Time wounds all heels – 711 Ocean Drive (1950)
This Film Noir has a Dam good ending. Edmond O’Brien is at the top of his game, playing a decent fellow who turns to crime and claws his way to the top. But will his desires cause him to take a fall? The film’s final sequence is a dam-exciting chase that ratches the tension up so high you can feel the dam electricity.
Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors. Today on Classic Movie Review, we are taking on 711 Ocean Drive (1950). This movie has an okay 6.8 on iMDB.com[1] with no Tomatometer score and a 61 percent audience score on Rottentomatoes.com[2]. In a contemporary review, New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther panned the film, writing:
“Despite some considerable advertising of 711 Ocean Drive as a daring and courageous revelation of the big bookmaking and gambling syndicates, this modest Columbia melodrama … is no more than an average crime picture with some colorful but vague details thrown in. Certainly, no one who reads the papers with a fairly retentive eye can have any less comprehension of the gambling racket than is illustrated here. … In short, this little picture, conventionally written but well photographed, does no more than any gangster picture in reminding us that gangsters are crooks.”[3]
Did Bosley know that incredible actor Edmond O’Brien led the cast that included Joanne Dru, Otto Kruger, Don Porter, and Howard St. John? I guess he wanted a documentary on organized criminal betting.
This movie is very well shot and has a compelling story about rising too far too fast and believing it will last forever. It is a familiar tale and is exceptionally done in this movie.
Actors – 711 Ocean Drive (1950)
Returning
Edmond O’Brien played the role of Mal Granger. I guess, with that name, it was bound to turn out bad. O’Brien was first covered in the Burt Lancaster classic Birdman of Alcatraz (1962).
Joanne Dru played a master Femme Fatale, Gail Mason, who was married to a gangster. Dru was first covered in the not-to-be-missed Western Red River (1948).
Otto Kruger was perfect in the role of head gangster Carl Stephans. He had a calm demeanor that belied the depth of his potential violence. Kruger was first covered in the great Film Noir Murder, My Sweet (1944).
This time, on the right side of the law, Howard St. John played Lt. Pete Wright. Wright also gave external narration. St. John was recently covered in the Audie Murphy boxing tale, World in My Corner (1956).
Always appearing menacing, Bert Freed was uncredited as gangster Steve Marshak. Freed was first covered in the kick um up Billy Jack (1971).
The links for all of the reviews mentioned above are in the description.
New
Don Porter played middle-level gangster Larry Mason. Porter was born in Oklahoma in 1912. Porter joined the National Guard at 14, lying about his age. His first acting was voicing parts in radio plays. In 1936, he began acting in regional theater.
Porter’s first film was Mystery of the White Room (1939). As his acting career was beginning, World War II broke out. Porter served as a combat photographer. He also worked in military training films.
Extremely prolific on television, Porter is known for Night Monster (1942), Eyes of the Underworld (1942), She-Wolf of London (1946), Danger Woman (1946), 711 Ocean Drive (1950), The Racket (1951) with Robert Mitchum. I have a video on this film; the link will be in the description. Finally, we have Turning Point (1952).
Porter is best known for his role as Gidget’s father, Professor Lawrence, on “Gidget,” which ran from 1965 to 1966. This role resulted in him appearing in Gidget Goes to Rome (1963). Gidget was played by Sally Fields on television and Sandra Dee, Cindy Carol, or Deborah Walley in the movies. James Darrin was in three of these movies. I discussed Darrin in a review of his first film, a little-known Film Noir Rumble on the Docks (1956). The link will be in the description. Porter’s last credit was in 1988, and he died in 1997.
Story – 711 Ocean Drive (1950)
This movie begins with a note saying due to content, the film crew was threatened with violence and had to have police protection.
As the credits roll, parts of a pivotal murder are shown, then a phone call, and finally, the door closing at the office of the police Gangster Squad. Lt. Pete Wright (Howard St. John) and Detective Carter (Jay Barney) speed in a blaring police car, trying to catch a plane to Las Vegas. Wright says they are going to pick up Mal Granger (Edmond O’Brien) on a murder rap.
