Desperate (1947)

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Freelance trucker driver Steve Brodie accepts an evening job, despite also celebrating a 4-month engagement with his girl Audrey Long, because it pays so well and they can use the money. What Brodie doesn't realize until it's too late is that the job is for moving a load of stolen furs and is paid for by an old friend, now crook, Raymond Burr. Before he can refuse, a police officer is shot, and in the chaos Brodie drives off in a panic, while Burr's kid brother is arrested. Brodie doesn't get far however and Burr has him roughed up, wanting him to be the fall guy, clearing his kid brother. But when Brodie's name and photo ends up in the newspapers, he decides to run away with Long. They head out west to Long's aunt. Burr hires shady private dick Douglas Fowley to track down Brodie. Brodie eventually tries to turn himself in and give his side of the story, but police inspector Jason Robards Sr. lets him go, using him as bait to get to the rest of the gang. And sure enough, Fowley has no problem finding Brodie...A tense noir/thriller that wastes little time from start to finish. It was the last noir of director Anthony Mann ('T-Men', 'Raw Deal') before starting a partnership with DoP John Alton. However, the cinematographer on this movie, George E. Diskant ('The Narrow Margin', 'On Dangerous Ground') is no slouch either. The movie is beautiful to watch with some great noir photography.Brodie ('Out of The Past', 'Armored Car Robbery') is quite good as an innocent man on the run, but Long ('Born To Kill') is a bit too wholesome here for my taste. Burr ('Raw Deal', 'Pitfall') was born to play noir heavies, he is as menacing here as ever. Fowley ('Behind Locked Doors', 'Edge Of Doom') is his usual slimy self, I feel even as a character actor he never really escaped the B's, which is a shame, he had the necessary talent in my opinion.There is very little noir ambiguity in this movie, the good guys are great and friendly and the bad guys are mean and conniving. It's a minor complaint however, for an otherwise highly entertaining movie that keeps the suspense level pretty high throughout, with a great build-up to an exciting climax inside a 4-story stairwell. Highly recommended! 8/10

After being unwittingly dragged into a heist that goes gone wrong truck driver Steve Randall ( Steve Brodie) and wife Ann (Audrey Long) take it on the lam not only to escape the police but also Radak (Raymond Burr) who wants to revenge his brother getting the chair.One of a handful of well made B noirs made by director Anthony Mann in the forties Desperate is a bit of a threadbare They Live by Night with Brodie and Long giving decent performances as the on the run duo and Burr and imposing one as the cold sadistic thug. Mann moves the film at a brisk enough pace while he and cinematographer George Dyskant provide some of their standard noir canvases, especially a staircase finale, to amp up suspense.

Not a bad movie. It has its moments. One occurs while villainous Raymond Burr is holding hero Steve Brodie at gunpoint with the intention of shooting him at the exact moment Burr's brother is scheduled to die in the electric chair. Burr blames Brodie for the capture of Burr's brother and is going to take revenge. Burr sets the alarm clock at twelve minutes to midnight and the seconds tick by without the hands of the clock seeming to move. Sweat trickles down everyone's face and the silence hangs like a shroud over the tableau.Another good scene is the climactic shoot out in which Brodie pursues Burr slowly and carefully up half a dozen creaking flights of stairs in a rooming house. Burr waits, gun in hand, until Brodie appears on the landing below, takes aim, shoots -- and misses. Four times. Brodie fires only once, on the top floor. There is one of those open spaces between the many flights of stairs. Does anyone need to explain what happens to Burr's body when the bullet finds its mark? Neat touch: As the slow-motion chase moves roofward, some apartment doors open, the occupants peer out, curious about the gunplay, then abruptly close the doors and disappear.The script is pedestrian. Brodie, an ex-GI with a pregnant wife, is tricked into taking part in a robbery engineered by Burr's gang but he manages to signal the police and the robbery is aborted. Thereafter Burr and his gang track down Brodie, threaten to mutilate his wife, Audrey Long, and otherwise cause Brodie some considerable measure of distress.Brodie and wife escape to the farm of his in-laws and we get the contrast between the happy, ritualized life of rural peasants (immigrant Czechs this time) and the corrupt, cynical, and brutal life of the city. Those provincials certainly know how to eat and dance. The guys from the city are likely to offer you only "some milk, a loaf of bread, and some tired meat." Brodie isn't a terrible actor but his face is bland, the way a container of plain yogurt is bland. Burr is the most interesting performer. He has large, dark eyes and an insinuating baritone voice. And he's plump. A good heavy. Audrey Long -- well, what can you say? She's mighty pretty in a conventional way, with long blond hair and attractive features, and she doesn't turn in a poor performance.On the whole, though, there's not that much to recommend this movie. It's a routine thriller that was made on a modest budget with second-tier actors, an offhanded script, and little sense of location. It's not bad. It's just not much more than routine.

Desperate (1947) *** (out of 4) Exciting noir has truck driver Steve (Steve Brodie) framed for a heist job that resulted in a cop being killed. Steve takes his pregnant wife (Audrey Long) and hits the road to try and get her to safety from the gangster (Raymond Burr) who wants them dead. This film starts off so light-hearted that it pretty much takes you by surprise when things start to heat up because it happens so quick that you barely have time to even get to know the characters. The film plays out a lot like a Hitchcock film would as we've got an innocent man set-up by the crooked one and then the innocent man goes on the run and just keeps finding himself in more and more trouble. The film has our hero going through so much that you can't help but feel sorry for him and at a point you have to wonder if in the real world anyone would have this much bad luck. Mann's direction is the real standout here as he does a terrific job at building up the suspense as Steve gets further and further in trouble. One of the best scenes in the film is when he buys a used car only to get ripped off and has to turn to stealing it. The car eventually breaks down but he gets a ride with a kind old man who just happens to be the sheriff. Not only does this sequence build up some nice suspense but it also has a bit of humor as even our characters start to wonder why all of this is happening. I was surprised to see how good Brodie was here as he has the perfect qualities to carry off the role. He was very believable as the caring husband and we also believed him when he had to play it tough. Brodie is probably best remembered for his various noir roles but horror fans will also remember him from the God-awful FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND. Burr also turns in a fine performance as that terrific voice just makes for the perfect bad guy. Douglas Fowley, William Challee and Freddie Steele add nice support as does Jason Robards as a detective. The only one I didn't care for was Long who was just too annoying for me. The terrific black and white cinematography perfectly builds up a nice atmosphere and Mann's style certainly carries things for the short 73-minute running time. One of the best moments happens early on with a trick shot of a punch being thrown towards the camera. This really kicks things off and the film never lets up.