HE WALKED BY NIGHT (1948)

Eagle-Lion Films, 79m 4s

My first encounter with HE WALKED BY NIGHT occurred during a theatrical screening of MENACE II SOCIETY (1993). As Caine (Tyrin Turner) recovers from a gunshot wound in a hospital in front of a television, he is captivated by a violent sequence in HE WALKED BY NIGHT ("How about my army discharge? I got it right here."). Whatever old B&W movie Caine was watching, I knew I had to track it down. At the time I was relatively new to the film noir category and had a lot of major titles in front of me. As a devoted noir fan today with countless hours logged, HE WALKED BY NIGHT still leaves an impression on me whenever I revisit it, partly due to the performance of Richard Basehart in the lead role as the criminal convinced he has the smarts to remain a step ahead of the manhunt orchestrated by determined cops. The equally compelling factor is acclaimed cinematographer John Alton's adroit camera angles and moody lighting that merge to emphasize the visual facets of the classic film noir.

A (mostly) true crime story that makes use of locations in and around Los Angeles, HE WALKED BY NIGHT really hits the ground running with its opening sequence. What appears to be a routine police stop suddenly erupts into the slaying of a police officer when Roy Martin (Basehart) opens fire on Officer Robert Rawlins (John McGuire, uncredited). Police Sergeant Marty Brennan (Scott Brady) and Police Sergeant Chuck Jones (James Cardwell) are assigned to the case with the helpful assistance of forensic specialist Lee Whitey (Jack Webb). The case proves to be a highly challenging one. Roy is shown to be technically proficient in electronics and uses radio equipment to listen in on police activity. To eke out a living, he has formed an alliance with Paul Reeves (Whit Bissell), to whom he sells modified stolen electronic gear.

The unequivocal work of cinematographer John Alton

The archetypal alienated noir protagonist, the gat-packing hoodlum Roy is a maladjusted war veteran who has demonstrated complete incompatibility with accepted societal norms of behavior. He lives in a modest Hollywood bungalow, where his dog accounts for his only companionship. Presented as a supremely dangerous individual from the outset, Roy possesses the temerity necessary to gun down a policeman (check out his crazed eyes when he shoots Officer Rawlins!). After Rawlins dies from his injuries, in another outburst of violence the cop killer Roy leaves Sergeant Jones in a state of paralysis. Technically savvy, informed about standard police procedures and willing to shift his modus operandi as required, Roy presents an unusual underworld figure for law enforcement figures to track.

Roy’s personality traits and quirks fit snugly into the pessimistic universe of film noir. Let's start with the alarmingly ironic plot point that he once worked for the LAPD as a civilian radio technician and thus gained insider knowledge of how law enforcement operates. Naturally, the police were reluctant to consider the possibility the criminal they seek could be one of them or have insider connections of some sort. Even more noir is the oddly eroticized scene in which Roy lovingly massages the electronic equipment he has prepared for sale. The implication is clear:  the loner criminal depends upon his crimes as a substitute for sexual release. Perhaps the most uniquely noir trait connected with Roy emerges when he performs bullet extraction surgery on himself. Though Roy is an obvious bad apple who must be contained, the filmmakers allow him a sense of humanity during this scene, which is framed and edited to encourage the viewer to root for him to get that nasty bullet out of his body. Such subjective moments are perfectly at home in the film noir, where those shunned by society are granted more texture than they might be allowed in other genres. Another staple noir quality is the theme of multiple personalities and/or identities, which adds a level of confusion to the police pursuit of Roy, known first to police as Roy Martin before his original name Roy Morgan is discovered. Multiple shots that feature Roy looking into a mirror emphasize tension harbored within a conflicted personality; the seemingly ordinary man capable of killing at any moment.