Wright begins thinking and narrating the story from the beginning. Mal is a top-flight electrical engineer who works for a telephone company. He lends $20 to a coworker before going to meet his bookie Chippie (Sammy White). They are pretty tight as Mal is a regular customer.
Chippie invites Mal out for coffee. The bookie says there is another way for Mal to make extra money. Chippie continues that Vince Walters (Barry Kelley) runs the Tri-State Press and needs help. After calling in Mal’s last bet, Chippie says that Tri-State collects the information from the tracks and distributes it to all the bookies.
Tri-State, although legal, is in the back rooms of Liberty Finance. The setup at Tri-State has a lot of men on telephones writing the information on paper forms. Vince is really interested in Mal’s skills. They take the tour, and Vince says he is the only wire service in town. If the track won’t provide the information, they have to sneak it out. Mal pitches how he would modernize the operation, including electronic acoustic phone relays. Vince wants to expand his wire service to the entire state of California. Vince offers Mal $150 a week to set up the system. Mal sees office worker Trudy Maxwell (Dorothy Patrick) and is immediately interested.
Later, Mal and Chippie take their dates to a restaurant. Mal states to his date that he is not the marrying kind. Vince and Trudy arrive at the restaurant. Chippie tells Mal that Vince also runs a check cashing service for bookies. In the backroom, Vince threatens to cut off a bespectacled bookie, Weiss (Sidney Dubin), who owes him 3k.
Mal goes and starts macking on Trudy. Vince runs him off. It is at this time that the Lt. Wright joins the Gangster Squad. Not knowing that Tri-State is legally operating in the back, Wright is ordered to check up on Liberty Finance.
Mal implements massive improvements, and Vince’s takes goes up incredibly. Mal then moves into getting the information out of reluctant tracks. He wires an old man with an earpiece and transmitter. Mal and Trudy go to the track to preview her signaling method, fingers against a white purse, shown for a spotter in a nearby house. The police arrest Trudy but the electronic method works. Mal mentions he wants more of the money coming into Vince.
Mal continues to make innovations to stay ahead of the police. Mal has a plan to get his share of the money. One day, he takes Trudy out to lunch. Shortly, Mal gets word that the wire system is down and the old man has been picked up. Mal won’t help Vince until he agrees to cut him in for 20 percent of the business. Mal has increased Vince’s take five times and controls the entire state. Vince accepts Mal’s offer.
Lt. Wright and the Gangster Squad have been arresting bookies but have been unable to get to Tri-State. At a local drive-in restaurant, Mal and Chippie collect payoff from bookies as the police watch. The bespectacled bookie Weiss comes late, and his payoff is light. Mal gives him until 3 P.M. to bring the loan payment to Vince.
Vince tells Weiss he is out of business because he can’t pay. Vince threatens Weiss’s family, and the bookie kills him with a gun. He fires at Mal but misses.
Mal is interrogated by the Gangster Squad after Weiss is found dead in his car from a self-inflicted wound. Lt. Wright tells Mal to get out of the business because they all end up like Vince. Mal throws away his telephone company badge, showing he is all in for criminal activity.
Mal swims with his dog at the beach. Shortly after he goes inside, Trudy arrives. Trudy gigs Mal for all the expensive things he is buying and about his treatment of old friends. Mal tells Chippie that he will never marry Trudy. Chippie lets Mal know that the bookies are fussing about the rates he is charging. He also warns that the mafia type would soon come after his outfit.
In an office in Cleveland, National Wire Service gangster boss Carl Stephans (Otto Kruger) and his right-hand man Larry Mason (Don Porter) are having a board meeting. Stephans orders Steve Marshak (Bert Freed) to have their Florida man murdered for stealing from them.
The talk turns to Mal. It is been a year since Vince was murdered. Stephans mentions that their syndicate only goes as far as Kansas City. I think it’s because they were stopped at Fargo.
Larry plans to meet with Mal and convince him it is better to come in with the big boys. Stephans tells Larry to go to California and take his wife along on the trip. Stephens says he will be there in a week.
Larry’s wife, Gail Mason (Joanne Dru), is crazy drunk in a bar and flirting with some random man. When Larry shows up, the random guy takes a powder.
