Mon 14 Oct 2013
A Movie Review by Marvin Lachman: THE RACKET (1951).
Posted by Steve under Crime Films , Reviews[6] Comments
THE RACKET. RKO Radio Pictures,1951. Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scot, Robert Ryan, William Talman, Ray Collins, Joyce Mackenzie, Robert Hutton, Virginia Huston, William Conrad, Walter Sande, Les Tremayne. Screenwriters: William Wister Haines & W. R. Burnett. Director: John Cromwell.
It may be a cliché, but they don’t make pictures like The Racket any more. It was filmed in black and white and gives us characters portrayed in black and white. Robert Mitchum is a tough, incorruptible cop, and Robert Ryan gives one of his usual strong performances as a psychopath.
The supporting cast is especially noteworthy, including William Talman and Ray Collins six years away from their success on the Perry Mason Series, though playing very different roles. This time Talman is the honest police officer; Collins is a sleazy district attorney. Also around, and underacting almost to the point of somnolence, is William Conrad, that great radio actor who would later be Cannon and Nero Wolfe on television.
There are no great surprises in The Racket, but no disappointments either, as a tight script, co-written by W.R. Burnett, and John Cromwell’s clean direction provide a satisfying movie.
Vol. 10, No. 1, Winter 1988.
October 14th, 2013 at 8:11 pm
I can’t imagine why I have never seen this film. Any movie with both Lizabeth Scott and William Conrad in it should have made this a must-see for me.
That Robert Mitchum is in it, too, is a double bonus — if not a triple one.
October 14th, 2013 at 10:28 pm
Make that a quadruple bonus with Robert Ryan playing the villain. I’ve seen this film several times over the years and it’s one you have to see.
October 15th, 2013 at 10:14 am
A remake of a 1928 silent that has been run on TCM. The ’28 picture is far more compelling. Granted that is an opinion but when, as and if, you see both, my meaning will become clear.
October 15th, 2013 at 1:38 pm
Much as I like this film, the earlier version fits the story better. Set in the 1950’s Mitchum’s “honest” Captain setting up a murder and much of the tarnished moll plot is dated. It’s 1920’s origins show too often.
Ray Collins and Conrad are great, especially Conrad as the crooked p.i. Turk.
And no one goes slowly psycho better than the great Robert Ryan.
October 15th, 2013 at 7:14 pm
David, all that you say is so but I think it the problem with the 1951 version is deeper than that. The silent film is far more honest in its presentation. Both are melodramatic but the Mitchum-Scott-Ryan film is artificially so. And while I like Scott, Ryan is operatic and Mitchum asleep. I do agree that William Conrad is great. Ray Collins always so.
October 15th, 2013 at 7:28 pm
Barry
I don’t disagree. Perhaps its related to the change in director in mid film, or maybe just because no one seems to really buy the very dated plot in the modern era, including the screenwriters. Mitchum seems to be particularly uncomfortable in some scenes.
And add to Collins and Conrad nuanced performances from Talman and Scott. Just wish everything was up to the cast.