The background suggests the guillotine might await Roy

It does not get any more noir than this shot

As noted by film historian Imogen Sara Smith, Roy's scene of self surgery is
characteristic of exactly the sort of sequence Anthony Mann helmed -
particularly in his Westerns, the director had a fondness for closeups
of his perspiring characters in obvious pain

The noir underworld

Though assorted film noirs play out in suburban, rural or even open environments—consider THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (1948), ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1951), THE HITCH-HIKER (1953), CRY VENGEANCE (1954), THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955) and NIGHTFALL (1957)—a much longer list could be curated for noirs that primarily unfold in sprawling urban environments. There is a certain practicality about that arrangement given the social problems that become amplified in a big city setting. The film noir delivery system often focuses on bothersome truths about city life, particularly for those who reside on the margins. Percolating problems and complex issues always have the potential to overwhelm the urban population with a vast possibility of combinations, i.e. income inequality, unemployment, overcrowding, segregation, traffic congestion, inadequate public services, pollution, decay, substance abuse and other addictions, corruption and above all else, crime. Such a milieu ostensibly calls for a dedicated police force of impeccable character and work ethic, law enforcement agents bound by a stable system of selfless beliefs. That assumption comes deeply embedded in the police procedural docudrama subgenre of film noir. HE WALKED BY NIGHT adheres to this tradition with the policeman as paragon of patience, his painstakingly tedious work sometimes unproductive. He must walk down many well-travelled paths in an urban landscape that offers limitless places for the criminal to take cover. The various languages spoken by area residents make police work even more demanding, then there are citizens who harbor irrational beliefs (i.e. the paranoid woman [Dorothy Adams, uncredited] who is convinced her milk is being poisoned). In the film noir city, few civilian problems are resolved easily.

Deep in the thicket of the film noir ecosystem lurks an inevitable force of retribution that accounts for sins of the past. This concept of fatalism is what unifies film noirs of many varieties. In HE WALKED BY NIGHT, the LAPD's steadfast dedication to public service dovetails nicely with the searing brand of film noir fatalism meant to restrain unwelcome transgressions like Roy. LA's massive storm sewer system designed to handle flash flooding provides the ideal environment for his containment, one steeped in noir irony. During his crime spree, the drainage system offers a helpful safety net for Roy, but ultimately that same underground arena assures his damnation via an inescapable police dragnet. This climactic segment of the film begins on a rooftop as Roy hides, runs and jumps en route to a sewer inlet. The sequence builds to imply the ultimately cornered noir protagonist has been reduced to animalistic impulses, as can be seen in other quintessential noirs like HIGH SIERRA (1941), THE SET-UP (1949), THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950), GUN CRAZY (1950), NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950) and perhaps most strikingly in PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950). The motif of rainwater is another major noir signifier, as certified by Paul Schrader in his essay “Notes on Film Noir” (FILM COMMENT, Spring, 1972). Schrader observes, "...rainfall tends to increase in direct proportion to the drama." How fitting that Roy should find himself drawn to the tunnel system designed to control excessive rainwater.

