★ 7 / 10
All we need now is a well dug
John Chard
All we need now is a well dug grave. Tight Spot is directed by Phil Karlson and adapted to screenplay by William Bowers from the play "Dead Pigeon" written by…
All we need now is a well dug grave.
Tight Spot is directed by Phil Karlson and adapted to screenplay by William Bowers from the play "Dead Pigeon" written by Leonard Kantor. It stars Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson, Brian Keith, Lorne Green and Eve McVeagh. Music is by George Duning and cinematography by Burnett Guffey.
Sherry Conley (Rogers) is offered a way out of her prison term if she agrees to testify as a witness in the trial of mobster Benjamin Costain (Green). Holed up in a hotel room under police protection, Sherry starts to form a close relationship with Lt. Vince Striker (Keith). Just as Costain's hit-men start to close in...
Is it noir or not? That's a question that has cropped up quite a bit since Columbia released it as part of their Film Noir Classics III Collection. The presence of Karlson (Kansas City Confidential), Guffey (In A Lonely Place), Bowers (The Mob) and Robinson (Scarlet Street) certainly gives it strong noir credentials on the makers front. What transpires is more crime melodrama than noir, but Tight Spot does feature noir traits. From Guffey's shadows and half lights photography, to the characterisations portrayed by Rogers and Keith, there's enough here to keep the noir faithful replenished.
Rogers' performance (casting) has also been much cause for debate, which is understandable as it is a role that could quite easily have been given to better femme fatale actresses of the time. Yet although she takes some getting used to, and that hair cut is just bizarre, Rogers does a nice line in sharp tongued sass, even putting some sexy sizzle in to the bargain during a slow dance sequence with Keith. She does fine work, a bit over theatrical maybe? But she nestles in nicely alongside the strong turns from Keith, Green and Robinson to lift an average story to better heights.
Much of the film is set within the confines of one hotel room, which is both a blessing and a curse. At times it works in the film's favour because Karlson is able to wring out some claustrophobia, a real sense of impending threat is evident at times. However, at other times the picture feels just too stage bound, stripping away some of the realistic atmosphere the makers strive for. There's also a problem of tonal shifts as comedy sticks its oar in at regular intervals, including a frequent visit to a hillbilly television show that serves no purpose other than to annoy Keith's increasingly agitated detective.
A mixed bag without doubt, and at the half way point some may be wondering what they have let themselves in for? But the cast and makers come through in credit once the second half arrives. Because then we get action, twists and a grand finale. 7/10
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★ 7 / 10
A Rough Little Noir With A Fine Cast
Handlinghandel
Ginger Rogers is good as the tough-talking woman sprung from prison to testify in a trial. What a strange career she had! Best known for her movies with Fred…
Ginger Rogers is good as the tough-talking woman sprung from prison to testify in a trial. What a strange career she had! Best known for her movies with Fred Astaire, she was also a delightful comedienne. She did some serious work in her prime, winning an Oscar for an only-OK soap opera. But she's good in "Primrose Path." She turned tough in many of her fifties outings, and she looked tough too. Here she has sort of a pixie haircut that doesn't quite work with the character and isn't flattering to her. But she's excellent.Edward G. Robinson, billed second to her, is superb. He always was. That man was incapable of giving a bad performance, no matter how oddly cast he might have been at times. Brian Keith, whom many know for sunny outings in later television, is exceptional as a very tough cop. He really is the focus of this movie, though the Rogers character is the lead.Who in the world was Lucy Marlow, who got fourth billing? It says prison girl. Hmm. The woman playing the matron, Katherine Anderson, is important to the plot. She is very touching as well.Lorne Green is another actor who played some mean hombres before he became the benevolent dad on TV's "Bonanza." His character is less nuanced than the one he plays in "Autumn Leaves." But he does well by it.Phil Karlson was an excellent director, who had some of the nastiest, darkest, roughest noirs of the fifties under his belt. This is among the best of them.
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