Wed 18 May 2016
A Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: DIAL 1119 (1950).
Posted by Steve under Crime Films , Reviews[4] Comments
DIAL 1119. MGM, 1950. Marshall Thompson, Virginia Field, Andrea King, Sam Levene, Leon Ames, Keefe Brasselle, Richard Rober, James Bell, William Conrad. Director: Gerald Mayer.
There are a few things about Dial 1119 that make it particularly unique. Most noticeably, the film is largely bereft of any music, background or otherwise, giving it a rather somber, claustrophobic atmosphere. Which is fitting given the film is about an escaped murderer named Gunther Wyckoff (Marshall Thompson) holding a ragtag group hostage at a neon-lit watering hole.
The sensibility is pure noir, as one cannot help but feel the undercurrent of despair and hopelessness. Lurking in the background are the aftereffects of the Second World War and its impact on postwar American society.
Also adding to the film’s uniqueness are two additional elements that, in my estimation, work in its favor.
First, the cast largely consists of actors and actresses who weren’t top billed names in the business. Crime film fanatics will surely appreciate Sam Levene and William Conrad. But neither of them is present in the movie for very long. Instead, the focus is really front and center on Marshall Thompson, who you may recognize from the sci-fi classic, It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958). Trust me when I say that he’s very good in this and plays his part to the hilt. There’s something about his expressionless face that makes his character particularly memorable.
Second, the film serves as a seething and prescient indictment of news media saturation in which tragic events are transformed into spectator sports designed for mass public consumption. Like many of the best crime films, Dial 1119 tells us as much about the society that produced the criminal as the criminal himself.
Overall, Dial 1119 is worth a look. I didn’t know all that much about the movie going in, but after watching it, I can easily imagine myself returning for a second viewing sometime in the years ahead.
May 18th, 2016 at 11:50 am
Dial 1119 was well regarded on its initial release and your review has captured all the salient facts, although I do believe Marshall Thompson had an identity amongst film goers of the period, dating back several years, to at least the time of Gallant Bess.
May 18th, 2016 at 2:10 pm
Thompson was better known for roles like the eager replacement Van Johnson reluctantly takes under his wing in BATTLEGROUND than for this kind of a role, and to his credit he does quite well with this.
It was years before I ever saw the beginning of the film, I usually caught up with it about mid way through, though it is fairly easy to follow even that way.
While the cast may not be A listers, they are faces movie goers were more than familiar with like Leon Ames, Virginia Field, and Rober even beyond Levine and Conrad.
Ames had one from minor leading man (MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE), to flustered family man (MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS), to all American heel in film roles and often played a mix of the latter two. He was always reliable.
What I recall about this one is how much the film focuses on Thompson who is presented as a victim as much as a killer, and how noirish this is despite having relatively few actual noir credits.
May 18th, 2016 at 5:24 pm
Ya sold me–I’ll look for it at Cinevent.
May 18th, 2016 at 10:08 pm
If you were to make a checklist of the top ten ingredients a noir film is supposed to have, I’d be willing to wager that this film would have at least nine of them.