The fragmented noir protagonist

A production budgeted at just over $300K, HE WALKED BY NIGHT was a good earner for Eagle-Lion Films and producer Bryan Foy, a film industry veteran known as "the keeper of the B's" while employed at Warner Bros. After Warners shut down their B picture unit in 1942, Foy went to work for 20th Century Fox and then Universal Pictures before his stint at Eagle-Lion Films began in 1947. One of his assistant producers at Eagle-Lion was "Handsome Johnny" Roselli, who did time in the can for a scheme that involved the extortion of money from movie industry figures. Journeyman director Alfred L. Werker is not remembered as a great contributor to the film noir movement, though he did helm two other noirs of interest:  SHOCK (1946) and REPEAT PERFORMANCE (1947). The more stylistic sequences that punctuate HE WALKED BY NIGHT routinely are credited to Anthony Mann, whose actual contribution must be left to conjecture at the time of this writing due to lack of production records. What we do know is that Mann collaborated with cinematographer John Alton five other times with similar results:  T-MEN (1947), RAW DEAL (1948), REIGN OF TERROR (1949), BORDER INCIDENT (1949) and DEVIL'S DOORWAY (1950). The Mann/Alton partnership yielded an easily recognizable rhythmic pattern of angular lines, dramatic camera angles and clever interplay between light and darkness. So whenever low camera angles abound or shadows cast by venetian blinds imprison the condemned man, one senses the ingenuity of Mann/Alton. The sewer chase that concludes the narrative has been confirmed as the product of Mann's directing, but I wonder if Roy's initial descent into the vast drainage system was overseen by Mann as well. In any case, Roy sprinting through the huge storm sewer for the first time is a real showpiece, a hallmark of film noir imagery. There is an unquestionable sense of depth and dimension when Roy disappears into black nothingness. As his flashlight accents the area around him, darkness relentlessly follows. Mann also worked with co-screenwriter John C. Higgins on RAILROADED! (1947), T-MEN, RAW DEAL and BORDER INCIDENT. Co-screenwriter/original story creator Crane Wilbur's noir writing accomplishments include CANON CITY (1948), THE AMAZING MR. X (1948), CRIME WAVE (1953) and THE PHENIX CITY STORY (1955). HE WALKED BY NIGHT would mark Richard Basehart's breakthrough performance. His subsequent film noir credits include TENSION (1949), FOURTEEN HOURS (1951) and THE HOUSE ON TELEGRAPH HILL (1951), though film fans likely recall him best for his splendid role as the free-spirited Il matto in Federico Fellini's La strada (1954). HE WALKED BY NIGHT is narrated by Reed Hadley, "the voice of docunoir" as described by film historian Alan K. Rode. The noir narration credits of Hadley include THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET (1945), 13 RUE MADELEINE (1947), BOOMERANG! (1947), T-MEN, CANON CITY (1948), WALK A CROOKED MILE (1948) and THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK (1950). Several film noirs that followed in the wake of HE WALKED BY NIGHT bear more than a passing resemblance, especially THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK, WITHOUT WARNING! (1952) and THE SNIPER (1952). It should also be mentioned the most influential docudrama film noir surely is THE NAKED CITY (1948), though visually Jules Dassin's film has more in common with the Italian Neorealism movement than the noir look epitomized by Alton.

All guns blazing

Expensive trial avoided

The inspiration for this review was provided by the Kino Lorber Studio Classics Blu-ray edition of HE WALKED BY NIGHT released last year. This dual-layered disc presents the film via a new HD master from a 16-bit 4K scan of the 35mm Fine Grain. Framed at the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.37:1, this is the best the film has looked on home video to my eyes. Those considering this Blu-ray as an upgrade might be persuaded to take the plunge given the new audio commentary track recorded by film historian and author Imogen Sara Smith, who specializes in film noir. Smith considers HE WALKED BY NIGHT to be more police procedural than proper noir. The semidocumentary format was blueprinted at Twentieth Century Fox with titles such as THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET, 13 RUE MADELEINE and BOOMERANG! setting the stage for a new subgenre. In light of the LAPD's containment of the menace embodied by Roy, she contends this type of crime movie meshed well with the Production Code of its time. What's more, Joseph Breen Jr., son of Production Code Administration leader Joseph Breen, was the conduit between Eagle-Lion Films and the PCA, so family ties did not hurt matters given some of the production's content. One of Smith's best observations involves the no-nonsense narration style employed by Reed Hadley. His approach on the mic is diametrically at odds with the narration of the prototypically doomed noir protagonist, i.e. DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), DETOUR (1945) and SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950). Smith also charts steady waters when she notes the healthiest film noir specimens highlight flawed, even dirty cops, the likes of which have no place in the police world suggested in procedural films like HE WALKED BY NIGHT. Moreover, the classic noir exercise flexes the notion that anyone can become a criminal under certain circumstances. Another exceptionally non-noir quality is the lack of moral ambiguity, which provides a cynical dimension to so many noir films. True enough, that theme gives unity to genre classics such as OUT OF THE PAST (1947), THE ASPHALT JUNGLE, NIGHT AND THE CITY and THE BIG HEAT (1953). HE WALKED BY NIGHT is at its most noir according to Smith during the climactic storm sewer chase, a noir labyrinth that leads to a dead end for the doomed protagonist. Smith and I differ only when she advances the notion that film noir is not a genre, but rather a style, cycle, etc. Like a money-making movie monster, that tired old theory just refuses to die.

