Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

While it may come along at the very end of the classic film noir cycle, Odds Against Tomorrow is highly recommended to fans of those movies. It’s about one great big score, of course, it’s about tension between the robbers, and it’s a heavy-handed, but well-intentioned, condemnation of racism.

Ed Begley plays an ex-cop, Burke, who thinks he has a foolproof robbery plan. He cannot do it alone though, so he enlists the assistance of Slater (Robert Ryan). He also needs a black man in the team, as the plan relies on a guard opening the door to the African American gentleman delivering some food, so he brings in Ingram (Harry Belafonte). Both Slater and Ingram have debts to pay off, which means both are highly motivated to get the job done right, but Slater continues to be perturbed while he has to work alongside a black man.

Based on a novel by William P. McGivern, Odds Against Tomorrow was adapted into film form by Nelson Gidding and Abraham Polonsky (blacklisted at the time, therefore credited as John O. Killens). While the robbery itself makes up the third act of the movie, as you would expect, the majority of the runtime is a look at two damaged characters who don’t see themselves as having any other choices on their path through life. Luck hasn’t been with them, which hasn’t stopped them gambling, so this big score is needed to set them free from misery of their own making.

Both Ryan and Belafonte are excellent in their lead roles, both carrying different weights on their shoulders as they resolve to do whatever it takes to improve their lot in life. Ryan allows the prejudice to emanate from his character in waves, no edges softened or ugliness hidden, and that makes him even more unsavory than your typical noir lead, but he’s counter-balanced by the pragmatism of the very charismatic, but hot-headed, character played by Belafonte. Begley is also very good, spending a lot of his time as a buffer between the two men that he needs to stay focused on the job in hand. Will Kuluva and Richard Bright provide extra “motivation”, and there’s time for some solid work from Shelley Winters, Gloria Grahame, and Kim Hamilton, among others.

It is far from the best of film noir, in many ways, but it also has a hell of a lot to enjoy. The direction from Robert Wise is as solid and straightforward as usual (Wise is a name I always feel is far-too-rarely mentioned when discussing the absolute greats of cinema, he has at least three masterpieces to his name in three different genres), the pacing allows viewers to enjoy the fleshing out of the characters as they also see the robbery plan being hatched, and the friction between Ryan and Belafonte keeps simmering away until the point when it inevitably rises up to worsen a bad situation.

The very end may be a bit eye-rollingly clumsy, like a moral punchline underlining a central message of the movie, but it doesn’t undo everything that came along before it. All in all, wonderful stuff.

8/10

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Noir November: The Set-Up (1949)

Based on a lengthy noir poem by Joseph Moncure March, The Set-Up is one of the first films that I ever saw to make use of that well-worn trope, the boxer due to throw a fight. It's not, however, the very first. Trust me, I checked with people who know a lot more than I do. But it holds up as an early example already showing how perfect the idea is, even in such a simple, stripped-down, form.

Robert Ryan plays Stoker, the boxer past his prime who thinks he still has at least one good fight left in him. Unfortunately, his handlers think different, which is why they've taken money from a tough guy to ensure that Stoker loses the fight when he's supposed to. But they don't let Stoker in on the plan, assuming that they won't ever have to let him know. That all changes when the boxer really remembers how to box, and his co-operation is needed to keep everyone safe. But he has his pride, and a real shot at victory.

It's hard for me to talk at length about The Set-Up without feeling as if I'm stretching everything out too far. The film itself is such a fine example of economical brilliance that rambling on about it would almost seem like a slight insult. Suffice it to say, the script by Art Cohn is sharp and full of heart, as befits the central character that viewers are rooting for, and the direction by Robert Wise is a reminder of why his name is attached to so many classics in so many different genres. The fight scenes remain tense and impactful, while the character beats outside the ring really flesh out a world that could have just as easily been full of blank faces rolling by until the bell rang for the main event.

Ryan is fantastic in the main role, one that requires him to be credible in the ring and also readable in his thoughts - the pride, the doubt, the determination, etc. Audrey Totter also does well, playing the woman who wants to stand by his side but who also feels that any answers to their problems are unlikely to lie in boxing. George Tobias and Percy Helton are the men who are apparently in Stoker's corner, and Alan Baxter overshadows the proceedings as the menacing figure who wants the fight to end just as he's "predicted" it would.

I really want to discuss the third act in more detail, but I'll refrain. That ruins films for those who've yet to see them, and it's something that would be more involving in an actual conversation anyway, as opposed to just me describing my own reaction to how things turn out. Instead, I'll just encourage as many people as possible to check this one out. Then we can chat about it for a long time if we ever meet up and share a beverage or two. It's short enough that if, by some chance, you dislike it then you won't have wasted too much of your day. But, trust me, it's not one I can imagine film fans disliking.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Collection-Asphalt-Jungle-Murder/dp/B000244F2S/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1415107385&sr=1-2&keywords=the+set-up

Crossfire (1947)

While investigating the death of a man named Samuels (Sam Levene), a Police Inspector (Robert Young) starts off with one prime suspect (an army lad named Mitchell, played by George Cooper) but soon realises that there may be more to the crime. Mitchell has Keeley (Robert Mitchum) on his side, but there's also someone (Montgomery, played by Robert Ryan) who seems determined to help the police strengthen their case against Mitchell.

Written by John Paxton, and based on the book by Richard Brooks, Crossfire is an enjoyable, dark thriller that also takes some time to highlight the ugliness of anti-Semitism while never feeling too preachy. There are one or two moments that stop the action in order to make a major point or relate an appropriate moral anecdote, but the performances from everyone onscreen ensure that the film never feels as if it's trying too hard to make its points.

Director Edward Dmytryk does a decent job, but most of the groundwork is laid out by both the fine script and the casting of the lead roles.

Young is great as Finlay, a conscientious policeman who doesn't take long to suspect that he may have been put on the trail of the wrong man. Mitchum doesn't have too many scenes in the movie, but he does well with what he's given. Cooper may be a bit weak in his role, but this works just fine, considering the nature of his character. Last, but far from least in this little tale of death and deceit, we have Ryan, who excels with a performance that makes him easy to hate. Gloria Grahame and Jacqueline White both do good work, with the former especially enjoyable as an unhappily married woman who may be able to provide Mitchell with a vital alibi.

It may be, in many ways, a low-key movie that focuses on characters more than major plot twists and turns, but Crossfire still manages to be surprisingly enjoyable and exciting from start to finish. It's well worth a watch.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Film-Noir-Collection-Kirk-Douglas/dp/B000UWXM1C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383652224&sr=8-1&keywords=film+noir