Dead Reckoning (1947)

hyped garbage

Good movie but grossly overrated

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Dead Reckoning is a film noir that would had benefited from a stronger leading lady and if the film had not followed the strictures of the film noir genre so slavishly.Humphrey Bogart gives a sardonic but tough performance as Captain Rip Murdock (Bogart) who searches for his friend and army buddy Sergeant Johnny Drake (William Prince) who fled when he was told he was to receive a medal after returning home from the war.Murdock goes to a southern coastal town and finds out that Drake has died. As he digs closer, he finds that Johnny was once involved with a femme fatale, singer Coral Chandler (Lizabeth Scott) and got mixed up with murder and a gangster. A reason why Johnny craved anonymity.The plot is perfunctory but does feel a little slippery here and there by being a little too convoluted at times.

Rip Murdock (Humphrey Bogart) seeks the help of Father Logan as he recounts the last few days. Paratroopers Rip and Johnny Drake are sent to Washington to receive the Medal of Honor. Johnny seems concerned upon hearing the news and goes AWOL when the newspapers come to take his picture. Rip starts investigating and follows him to Gulf City. He discovers that Johnny's real name is John Joseph Preston and he's accused of murdering wealthy Chandler. There's a charred body with a melted ring that's probably Johnny. He talks to witness bartender Louis Ord, and Chandler's wife Coral. Coral keeps losing when the dice keep coming up 7 and 11. Rip takes over and wins back everything plus $16k more. The club owner Martinelli drugs his drink and he wakes up in his room with the dead body of Louis Ord.This does have Humphrey Bogart in his natural hard-boiled noirish thriller. Lizabeth Scott is a second rate siren. She has a tendency to smile which takes away from the tension. She also needs to control her hair. There are a couple funny moments when it flies in her face. Her chemistry with Bogie isn't great. The directing is not great. This lays out a fine setup but the story drags along in expositions. The writing has plenty of hard dialogue but the story struggles to pick up steam after a nice first act. There are a few too many twists in the end. This is mostly for Bogie aficionados only after finishing off his classics.

"It is good that it was a little while back that we saw this movie, for it gave me a little bit of time to think about it," Kristl said."You changed your opinion?" Henry said."Well, I changed my point of view. I changed how I look at it.""If I recall you said it was a Maltese Falcon rip off? So, it isn't any longer?""Well.. it still is, but on the other hand there is nothing against making a movie that is similar to another. On the face of it, many stories are similar. A lot of stories have a bad evil rising and a good guy fighting and defeating it. Many stories have the idea of a discovery, usually in the form of an adventure in which the protagonist undergoes an experience and changes at the end.""Uhm OK.""The problem with Dead Reckoning isn't that it is similar to the Maltese Falcon, but that it doesn't work very well. It lacks all the great things that the Maltese Falcon makes such a great movie. The relation between Bogart and Scott has no spark, while the one between Bogart and Astor does work. Then there are no interesting side persons such as Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. In the Maltese Falcon the Falcon ties the story together and greed is the driving force, in Dead Reckoning there is nothing.""It is a rather confused story.""It is…""As far as I got it, Bogey plays a Captain who follows the tracks of one of his subordinates and close friend Sergeant Drake. He discovers that he is killed in a fire. So what next?""Well.. Bogey the captain, goes to find out. He meets some guy who works in a club and who gives him a letter from Drake and then follows some muddle with a club owner who is a mob boss. The story meanders. And somewhere we got a situation that is almost similar to the Maltese Falcon: a game played between the cynical and hard boiled bogey and the 'femme fatale' Scott. It just falls flat and it is boring.""Okay.""You don't say much yourself.""Well, it is and old movie, but a bit boring. Like many of these old movies are, unless it's an adventure movie, like one with Errol Flynn. Like eh the Adventures of Robin Hood or adventures of Don Juan. Swashbuckling movies, with a charming hero. I just don't like these dark cynical movies. Light entertainment. Make life enjoyable." Henry gave Kristl a smile."Oh.. I sort of like them..""I gather that. Seems you tend to the dark side, my lady, while I tend to the light.""That sounds very Star Wars like.""Definitely.., it is.""Well….Yoda...just sit the next ones out.. and then it is your turn.""Good.. it is."www.meritcoba.com

I just watched this movie again and, despite the many derogatory comments about Lizabeth Scott's acting abilities in the other reviews, I have to say that I found her far more interesting to watch than Lauren Bacall of that same period. She was certainly adequate to the role as written. FYI,she was under contract to Hal Wallis at this time (who released through Paramount)and was a last minute replacement for Rita Hayworth, who withdrew at the last minute because she didn't want to play another bad girl after "Gilda". The look of the movie is great, the supporting cast perfect and Bogart, as always, delivers the goods. I sense from some of the other reviewers that they are looking at this mystery (PLEASE, permanently retire that tiresome term, "Film Noir"!)in contemporary terms, rather than through the eyes of 1947 audiences, who generally went to the movies to be entertained, and not to over-analyze what is essentially a mystery. If one wants to have a good time, which was the idea behind movies of that period, you will be. Certainly far more than most of what is produced today, with forgettable faces, dumbed-down plots and questionable taste. I give this movie an 8.