Also selectable is the audio commentary track that pairs author/film historian Alan K. Rode with writer/film historian Julie Kirgo, recorded for the Classicflix Blu-ray edition released in 2017. This track is more conversational in tone than the scripted approach favored by Imogen Sara Smith. An early incarnation of the "RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES!" method of genre filmmaking, HE WALKED BY NIGHT was based upon the real-life 1946 crime spree of William Erwin Walker, also known as Erwin M. Walker and Machine Gun Walker. Per Rode, the script rearranges the order of events associated with Walker's crimes. Importantly, Rode notes Walker just had to be a PTSD case considering the tragic circumstances of his service as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. The World War II veteran was in charge of a radar detachment at Leyte Island in the Philippines. One day Walker returned to his ship per orders. When he returned to the radar site the next day, he learned that an elite Japanese Army paratroop unit had attacked the radar site at sunrise. His best friend John Brake was bayoneted in the neck and disemboweled. Remarkably, Brake managed to survive, but all other members of the unit, all under Walker's charge, were killed brutally and sadistically. No doubt Walker was plagued by survivor's guilt. Walker later worked as a radio operator and police dispatcher for the Glendale Police Department. The film's technical advisor Marty Wynn was one of the detectives who arrested Walker (Wynn also appears briefly in an uncredited role as a police sergeant). Jack Webb meeting Wynn on the set proved to be a catalyst in the development of the DRAGNET radio series (1949–1957) and subsequent television series (1951–1959). Alfred L. Werker directed the bulk of HE WALKED BY NIGHT according to Rode, who is keenly aware of stock footage on display that pops up in a large number of genre films. Rode correctly points out that civil rights are violated routinely during this film and in so many others when policemen go into suspect apprehension mode. And leave it to Rode to recognize the villain's loyal Border Collie would later serve as Rembrandt at the side of Eleanor Johnson (Ann Sheridan) in the film noir WOMAN ON THE RUN (1950). An excellent observation by Kirgo is that the attempt to construct a composite sketch of the criminal as organized by Police Captain Breen (Roy Roberts) serves as a metaphor for the killer's fragmented personality. Kirgo also reminds us the climactic chase through the gargantuan storm sewer predates director Carol Reed's THE THIRD MAN (1949). And based on his sources, Rode assures us Mann should be credited for directing the exciting chase sequence through LA's underground storm sewer.

For the record, William Erwin Walker fared better than his screen counterpart portrayed by Richard Basehart. Walker was paroled in 1974 and lived a quiet life until his death in 2008.

Film Noir Final Four (Tournament Bracket)

This was a fun exercise. I took my top 64 film noirs and seeded them, then let them "play." Each winner was whichever film I would prefer to watch between the two. Thus there were some "upsets."

This link will take you to my Google Sheet:  Film Noir Final Four. I got the idea from someone on Facebook who had done the same with their favorite TWILIGHT ZONE episodes.

PURSUED (1947)

Warner Bros., 101m 20s

By the year 1947, the film noir was in full stride. Some of the most important and technically accomplished expressions of the genre were released that year, including BODY AND SOUL, BRUTE FORCE, CROSSFIRE, KISS OF DEATH, THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, NIGHTMARE ALLEY, OUT OF THE PAST, RIDE THE PINK HORSE and T-MEN. The genre certainly includes enough quality films to continue the list further. So entrenched was the noir film by the late 1940s, the genre's well-defined elements began to merge with another popular genre:  the Western. Such cross-genre examples of the period include RAMROD (1947), BLOOD ON THE MOON (1948) and STATION WEST (1948). Perhaps the best-known instance of the noir Western is PURSUED, a vengeance story often cited as the first manifestation of this interesting genre hybrid. With its intense psychological drama deeply entrenched in fatalism, PURSUED confirms that film noir conditions need not be limited to modern urban locations.

Set in the territory of New Mexico, the majority of the story is told through flashbacks, a cinematic technique frequently employed to emphasize the dominance of the past over the present in noir narratives. Jeb Rand (Robert Mitchum) is controlled by a past trauma he cannot comprehend or recollect clearly. As a young boy, Jeb's entire family was slaughtered at home while he hid in the cellar. Now a grown man, the tortured soul Jeb wishes to assemble his origin story, but his head hurts when he thinks about it. The recurring image that impacts him most is that of cowboy boots with spurs in frantic motion. Jeb's repressed memory of his family's violent elimination drives all of the narrative's major conflicts.

