Playing cards with you two is like washing your feet with your socks on.
Continuing with the #Noirvember celebration, today on Classic Movie Review, we are taking on Dark City (1950).
Before we get going, I want to shout out to Sean for his interesting comments on Film Noir.
On iMDB.com this film has a 6.7 rating[1], which seems very fair. On rottentomatoes.com the film doesn’t have a Tomatometer rating and has a slight 52 percent audience approval.[2] The film is better than this last rating.
In an October 19, 1950 review, New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther gushed on about what a star Heston would be. He was right, of course, but missed the ensemble nature of this film. In the review, he stated:
“As a right-guy-gone-wrong who “cleans” a “sucker” in a back-room poker game and then has to dodge a brother’s vengeance when the “sucker” commits suicide, Mr. Heston carries off the sheer mechanics of looking apprehensive but possessed, of talking tough and acting gentle, in a perfectly acceptable way. He even behaves with some politeness towards a frighteningly grotesque Lizabeth Scott, who is supposed to represent a cabaret singer. And that is self-discipline, indeed. But beyond that the role requires nothing. …Ed Begley is garish as a gambler who is killed while in terror’s horrid clutch, Jack Webb is noxious as a low coward and Dean Jagger is casual as a cop. Viveca Lindfors is dragged in for a little anomolous [sic] romance.”[3]
Gees, I can’t believe he said that about Lizabeth Scott. Scott, with her husky voice, was brought in to go against Lauren Bacall. It is no wonder she fell a little short. But if you look at all her work, she could pull off a Femme Fatale if given the script.
Actors
Returning
We have a lot of returning actors, so I will go rather quickly. Charlton Heston played conflicted con-man, Danny Haley. Heston was first covered in the excellent sci-fi movie The Omega Man (1971). Lizabeth Scott played poorly treated torch singer Fran Garland. Scott was first covered in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946). Incomparable actor Dean Jagger played police Capt. Garvey. He was first covered in White Christmas (1954), which I think is a terrible movie. However, I can’t say that around my sister. Harry Morgan played ex-boxer Soldier. Morgan was first covered in the awful John Wayne Film Noir Big Jim McLain (1952). Jack Webb played sniveling con-man, Augie. Jack Webb was first covered in the phenomenal Film Noir Sunset Blvd. (1950). Don DeFore played victim Arthur Winant. DeFore was recently covered in Too Late for Tears (1949). Lastly, big man Mike Mazurki played Sidney Winant. Please forget this as you listen to the summary. Mazurki was first covered in The Shanghai Gesture (1941).
New
Ed Begley played Barney, the ulcer-riddled con-man. Begley was born in 1901 in Connecticut. Begley began acting at the age of nine and is said to have left home at eleven to pursue his dream of working in show business. He eventually served in the U.S. Navy for four years before working bit jobs such as carney.
Begley began working in vaudeville in 1931. He also started working on the radio. He worked his way up in radio and theater and became quite successful, even winning a Tony. Bagley’s first full-length film was the Film Noir Boomerang! (1947). Bagley has 106 film and television credits. He specialized in playing a larger, somewhat grumpy man. A few of his film highlights include Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), Dark City (1950), On Dangerous Ground (1951), Deadline – U.S.A. (1952), Patterns (1956), 12 Angry Men (1957), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and Hang’ Em High (1968). His last film was released in 1970, and Begley died the same year. His son is actor Ed Begley Jr.
I will mention some notes on a few more characters. Viveca Lindfors played Mrs. Victoria Winant. To me, she is best known for playing Catherine Langford in Stargate (1994). Pint-sized tough guy Walter Burke had an uncredited role as George, the bartender. When you get a chance, watch Burke in All the King’s Men (1949). Walter Sande played the role of ex-boxer and club owner Swede. Sande is noted for playing the fisherman in To Have and Have Not (1944) and the shocked sergeant in Sergeant York (1941).
Story
The movie begins with a shot of a hideous bunny in a store window. Dashing, Danny Haley (Charlton Heston) walks out of the store carrying a small package. He watches everything but without love in his eyes. He sees two police cars screech to a halt in the alley he was heading towards. Danny ducks into a greasy spoon on the other side of the street. The soda jerk casually mentions that there is another raid when he sees the activity across the street.
The police crash through the door and find gamblers, odds boards, telephones, and money changing hands. They bust everything and arrest Barney (Ed Begley) and Augie (Jack Webb), but they leave Soldier (Harry Morgan) behind. Barney slips something to Solider for Danny to take care of.
