Good actors.
.....Gary Merrill is one of the most thorough, professional, and totally committed cigarette smokers known to man, back then, or today.....a man has never lived who loved a cigarette as much as him...
Lom was visited by inspector Clouseau while trying to show he should be released from a mental hospital...of course the Pink Panther ruins that concept...Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom...priceless comedy!
YES ! That was a great mid-60s British TV drama ! I watched a handful of episodes years ago here at RU-vid. Since then they've been removed due to copyright issues. A wonderfully well written & well acted series. Herbert Lom was especially good as the psychiatrist (Dr Roger Corder), who treated a new patient each week.
@@jubalcalif9100 Yes, it was great. Every month or two I do a search to see if somebody posted a few episodes I could watch before they're deleted. So far... no luck.
@@jubalcalif9100 That's what I thought this was, with Herbert Lom, so I'm disappointed. Will still watch there due to good write-ups in the comments section. I also watched the series on You Tube and hoped it might have been uploaded again.
I see co-actors who went on to be Major Stars . This movie is hitting all the bells & whistles . And please don't get upset with my comments , I'm just having some fun . 😊😊😊
Not sure this really is 'noir' more 'crime/drama' there is no private detective and the lead role is a copper, what is your definition of noir in terms of plot and character elements, noir is an over used term these days.
@@Kidraver555 Wiki says noir is a "stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations." I also think great character actor performances make noir. A private detective is definitely not required, imho. Gun Crazy is definitely a noir. When I first fell in love with the genre, 20 years ago, I was taught that Detour was one of the first noirs. There's many more examples...
@@Kidraver555 The Big Heat is a noir and has no PI and a cop the central character. This has some similarities to it. In the Big Heat the police department is corrupt. Here it is incompetent. I agree there are a lot of movies on YT described as noir and aren't, but this one strikes me as a prime example.
I'm a Jan Sterling fan. Loved her in ACE IN THE HOLE (aka THE BIG CARNIVAL). In my 20th Century-Fox days, the closest I got to Ms. Sterling was a chance discovery of her dressing room outside Stage 10. Someone had scrawled her name on a strip of masking tape on a 12-foot trailer.
A little background: Toomey was 3-1/2 years younger than my dad. They were both children in Pittsburgh. Dad told me that, as a boy, Toomey kept to himself a lot.
First time i ever saw Gary Merrill was in the very first episode of The Time Tunnel [tv show, 1966-67] playing a senator, bent on shutting the project down. He raised his voice in a scene, and was certainly not "wooden." Since then I have scene many of his films. I suspect the films were wooden and not the actor after watching this performance. As good as anything Humphrey Bogart would have done in the same film/script.
Merrill's Revenge: A great noir-crime thriller. Such a great cast of character actors. Regis Toomey (Guys & Dolls), Emile Meyer (countless westerns), James Westerfield (on the Waterfront, Hang 'em High), Chubby Johnson, Chuck Conners (The Rifleman), Claude Akins. But it doesn't take a genius to recognize Merrill's role is almost a mirror image of his wonderful performance in 12 O'Clock High where he got kicked out of his job, replaced by Gregory Peck. In Human Jungle he replaces Westerfield. Leading up to Merrill's promotion and in the immediate aftermath dialogue is almost identical to 12 O'Clock High. The film could be a case study in personality types and leadership styles.
Guess who at 19:52? A young Chuck as an extra! Notice how his shoes skate on the pavement? Hobnails, which guys used to stick in their shoes. Young guys used to get in trouble for wearing hobnail shoes to school and wrecking the linoleum. Lots of other young actors who would make it big in later years, including the guy who played the gorilla in Planet of the Apes.
When you mentioned a cast member who later appeared in "Planet of the Apes", I suppose you mean Claude Akins. He sure played a lot of nogoodniks over the years. This nifty noir overflows with familair faces !
29:23, 41:59, 46:49, 49:35 ~ Stunningly beautiful and dripping with sexuality and always gave brilliant performances. Jan Sterling was hands down my favorite blondie from the 50s.
Gary Merrill made a convincing Colonel in charge of WW2 counter espionage in the 1951 German language movie "enschieden bevor morgengrau " starring Oscar Werner.
@@None-zc5vg entire movie is interlaced with English and then German speaking with a few Mexican exclamations like entiendo y hasta luego muchachos...still very easy to understand the entire plot!
A "cops and thugs" scenario that is both predictable and convoluted, very talkative, with a rather disappointing chase ending. But there's a good local painting and an interesting character study, served up by an excellent cast. Gary Merril, rather dull for such an energetic character (my apology to his fans), the beautiful Paula Raymond, Régis Toomey, as discreet as fair, Lamont Johnson (Lannigan), a happy discovery for me, and especially Chuck Connors impressive, dazzling even here, without forgetting Jane Sterling always so seductive and convincing... Thanks for the discovery
I've always been lukewarm on Gary Merrill myself, and this movie didn't change my mind. I did enjoy the interesting twist to the typical noir, which is usually focused on the criminal's viewpoint and angst. Here we have the angsty precinct captain who has a bit of a castrating woman for a wife.