The tortured psyche of a young Jeb Rand is emphasized in this dissolve

The toss of a coin determines Jeb Rand's future on multiple occasions

The dark undertones of the film noir family:
sexual tensions complicate the brother/sister
relationship between Jeb Rand and Thor Callum

A familiar film noir trope is the notion that the sanctity of the traditional American family is in jeopardy, and the details that emerge in regard to the massacre of the Rand family are absolutely noir in nature. Jeb is claimed by a new family when Mrs. Callum (Judith Anderson) decides to raise him along with her daughter Thorley "Thor" Callum (Teresa Wright) and son Adam Callum (John Rodney). Jeb's ersatz family comes with its own complexities, not to mention a noir sense of fate well symbolized by two coin tosses, each lost by Jeb. The first causes him to fight in the Spanish–American War, the second prompts him to leave Mrs. Callum's ranch, his home since childhood. Film noir undercurrents take hold of the Callum property in earnest when Jeb and Thor fall in love after having been raised as brother and sister! The noir mood gets darker from there when Jeb kills (in self-defense) the man raised as his brother (Adam). At the narrative's resolution, it is revealed a home-wrecking love affair set about the destruction of the Rand family and the prolonged family feud that followed. In perhaps the most fatalistic of film noir dynamics, Jeb is drawn to the location where tragedy occurred so many years ago, which brings a sense of unshakable destiny to the material. Even in a genre awash with adulterous couples and less-than-ideal marriages that infiltrate benchmark film noirs like DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), MILDRED PIERCE (1945), GILDA (1946), THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS (1946), GUN CRAZY (1950) and ANGEL FACE (1953), the fabric of family life in PURSUED is enough to make one want to take a shower after the credits roll.

The low camera angle associated with the noir style

An arranged confrontation

Shadows that signify an unknown past continue to weigh heavy on Jeb

The alienated main protagonist is something of a given in the typical film noir, especially those titles that are best remembered and commonly referenced. Consider the detached men who inhabit THE MALTESE FALCON (1941), DETOUR (1945), SCARLET STREET (1945), OUT OF THE PAST (1947), D.O.A. (1950), THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950), NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950), SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) and KISS ME DEADLY (1955). Much like the major characters of these famous noir stories, Jeb is an outsider. He has no remaining ties to his biological family, nor does he mesh perfectly with his replacement family. Internal conflict has accompanied him since the dramatic childhood event that cruelly altered his life.

A related genre motif often connected to the noir figure's lack of belonging is some form of physical disability. The challenge faced by the veteran in his attempt to re-enter civilian life is given emphasis when Jeb walks with a cane after his heroic return from wartime service. Despite the hero's welcome, Jeb continues to struggle with finding his proper place. An even better instance of the physically wounded noir character is embodied by Grant Callum (Dean Jagger) who loses him arm thanks to his role in the gunfight that wrecks the Rand family. Driven only by vengeance and a family feud that only he seems intent on continuing, Grant is perhaps more out of place in the world than Jeb.

The role of women in PURSUED also draws from recurring film noir sensibilities, not the gender simplicities of the classic Western with its schoolmarms and dancehall girls. Both family matriarch and troublemaking whore, Mrs. Callum stands as the definition of moral ambiguity, though ultimately she proves her worth with timely use of the Western's most iconic weapon. And in an early scene, she upholds the generally Marxist notions of film noir when she explains to her children they should share everything equally. As her children mature to adulthood, Adam rejects that notion. Mrs. Callum's daughter Thor also signifies a duality of woman, both sister and wife of Jeb Rand, potentially a nurturing woman yet just about capable of mariticide.

The noir wedding. Nobody looks happy, and for good reason

The bride in white, surrounded by black

Til death do us part...