As soon as the police are gone, Danny makes his way across the street. Danny tips a boy (Hamilton Camp) to take the package to Fran Garland (Lizabeth Scott) as Sammy’s Café.
Soldier is inside cleaning up the mess. Danny gets the message from Barney and calls their lawyer about why the bribes they are paying are not keeping the cops away and about getting his two colleagues bailed out of jail. Soldier gives him a pistol.
Capt. Garvey (Dean Jagger) of the vice squad comes in to check out the raid’s effect. Danny drops the gun in the trashcan. Danny complains about the payoffs. Capt. Garvey says he doesn’t have anything on Danny yet. After the cops leave, Soldier and Danny talk about there being no future in this gambling setup.
Danny goes to Sammy’s Cafe, where Fran is a songbird or torch singer. The joint is not open yet, and Fran is practicing. Fran is ecstatic to see Danny. The present is a stuffed bunny. Danny talks about moving on, and Fran knows it will be the end of the couple. Danny has been hurt by another woman and won’t commit to a permanent relationship.
Barney, Augie, Soldier, and Danny are hanging out in the back of the gambling joint. Barney has ulcers. Augie picks on Soldier for being a punch drunk, has been, boxer. Danny stands up for Soldier. Augie uses a dribble cup on Barney, and everyone is mad. Danny leaves for the club.
Fran is singing for the crowd, going table to table. Arthur Winant (Don DeFore) is at the bar and is really enjoying the show. Arthur is commenting to bartender George (Walter Burke) on how well they were treated in England during the war. Danny arrives, and Arthur buys him a drink out of the blue. George finally says he was in the war also as a gunner. Arthur tells where he was stationed, and Danny says he knows some of the guys from that base. Arthur admits he was not a flyer and was in special services, which should never be confused with special forces.
Arthur mentions that he would like to meet Fran if she weren’t Danny’s girl. Danny says it’s a free world, and the meeting could be arranged. Arthur tells that he works for an athletic club in Los Angles and has come east to buy equipment. Arthur also says his brother will be joining him tomorrow. When Arthur goes to pay, Danny sees that he has a lot of cash and a check for $5,000. Arthur gets to meet Fran. Danny says he is going to a card game, and Fran should drop by later. Arthur asks to go along, and Danny accepts. Fran’s face shows that a pigeon is about to be clipped.
The game appears to be friendly, but Arthur asks that Danny sit out and act as the dealer. Arthur goes on and on about his older protective brother. Arthur has been winning big. Fran arrives, and they decide it will be the last hand. Arther gets two pairs, aces and sevens. Barney has two pairs also, jacks and tens, but he discards one of each. Augie has three twos but throws them away. Augie folds, but Barney keeps raising Arthur. Arthur is ready to leave the game $325 ahead. Arthur tips Soldier and Danny.
Augie asks for a chance to get even, and they plan another game for tomorrow night. He asks Fran for a diner date. Danny makes no reaction, and Fran says she will have to think about it. Arthur says the game will have to end by 11:30 because he must pick his brother up at the airport.
As Fran and Danny walk home, Danny explains that the setup is to get the $5,000 check. She feels sorry for Arthur. Danny justifies it by saying Arthur took their money and it’s okay to take his. Fran asks if Danny will be leaving with his share of the money, and he replies that he doesn’t like to be needled. Fran gets upset and storms off.
Arthur shows for the game the next night. He is losing every hand and not realizing that he is being cheated. Even when he has a good hand, the others have better. Arthur tries to leave when he is out of money, but they drag him back into the game. He borrows $100 for Danny. Finally, Arthur loses so much that he has to sign over the check. This is the first time he realizes that he doesn’t have any friends at the table. He staggers away a broken man.
Danny notices that the cards are crimped, and the game was rigged. But he was the dealer, so that is a poor attempt to give him some redeeming qualities. Fran wants to know when he will be leaving. He asks her not to close in on him anymore. Danny gets a paper, and Fran sees that Arthur committed suicide by hanging himself. His brother found the body.
The news of the death causes more conflict between Danny and his partners. Barney wants to hold the check so the police can’t track them down. A phone rings, and Soldier gives out the address of the gambling joint. Soldier says what they did was wrong and Danny was the one that should have known better.
