711 OCEAN DRIVE (1950)

Columbia Pictures, 102m
Format: 35mm
9:15 PM, Wednesday, August 31st, 2022
 
NOIR CITY: CHICAGO 2022
Music Box Theatre, Chicago, IL
Friday, August 26th, 2022 to Thursday, September 1st, 2022
NOIR CITY: CHICAGO 2022 SCHEDULE 

Film historian Alan K. Rode returned to Chicago for another NOIR CITY lineup of likable film noir classics, B titles and rarities. Last night he presented 711 OCEAN DRIVE, released in July of 1950, back when the Kefauver Committee had been formed to deliver a kick in the pants to organized crime. Around that time noir stories adopted a torn-from-the-headlines approach, and this one probably is as good as any of the "social problem" noirs of its time. It stars everyman specialist Edmond O'Brien as an individual with "too much ambition" for his own good, the proverbial gangster done in by his own excesses.

Mal Granger (O'Brien) is introduced as a working-class stiff who bets on horses in the hope of improving his modest social status. The vet turned telecom technician clearly feels like he isn't making it like he ought to be. He even mentions when it comes to gambling, he wants to win big or not at all, a train of thought common to numerous noir protagonists that surfaced after Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) in DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944). Granger's appetite for wealth leads him to Vince Walters (Barry Kelley), whose bookmaking operation quickly benefits from the tech-savvy Granger. Revenue increases so significantly for Walters that Granger is able to leverage the situation. After habitually short (as in a light envelope) bookie Mendel Weiss (Sidney Dubin) guns down Walters, Granger steps in and takes over the wire operation with confidence, a department in which he never seems to be lacking. Soon after Granger ascends to the rank of top wire service man out West, the ruthless wire service syndicate from the East takes an interest in Granger’s activities. Larry Mason (Don Porter) is sent to recruit Granger while syndicate boss Carl Stephans (Otto Kruger in a stellar turn) maintains a watchful eye on all aspects of the business.

"Money is the answer to everything," notes Granger while the narrative adopts a consistently Marxist view of capitalism. The wire service racket embodies the seedy underbelly of a free-market economy where whoever is willing to cheat others the most enjoys the most success, at least until those who feel marginalized begin to factor in the demise of their old boss. Ultimately greed is shown to be the force that destroys everything: relationships, careers, lives. Even when Granger earns more than he ever had, it still is not enough and probably never could be. He is furious to learn his East coast employers have decided to pay him less than originally promised, though Granger is blind to the irony that he treated his workhorse bookies the same. Women are positioned in largely ornamental roles, with Trudy Maxwell (Dorothy Patrick) drifting in as an obvious distraction to ambitious men and Gail Mason (Joanne Dru) as the beautiful barfly without much of a marriage to preserve. Certainly for a modern audience, this noir film anticipates the emergence of the technical criminal as a greater threat to society than the hoodlum with a sawed-off shotgun.

711 OCEAN DRIVE was written by Richard English and Francis Swann and is immensely entertaining. It is briskly paced as directed by Joseph M. Newman, the solid filmmaker behind ABANDONED (1949) and DANGEROUS CROSSING (1953) and a colorful Hollywood raconteur per festival host Rode. The story of Granger recalls the career pattern of Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power) in NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947), as well as the basic dynamic of the proto-noir M (1931), with the lead protagonist wanted by both lawmen and underworld entities. The past-post con is particularly satisfying as staged by Newman, and there is plenty to like about the location footage collected in Los Angeles, Palm Springs and Hoover Dam, though I thought an opportunity was missed at that last locale. Instead of being shot to death, Granger should have fallen down that incredibly steep staircase inside Hoover Dam (talk about one of noir's dangerous staircases!). Director of photography Franz Planer also worked on THE CHASE (1946), CRISS CROSS (1949) and 99 RIVER STREET (1953), all exceptional film noirs. The only problem that stands out in 711 OCEAN DRIVE is that it concludes on a needlessly sanctimonious note about the corruptive power of gambling, even for just a $2 bet.