With 52 years of experience directing films, storied filmmaker Raoul Walsh is an example of someone who successfully navigated his career from the silent era into sound. After PURSUED, just two years later he put his directorial stamp on another cross-genre classic:  the gangster noir film WHITE HEAT (1949). Director of photography James Wong Howe, another Hollywood legend, enjoyed a career of roughly identical length to that of Walsh. The same year PURSUED was released, Howe also handled the cinematography for NORA PRENTISS and BODY AND SOUL, both immersive film noir productions. Screenwriter Niven Busch was married to lead actress Teresa Wright at the time of production. She remains the only actress in Hollywood history to receive Academy Award nominations for her first three roles:  THE LITTLE FOXES (1941), MRS. MINIVER (1942) and THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942). She won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Academy Award for MRS. MINIVER.

Right-to-left movement signifies backward momentum,
in this case back to the shot that was taken at Jeb Rand when he was a youth

Now headed to the right, Jeb will finally come to terms with his past

A narrow passage implies oppressive noir forces remain in play...

...but Jeb possesses the capacity to emerge from such forces
(in the form of Mitchum's double in this shot)

Derived from a 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative via Paramount Pictures, the dual-layered Blu-ray edition of PURSUED released earlier this year by Kino Lorber is framed at 1.37:1 and looks handsome enough. Only a minimum of artifacts caught my notice. The level of film grain is moderate. In a vintage introductory segment by Martin Scorsese (2m 37s), recorded for a prior home video edition of the film that as far as I know never materialized, the auteur considers PURSUED the first film noir Western with its amalgamation of the Western's traditional conflicts and the noir film's more intricate moral ambiguities. The Kino Lorber disc boasts a newly recorded audio commentary track by estimable film scholar Imogen Sara Smith, who always shows up reliably prepared for a commentary assignment. The author of IN LONELY PLACES: FILM NOIR BEYOND THE CITY (McFarland & Company, Inc., 2011) is well suited to discuss the "haunted landscape" of the noir West on display in the title under review. A commercially successful film, PURSUED launched the trend of the psychological Western, although Smith considers director André De Toth's RAMROD to be another contender for the distinction of first noir Western (it was screened in the US two weeks prior to PURSUED). Smith spends a fair amount of time on the noir persona of the sleepy-eyed Robert Mitchum, an actor who seems uniquely qualified to portray the passive lead protagonist of PURSUED. Never an actor who was overly impressed with his profession, Mitchum thought of himself as a tradesman going from paycheck to paycheck, no different than an assembly line worker. His fatalistic hero Jeb is not a proactive personality by any means; things happen to him and he either reacts or doesn't react. Jeb's general feeling of displacement is a good match for director Raoul Walsh, whose out-of-place featured protagonists have outlived their time in THE ROARING TWENTIES (1939) and HIGH SIERRA (1940). Smith points out a flaw in the narrative common to films with flashback structures:  there are moments in the flashbacks during which Jeb was not present and thus could have no memory of the event. And thanks to Smith's commentary track, I am now aware Mitchum's singing voice was recorded on two albums:  CALYPSO – IS LIKE SO... (Capitol Records, 1957) and THAT MAN, ROBERT MITCHUM, SINGS (Monument Records, 1967). Both albums are available on Apple Music and Spotify at the time of this writing.

A collection of (12) trailers completes the Blu-ray's supplemental material.

BORDER INCIDENT (1949)

 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 95m 33s

"THE SHAME OF TWO NATIONS!"

Border security between the United States and Mexico has been a topic of concern for over 100 years. Over that period of time, there has been interminable political discourse on the subject. At best the border crisis remains an ongoing challenge, at worst perhaps there is no solution. Given the historical duration of the border control issue, the story of undocumented migrants possesses timeless weight. A docudrama intended to shake up the American consciousness of its time, BORDER INCIDENT is a gritty noir Western brought to life by the assured filmmaking teamwork of director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton.