Later, Danny is in his apartment, and Fran arrives. He is being mean to Fran. Danny is in a state about the death of Arthur. The ringing phone stops their kissing fest. On the phone is Barney, who feels like he is being followed. Barney begs Danny to come over and sit with him. Danny refuses. Barney seems like Scrouge after he has seen a ghost. Barney accosts a woman coming into the building and goes upstairs to get a bottle from her.
When Barney gets back to his room, the window is broken. Someone grabs him from behind the curtains. The only identification shown is a large black ring on the killer’s massive right hand.
Danny and Augie are called down to Capt. Garvey’s office. They have seen Barney’s body already. Garvey tells that while it was made to look like a suicide by hanging, he was strangled to death. Garvey goes over their alibies. Garvey says there is a connection between the two deaths. He continues that the brother found the body and called it into the police. Garvey says he sounded like a nut. When they got to the hotel, they found an envelope addressed to Sidney Winant, but the contents were missing. He also tells them that Arthur left behind a wife and a child.
Garvey has Danny and Augie walk past Mrs. Victoria Winant (Viveca Lindfors). Outside, Augie and Danny realize that Auther’s big brother is hunting them. The pair go to a greasy spoon to discuss their options. They leave the restaurant, and the hand of the man with the large ring is shown at the other end of the counter.
Later, Danny watches Fran sing at the club. A large man walks behind him, and Danny is getting paranoid. He sees every tough guy in the joint as his potential killer. Danny waits outside until Fran joins him. They decide to go for a walk by the river. Great. That’s the worst place to be if someone is trying to kill you.
Fran pushes Danny to marry her, and he gives her the final no. Another man appears on the docks, and the couple retreats back to the club.
When Danny gets back to his apartment, he finds out that the key has been given out to another man. Danny gets the key to the connecting room and wants to get the jump on whoever is in his room. Danny unlocks the adjoining door before going into the hall and jamming the buzzer for his door on. He runs back to the adjoining door and runs into his room with his gun drawn. It is only Augie in his room, who also has a gun drawn.
Augie is freaking out and looking for help. He says Soldier is missing. Danny throws Augie out.
Danny waits outside of his hotel and sees Mrs. Winant and a man get into a car. Garvey arrives and says that the man was a homicide detective. Garvey tells Danny to be at police headquarters at 9:00 A.M. the following day.
Garvey has Danny’s records. Danny was a captain in the Army Air Force, and was found not guilty of killing a man, and had other troubles, including drunkenness. The man he killed was his best friend, and the fight they had was about Danny’s wife. Garvey continues that Danny’s father was a West Point graduate and Danny was a Cornel graduate. Garvey says that Sidney is going to kill him like a sheep in a slaughterhouse. Garvey reads him the riot act and says he is going to end up dead.
The hand of the killer is shown at a table watching Fran sing in the club. Danny is hanging at the bar and drinking steadily. Augie joins him and says Soldier is still missing. Danny decides that the two of them should fly to Los Angeles on separate flights. They will meet in Union Station on Friday. The man with the ring follows the two outside.
Danny and Augie meet in Los Angeles. Augie has been unable to find any information on Sidney. They decide to keep looking for information for a week.
Danny goes to see Mrs. Winant. He meets her son Billy (Mark Keuning) in the front yard. He pretends to be an insurance investigator. She lets him into the house. Danny says the policy was taken out by Sidney. She gets kind of strange at the mention of Sidney’s name. Mrs. Winant says the police are looking for Sidney, and the men from the card game robbed him and caused his death.
Mrs. Winant finally agrees to help find a picture of Sidney. She says he will have to come back at noon the next day.
Danny returns to the hotel where he and Augie are staying. Augie has gone into a funk and is drinking himself silly. He thinks he may have tipped off one of Sidney’s friends that they were looking for him. Augie pulls a gun on Danny and demands the check. Danny disarms him and gives him a few slaps. The motel manager (Byron Foulger) chews Danny out for making too much noise.
Mrs. Winant and Danny got to another house to pick up the information, but no one is there to let them inside. Danny is too charming to resist, and he gets Mrs. Winant to take him sightseeing. They take Billy along and have a great daying doing things. She hasn’t had this much fun since her husband died last week. Danny convinces Mrs. Winant to go on a date with him that night.
They go to the Griffith Observatory as part of their date. Mrs. Winant tells that she was from Italy when she met Arthur in New York. It was a short war romance, and it changed when Arthur returned.