Back in California, Mal goes to a minor league baseball game at Gilmore Field. He runs into a bookie who complains about being gouged by the wire service. Larry tries to talk to Mal, but Mal refuses, saying he already knows why Larry is in town. When Mal sees Gail, he agrees to meet with Larry the next day. Mal and Gail watch each other during the game.
Mal travels to Palm Springs with Larry and Gail to meet with Stephens. Stephens sees that Mal and Gail are making eyes. They tell Mal he can join their syndicate for 50 percent of his take. In return, Mal will get protection and opportunities with a share of syndicate profits.
When Mal and Gail leave, Stephens prevents Larry from following as it is part of his plan. Mal goes to the bar, and before long, Gail arrives. They dance and make googoo eyes. Mal accuses Gail of being part of the setup. She gets mad and storms out. He follows and apologizes. Gail gives her backstory and why she married Larry. They get all kissy-faced. I guess if they weren’t in Palm Springs, it would have started raining after they got in the car.
As soon as the National Wire Service is entrenched, they gather all the bookies in a warehouse. Mal announces his partnership, and Larry informs them they must form a protective association. The bookies will pay dues to the association, which the wire service will take and presumably use to protect them from the police and other problems. The ones that won’t join are out of the business. The price is another 20 percent of the bookies take.
A reign of terror begins against everyone not part of the association. This includes robbery, beatings, and shooting. Trudy does the books and tells Mal he is getting less than 30 percent of the 50 percent he was promised. She also warns that Larry is unhappy about him running around with Gail.
Outside, one of the bookies, Tim (Charles Jordan), asks Mal for a second chance. The man is missing an eye and has a scar down his cheek from the gangsters. Mal refuses to help the broken man.
Mal threatens Larry about the money and threatens to quit. Larry says there is no way out. Larry is also unhappy that Mal has been running around with his wife, but he never gets mad at Stephens for setting the whole thing up. Later, on a date, Gail tells Mal that there is no way out. Mal plans to take his money and Gail and head for a tropical paradise. Lt. Wright continues to watch the goings on.
Mal and Gail had a date scheduled for the Friday night boxing matches, but Larry showed up with her ticket. Larry said that Gail was hospitalized because she “fell down the stairs.” Larry knows everywhere Mal and Gail have gone. Mal goes to see the beaten Gail, and he decides that it is time to bump out Larry.
Mal locates a hitman named Gizzi (Robert Osterloh) using an underwork connection. He pays Gizzi, a tailor, $10,000 for the hit on Larry.
Mal is on the patio with Gail and Larry on the night of the hit. The assassins sneak into the bushes with a rifle. Mal spills a drink on Gail, and they go into the kitchen as Larry is shot. At the funeral, Stephens is suspicious of Mal and the murder. He vows to kill the man who is responsible. Mal tells Gail he had nothing to do with the murder.
Mal wants six months to get his money before he and Gail can go away. Mal tries to give Trudy a bonus, but she quits the job, suspecting what he has done. Gizzi comes to see Mal at his house and demands $25k for his silence. Gizzi says he will return to the old country when he gets the money. They set up a meeting to deliver the money on the Malibu Pier at 10 P.M. No sooner had Gizzi left than Stephens demanded that Mal come for a dinner meeting.
Stephens tells Mal he will now be in charge of the West Coast. He continues that taking care of the assassin is the most critical task to be handled. Stephens has a list of suspects. Marshak says he knows Gizzi from back in Detroit, and he is someone who could have handled a job like this. Mal is internally panicking as he is dismissed from the meeting.
Mal drives to the end of the pier where Gizzi is waiting. Mal pays the killer, but Gizzi is getting greedy and wants to be part of the business. Gizzi threatens Gail. When Gizzi walks in front of Mal’s car, he accelerates and crushes Gizzi against the rails, killing him and pushing the body into the ocean.
When Mal gets home, Chippie tells that Lt. Wright wants him to call. Mal calls Gail in Palm Springs and has her hook up his electronic phone relay. When he calls Lt. Wright, it seems the call is coming from Palm Springs, giving Mal an alibi for the time of the murder. Lt. Wright has the call recorded.
Later, Lt. Wright sees that Gizzi was crushed before he was dumped in the water. When the secretary is transcribing the tape, the cops hear a street car horn and know that Mal wasn’t in Palm Springs.