Crude but efficient:  the quicksand burial

The film noir staircase implies a dangerous descent

The shining

The awakening

The film's title suggests an isolated occurrence of some kind, though the modern viewer aware of the border's long history is sure to question that notion. Sadly, the human nature concerns emphasized in BORDER INCIDENT are unlikely to find resolution in the actual world. Mann's taut film is based upon actual cases compiled by the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the U.S. Department of Justice. In dependable docudrama fashion, the movie begins with narration that alerts the viewer to the real-life social problems that must be addressed. The main setting is the Imperial Valley of Southern California, just north of the California-Mexico border, where a steady army of tough hands are required to harvest crops. Because the amount of legal immigrant farmworkers (known as "braceros") is shown to be restricted, a dark undercurrent of illegal immigration networking has metastasized between Mexico and the US. The high demand for Mexican labor has led to an endless trail of migrants who cross the border in an unauthorized manner. The basic dynamic is simple to understand:  as long as there are people willing to cross the border illegally in the hope of improving their prospects, there will be those eager to systematically exploit them. The illegal entrants who survive their uncomfortable journey (not all of them do) are paid ridiculously substandard wages. Worse than that, some are subsequently robbed of their earnings before being badly maimed or, more likely, left for the boneyard. Given the obvious international problem, a combined government initiative between the United States and Mexico is introduced to fight illegal immigration racketeering. The ardent government men devoted to the cause include Pablo Rodriguez (Ricardo Montalbán), a Mexican, who prepares to go undercover as an illegal bracero, and Jack Bearnes (George Murphy), the American representative whose purpose is to shadow Rodriguez and gather evidence against the individuals involved in human smuggling activities. From the very beginning, the respective assignments are shown to be inherently dangerous.

The illegal migrants learn they have no rights

Danger zone

Trapped

The ongoing nature of the border crisis fits well into the framework of the film noir universe, where thorny social problems tend to be the order of the day. BORDER INCIDENT is exceptionally noir in its unflinching presentation of its corrupt agri-businessmen who prey upon Mexican laborers desperate for whatever small amount of money they can earn. Marxist assumptions underscore the narrative's specific illegal labor operation, which is masterminded by a cutthroat capitalist figure:  the supposedly respectable rancher Owen Parkson (Howard Da Silva exudes a certain quiet cool to villainy) routinely and systematically exploits a revolving door of migrant workers. The undocumented migration scheme utilized by Parkson reveals a socialist's worst suspicions about the fundamental inequalities forged by untethered capitalism:  reprehensible men of wealth like Parkson persistently profit from the decent poor. This concern is especially apparent once the illegals are deposited at Parkson's farm, where they are treated with less dignity than any person with an active conscience would hope. The workers necessary for each harvest are called paisanos, wets and monkeys.

A mirror image of Bearnes emphasizes the noir duality theme

The blonde problem

An irredeemable figure finds himself on the wrong side of a rifle

BORDER INCIDENT builds to a symbolic confrontation between government men and the unscrupulous lawbreakers at the helm of the human smuggling ring. With the film's stunningly brutal sacrifice of a law enforcement agent, one of the most disturbing killings any film genre has to offer, it is implied the racketeers are sophisticated enough that even the most capable and quick-thinking of law enforcement agents might not survive his assignment. However, there are tensions in the criminal underworld that do not exist in the public crimefighting network, where everyone involved is shown to be in close alignment. The major advantage the international government men have over the criminals is their shared sense of unity. The government agents stand in solidarity in their opposition to the violation of immigration laws, while the underworld characters demonstrate a minimum of mutual respect and support for one another. Rodriguez and Bearnes represent a dignified sense of responsibility to the greater good of the public, the outlaws they seek are motivated primarily by self-preservation. That is the critical difference between the two groups. In the best example of that distinction, Parkson’s ranch foreman Jeff Amboy (the gravel-voiced Charles McGraw) turns on his employer while the dutiful lawmen assemble to defeat them. The mostly cynical film concludes on an upbeat note with the normalization of the legal Mexican labor needed to perform the farm work that (presumably) most Americans would rather avoid.