They finally go to the house where the pictures are stored. Danny realizes that she doesn’t have any pictures of Sidney. She has destroyed them all and fears Sidney will come to take Billy away. At last, Mrs. Winant says Sidney is psychopathic and spent time in institutions. Danny tells Mrs. Winant not to sell the house, and she may still get the money from the insurance policy, although none exists. They kiss, and then he confesses that he is one of the gamblers. She rightly throws him out.
Danny goes back to his hotel only to find Augie dead and hanging from a rope in the bathroom. As soon as he finds the body, the local police come in and grab him. Garvey shows up and takes Danny for a walk. Garvey takes Danny to the local captain and gets him released. They are forcing Danny out of town, so he asks to go to Las Vegas.
Danny goes to a club called Swede’s. Soldier is there working with his old boxing buddy. Danny asks for a job, and Soldier takes Danny to owner Swede (Walter Sande). Danny gets a job as a dealer, but he always watches the door for someone trying to kill him.
Swede tells a story about a man he killed in the ring. When he tried to give money to the man’s mother, she spit in his face. Danny doesn’t understand, saying that death was a part of doing business.
Danny takes a couple of hundred dollar advance to another club to try and run up the money for Mrs. Winant.
Danny goes back to work, and Fran is at his table, making doe eyes at him. Fran has a job, and she plans to stay in Las Vegas. Danny asks if she will forgive him for running out, and Fran says he is really asking if Arthur’s widow could forgive him.
The man with the ring shows up at Mrs. Winant house, and Billy lets him inside the house. Under questioning, Billy reveals that Danny, under a fake name, is in Las Vegas.
Fran is nervous about her opening night singing. Danny leaves to raise more money by gambling. Danny crowds in on a craps table. He does pretty well. Fran croons away at Swede’s. Danny gets an urgent long-distance call, and Fran takes the call. Mrs. Winant is calling to let Danny know that Sidney has found out where he is and is heading to Las Vegas.
Danny is still raking it in at the craps table when the large hand with the ring is shown placing a bet. Fran runs in to warn Danny. He has $5,700, and he puts it all on one role. Danny wins and has $11,400. He wisely cashes in the chips. He gives the money to Fran and wants her to send the money to Mrs. Winant if he’s not back in the morning. Fran says she thinks Mrs. Winant would forgive Danny. Brokenhearted Fran plans to leave town.
Danny drives away in Soldier’s car, and he thinks he is being trailed by the killer. Finally, Danny makes it to his apartment. He knows the killer is still following him. He checks the room, and it seems the killer has not made it there yet. Danny faces the door with his gun and doesn’t see the killer with the ring sneaking in behind him.
The phone rings, and it is Mrs. Winant warning him to be careful. Sidney (Mike Mazurki) jumps Danny and knocks his gun away. The two have a pretty ferocious struggle. Mrs. Winant is still on the phone line, screaming. Sidney gets the upper hand and places the rope around Danny’s neck. Garvey and some other detective burst into the room to save Danny. Sidney goes for the gun on the floor, but Garvey shoots him in the arm. Sidney leaps through the window. Garvey shoots at the fleeing Sidney and apparently hits him.
Danny gets on the phone with Mrs. Winant. Danny rushes to the airport and tells Fran she is his kind of girl. He says he doesn’t want to be alone anymore. They walk across the tarmac arm in arm.
Conclusion
All over the internet, it is incorrectly stated that this is Charlton Heston’s first film. In the opening of the film, it states, “Introducing Charleton Heston.” iMDB.com shows that he was in Peer Gynt (1941), which may be a student film project, and Julius Caesar (1950) as Antony. So, let’s fix this mistake when we encounter it.
Lizabeth Scott sang the five songs in the film, and I must admit that they were not great. But contrary to Bosley Crowther’s review, the singing of the character Fran was not supposed to be good. If they meant her to sound good, they would have had it dubbed. However, Scott did later release an album of songs.
Jack Webb as Augie was constantly attacking Harry Morgan as Soldier. These two would go onto a successful series partnership in “Dragnet 1967” 1967-1970 and a television movie “Dragnet 1966” 1966.
World-Famous Short Summary – A man works through his commitment issues
Beware the moors.
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042379/
[2] Dark City – Rotten Tomatoes
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/1950/10/19/archives/the-screen-in-review-charlton-heston-makes-his-film-debut-in-dark.html
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