Hell on Frisco Bay (1955)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

That was an excellent one.

Admirable film.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This film offers a lot of potential. The cast features Robinson and Ladd, the city in the background is a great one and the plot offers us murder, conspiracy, betrayal, infidelity and revenge. So why is it so very pedestrian from start to finish? I'm not totally sure as to the why but I have little doubt this is the case since the film really crawled across my screen, offering very little to make me sit up and take notice at any point. The problems for me are several but they are mostly intertwined to create one central problem which is that the film really lacks atmosphere and tension.The most obvious cause of this is the setting and the delivery. San Francisco is a beautiful city and one filled with coolness; it isn't the best backdrop for a tough noir-esque film. The film delivers the city in full color with lots of space and vibrancy and this doesn't help the tone of the film. This isn't to say that such a film can't be set in such a place, but if it does then it needs to create an atmosphere another way – setting it in gritty urban decay would have helped but it isn't necessary if ou deliver with plot, performances and other ways to make atmosphere. Sadly this film doesn't. In terms of characters they are flat and the performances match this. Ladd is supposed to be bitter and driven by rage but never looks more annoyed than someone who has misplaced their car keys. He really sleeps through this and even in the "dramatic" conclusion, his face is more emotionless than Steven Seagal. Robinson does his thing but without anything much to work with, so he is only his usual style, nothing special. The rest of the cast have some good turns but generally the pace is set by the leads – and the pace is slow.This really hurts the atmosphere and I never felt anything other than a general plod through a plot which didn't have anything to it. The bright color and space of the film doesn't help, but the lackluster performances and lack of general tension or atmosphere do more damage again.

The original title for "Hell on Frisco Bay" was "Hell on the Docks." Apparently, either Warner Bros. or Alan Ladd, whose company, Jaguar, produced the film, thought the title wasn't colorful enough or specific enough about its location, so "Frisco Bay" was substituted just prior to the film's release. I have a few stills with the original title printed on them.This film, like others produced by Ladd in the 1950s, including Delmer Daves' Western, "Drum Beat," has not appeared on DVD because, according to a Warner Bros Archives Edition executive, the Ladd estate has not permitted its release."Drum Beat" just appeared on Turner Classic Movies in its original CinemaScope format, but it was shorter than its published length of 111 minutes by at least four minutes. No US DVD release is imminent.

**Spoilers** Getting framed by the mob in the bar-room brawl death of Mr. Dinetto SFPD cop Steve Rollins, Allen Ladd, is sent away to San Quentin for five years for manslaughter. It's while he was incarcerated that Rollins gets the news through the prison grapevine from a man high up in the Victor Amato, Edward G. Robinson, Mob known only as Mr. Ragoni that he has proof that he is innocent of Dinetto death and he's more then willing to prove that fact once Rollins' get out of prison.Released from prison Rollins soon finds out that the person who can clear his name Mr. Ragoni had disappeared, and is later found murdered. Rollins is now only interested in getting even with Victor Amato and his mob and even his long-suffering wife night-club singer Marcia, Joanne Dru,is thrown aside in his efforts to get Amato. Rollins is determined t get even regardless of who or what get's in his way even if it's the entire mob running the San Francisco waterfront. One of Allen Ladd's better late, after Shane, movies as he as ex-cop Steve Rollins does a Dirty Harry bit without a badge or gun and rids the docks of that city of the mobsters and crooked politicians who control them.Getting at Amato through his wimpy nephew Mario, Perry Lopez, Rollins beats the truth out of him about who was responsible for Dinetto's death. Mario implicating both his gangster boss uncle Victor and the hoodlum he hired to do it John Brodie Evens, Rod Taylor. Amato getting the news from his police informant Det. Connors,Peter Hansen, of the scared to death little Mario ratting on him has his top henchman Scarface Joe Lye, Paul Stewart, do a job on Mario making it look like he killed himself. Where the clever as a fox Victor Amato screwed himself up was when he opened his big mouth in Scarface's apartment about him doing in Mario. Amato boasted of his crime in the presence of Scarface's girlfriend actress Kay Stanly ,Fay Wray, who overheard it. With that eyewitness evidence as well as Amato's brutal treatment of the person, Kay Stanly, who witnessed it that was all that was needed to get the slippery eel Victor Amato indited tried and sentenced behind bars for life or a one way trip to the San Quentin gas chamber.Working over a number of Amato's hoods Rollins gets the boss of bosses trapped in a corner where he can't get out, As all the murders including that of his top henchman who later fell out with him, over how Amato treated his girlfriend Kay Stanly, Scarface Joe Lye comes back to haunt him. Amato is then forced to make his getaway on a motorboat in San Francisco Bay with the now really mad, if he wasn't already, as hell ex-cop Steve Rollins more then willing to swim the length and breath of that waterway in order to get his hands on him. Very brutal crime movie for it's time, 1955, with Allen Ladd's Steve Rollins somewhat of a precursor to the later ruthless and no holds barred San Francisco cop Inspector Dirty Harry Calahan who gets things done his way and his way only. Edawrd G. Robinson as big boss Victor Amato is far more convincing as a Mafioso bigwig then even Marlon Brando Al Pacino and Robert De Niro were in "The Godfather" movies. Robinson comes across as a man completely in charge and knowing just what strings to pull to get what he want's done. Thats until he overreaches himself by mindlessly overreacting to the I don't give a damn Steve Rollins who showed the Mafia chieftain that what he feels is Rollins' most important commodity, his life, doesn't mean a thing to him unless he puts his butt behind bars or in the grave for what he, Amato, did in destroying it.

Edward G Robinson dismissed this one with a passing comment in his autobiography and it's not hard to see why. He exudes menace in the classic 'Little Caesar' manner and his interplay with the underrated Paul Stewart does have a touch of real quality. However, Cinemascope is not a process designed for urban thrillers and the wide open spaces rob the film of any sense of tension or claustrophobia. The greatest weakness, however, lies in Ladd's robotic performance. His boredom is evident throughout and the lacklustre supporting cast do little to help. In the end Robinson is left out on his own, gat in hand, the true professional giving it all he's got.