The iconography of the Western

Director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton worked efficiently together at Eagle-Lion Films, where they completed three film noirs often referenced by film historians:  T-MEN (1947), RAW DEAL (1948) and HE WALKED BY NIGHT (1948). That estimable track record brought Mann and Alton to MGM for BORDER INCIDENT. The material meshed well with the preferences of Dore Schary, who was head of production at MGM at the time. Schary always favored a project with a modest budget that maintained a healthy social heartbeat. Mann and Alton proved themselves worthy of the assignment, which easily could have degenerated into more standard fare had the project landed in lesser hands. The regional location work, which includes footage captured in agricultural Coachella Valley, adds to the starkness of setting necessary to establish a corrosive film noir climate. The recurrent visual patterns of noir find articulation through the virtuosic skill set of Alton, an absolute master of light and shadow. Oppressive noir stylistic choices accent the fragility of the illegal human smuggling operation, which is under intense pressure from multiple governments. Insistently low camera angles intensify the pressure on everyone involved. Sequences that feature government men in an office environment are filmed in an inexpressive manner, but that changes exponentially when the filmmakers depict field operations. In terms of blocking, actors are placed strategically to stress one person's superiority over another. The Mann/Alton team should be credited for injecting the production with a heavy dose of suspenseful action sequences and intense moments:  Bearnes tortured by Hugo Wolfgang Ulrich (Sig Ruman) and his cronies, a risky water tower climb, a well-crafted car / motorcycle chase, a truck heist, a shootout in a ravine that features a deadly quicksand pit (perhaps the ideal film noir death trap) and above all else a ghastly harrow tractor murder. Amboy's grisly killing of a helpless man stands as one of the most excruciating murders ever committed to celluloid. Another frequent collaborator with Mann, screenwriter John C. Higgins had writing credits for four other titles directed by Mann:  RAILROADED! (1947), T-MEN, RAW DEAL and HE WALKED BY NIGHT. For BORDER INCIDENT, Higgins worked from a story by George Zuckerman. His screenplay never portrays the migrants as an invasive menace; the only villains are those who take advantage of them for cheap labor. A low-budget production, BORDER INCIDENT earned $580,000 in US and Canadian box office receipts plus an additional $328,000 in international earnings. Ultimately the film lost $194,000 for MGM.

Harrowing:  the barbaric murder of Bearnes

The dual-layered Blu-ray version of BORDER INCIDENT available as part of the Warner Archive Collection is framed at 1.37:1 and looks well-preserved in motion. Compared to the 1.33:1 DVD that Warner issued in 2006, the HD scan yields a noticeable improvement over its DVD counterpart, which looks dark and much less defined in comparison. In terms of content within the frame, the Blu-ray version offers more information on the left, slightly less on the right, a little more at the top and somewhat less at the bottom:

Warner DVD

Warner Blu-ray

Ported from the 2006 DVD edition is the illuminating audio commentary track anchored by film historian Dana Polan, Professor of Cinema Studies at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Polan advances the position that BORDER INCIDENT is not a pure film noir, but rather a crime exposé with noir elements. Fair enough, the film's incorruptible lawmen are not the sort of flawed individuals vulnerable to seduction and other temptations characteristic of the noir protagonists of the 1940s. He also attaches the film's plot mechanics to human truths that emerged during World War II, and he discusses the migrant's journey as a mythological test fraught with danger. In relation to the police procedure element that forms the narrative's structure, the criminal element has modernized, adapted to technology and thus become more difficult to combat than ever before. A recurring theme that runs through the narrative involves the playing of games like chess, checkers and cards, which collectively form an analogous bridge to the cop/criminal dynamic. An especially bleak film to be distributed by MGM, a studio best known for family-friendly, lighthearted products such as THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940), MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944) and ADAM’S RIB (1949), BORDER INCIDENT defies accepted Hollywood conventions of its time and challenges viewer assumptions, even today, especially when the honorable man Bearnes is callously eliminated. Unfortunately, sometimes crude Mexican stereotypes are employed, as when the two Mexican smugglers Cuchillo (Alfonso Bedoya) and Zopilote (Arnold Moss) enter Parkson's modern home and are baffled by its modern amenities. Though the Mexican migrants are granted a certain sense of dignity, they also come equipped with naivety that requires the guidance of more worldly government reps like Rodriguez. That Rodriguez is rescued from certain death by the bracero Juan Garcia (James Mitchell) says a lot about the public's need for dutiful public servants.

A theatrical trailer (2m 24s) is the only other supplement.