When Gail sees the newspaper story about Gizzi, she suspects that he was the killer of Larry and Mal had hired Gizzi. Mal slaps her just like Larry would. Lt. Wright orders Mal to the station to hear the sound on the recording. Mal stays cool as they press him about Gizzi. They let Mal leave.
Gail and Mal pack for an escape to Las Vegas with a bundle of money he has. Mal and Chippe work in Las Vegas to delay the syndicates’ wire service feed. In this way, they can make bets after the races have been run, known as past posting. They will make long-odds bets against the syndicate for races they know the results of. This is precisely the setup used in The Sting (1973), which I have reviewed on audio. The link is in the description.
Gail and Chippie are in the betting parlor. Mal will announce the winner in code over the betting parlor intercom, and the pair will place the bet. He sends the signal. Both Chippie and Gail make large bets. They do this for the 7th and 8th races in California.
Chippie is spotted by former bookie Tim, the guy with the eye patch that Mal wouldn’t help get back in the gambling business. The parlor doesn’t have the cash, so they give Chippie a check. Chippie gets rid of all the evidence of their past posting. Mal’s plan is to hold up at the Boulder Inn outside of Las Vegas until Chippie cashes the check.
Lt. Wright tracks down the mechanic (Walter Sande) who fixed Mal’s car after he killed Gizzi.
Tim, the bookie, reports to Stephens that Chippe and Mal were in town when the syndicate was taken for a ¼ million. Stephens now knows that Mal ordered the killing of Larry. Stephens calls Lt. Wright.
Chippie heads to Las Vegas to cash the check. When he comes out of the bank, he is grabbed by syndicate men. They find his Boulder Inn key and know where Mal and Gail are hiding. Chippie is sent on a one-way trip.
Marshak and another man meet Lt. Wright at the airport. Wright and a local sheriff head toward the Boulder Inn. Marshak is placed in charge of the West Coast.
Mal and Gail realize that something has happened to Chippie and head out toward Las Vegas. Lt. Wright and Mal see each other on the road; both cars turn around and head for Boulder Dam, which at the time of this movie was being called by the correct name of Hoover Dam.
The dam feds set up a roadblock as Mal and Gail try to escape across the dam into Arizona. Mal and Gail jump on a dam tour and try to reach Arizona through the dam. The pair jump off the dam tour and try to make their way along the dam stairs and tunnels. Lt. Wright spots the dam couple and heads after them. Gail breaks down from running in high heels and stops. Mal promises to return for her. Gail is caught by the police.
Mal goes on alone and climbs some dam inspection stairs. Lt. Wright and company take the elevator back to the top. Mal sees that Gail has been caught. Mal tries to shoot it out with the police but is shot down like a dam dog.
The movie’s end says this all results from $2 bets.
Conclusion – 711 Ocean Drive (1950)
At one point in the film, Mal Granger (Edmond O’Brien) is shown coming out of the ocean and playing with his dog. I have always assumed this is the 711 Ocean Drive mentioned in the title, but it is never said during the film. I habitually call this movie 711 Ocean Boulevard because of the Eric Clapton album 461 Ocean Boulevard.
The credit erroneously said, “Introducing” Sammy White, who played Chippie. However, this was his fifth film.
Mal (Edmond O’Brien), Larry Mason (Don Porter), and Gail Mason (Joanne Dru) attend a baseball game in the film. This was shot at Gilmore Field, where the minor league team, Hollywood Stars, played until 1957, when the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. The field was torn down by CBS to build Columbia Broadcasting’s Television City.
I told you this movie had a dam good ending. The actual name of the dam on the Arizona/Nevada border is Hoover Dam, as it is the practice to name dams after the president in office when they are appropriated. When FDR defeated Hoover in 1932, he could not change the name. However, his administration had directives mandating that it be referred to as Boulder Dam in all official correspondence, interpretive material, and signage. In 1947, the name Hoover Dam was restored.
World-Famous Short Summary – Don’t use wax wings to fly near the Sun.
Beware the moors.
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042176/
[2] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/711_ocean_drive
[3] 711 Ocean Drive – Wikipedia Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, July 20, 1950. Accessed: February 15, 2011.
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