"We disagree"- Black people. "We agree" - the mafia. "We disagree"- women wanting reproductive healthcare. "We agree"- Catholic church officials that are pedophiles. "We disagree"- victims of American LEO's abuse including murder "We agree"- corrupt white collar criminals including politicians ect. ect. ect.
Police procedural film about a police captain assigned to take over a demoralized police precinct and turn it around by solving all the unsolved cases as well as some new tough ones.
He was married to Lucile ball? I guess he was a truly good guy. A lot of guest appearances on game shows. They knew how to enjoy life more after the second world war.
Thank you for a fine police movie. I must say, though, that the police captain got off lightly. Bullying tactics cost lives and allienate the public. He was an egomaniac.
NOIRE rocks not sucks! (And thanks aplenty to our French amis et frères!) ' Did not know your channel even existed! It is impossible that I should ever NOT subscribe, and so now have! Merci beaucoup.
If you know anything about Los Angeles (or any other big city post World War Two and the cynicism that ran through society) then, you will understand the context of the theme. What makes this gem above par is the "B" cast who perform an "A+" job. Other commenters have nailed the essentials so all I will add is my pet theory of what ended film noir....it was cigarettes!
Fair movie when matched up against the genre of the time. Where was the investigation, the ballistics match up with regard to the policeman who said he shot "high". Seems likely to have been someone in the getaway car. This was after the new cop made a big deal about investigating! The script continued to disappointing from that point forward. The ending was a poor wrap up. The endings on these older 30's - 50's are consistently short and lacking. This one was particularly weak.
👍True, the details and sound design were not on the Director's mind here(probably a tight budget and shooting schedule). But remember, this is fiction and in order for make believe to work, you have to be willing to suspend reality for the hour and a half, erso. 😀
Yes ! And dig that crew cut ! He's also a bad guy in the classic 1958 Western "The Big Country". By the time TV's "The Rifleman" came around, he was a good guy.
Okay..browsing for this. I may be lame..but is the police chief..the munsters grandpa..or father-in-law of Herman Munster? I feel really like he is..great flic for my mood this morning..seems like i will have to look this question up! Noir to me..if that is a debate& very entertaining dialogue.TY for uploading this.
No. Grandpa Munster was played by veteran comedic actor Al Lewis. The chief in this 1954 noir was played by Emile Meyer, who played some notable bad guys. For instance, he played the chief villian (the greedy rancher Rufus Stryker) in the classic 1953 Western "Shane" and later played corrupt cop Lt. Harry Kello in 1957's "Sweet Smell of Success".
Danforth (Gary Merrill) is assigned to take over the police department in a section of a large city saddled with juvenile delinquency, petty crimes, ...
Oh my gosh what a awesome movie Need these tactics more & more across America at least in Republican cities Police are respectful & probably use ...these tectics need to be in Democratic cities. Great acting ..,& lingo.......🇺🇸
And too, we had then "The Blackboard Jungle" with lots and lots of 'juvenile delinquents' !! We are very lucky that this class of miscreant, wrongly-guided youth exists no longer. Now we have instead the so gentle and very feeling Wokiees, which only desire is to improve things all-round! (And, not to be confused with any Wookies of Star Wars fame -- hairy carping creatures that were tough and blustery, and could tear one's head right off if irritated beyond some point not knowable!) Those type gone-wrong delinquents then lead us directly to "The Beat Generation," which youth and young adults were mostly concerned with the meaning of life, cool music, jiving, chess and coffee, and of course philosophizing. (We're talking here Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsburg.) From those we saw the "Rise of the Beatniks," which species was mostly a fashion taken up by part-time wannabe real Beat types. And from out of those and with all caution and hesitancy as thrown rudely aside, came out Glorious Hippydom, where no bars to LOVE -- LOVE -- LOVE were to be tolerated. Even the depressed gays of that time were technically not to be excluded but, sometimes were kinda, old anti-habits dying hard and all but, generally all worked out rather nicely post that learning curve, for LOVE's Supreme Purpose. Of course there were other classes of semi-types that developed between those early ones, and our own Wokiees of this day but, with those I am not so familiar, and therefor cannot describe nor opine-upon them, only cogitate wonderingly. And THERE you have it -- from the juveniles of odious delinquency -- to our far-improved younger ones of our own day! "History deserves to be remembered."
Of the many vintage films that I've watched, I've never heard the script use the term "fags." That really surprised me. I guess in 1954 it was OK with the Hays Code, (1930-1967). Interestingly, it wasn't included with the subtitles/close captions turned on. 37:50
I assumed he was saying "vags" for vagabonds. That makes more sense to me in context. This is a hays code movie, so, as I understand it, just as they wouldn't have cursed, they wouldn't have used slurs either.
No matter what it is a good movie stands on it's own . If your name is not SISKEL and/or EBERT pipe down and quit moaning . Critics and opinions are like buttholes , everybody has one and nobody cares . 😢😢😢
