Hell on Frisco Bay

source: Hell on Frisco Bay

Moviecut—Hell on Frisco Bay

Hell on Frisco Bay

William McGivern wrote 20 books and many were made into films of note and this one is tops like the others. Alan Ladd stars as a cop set up for a murder five years before the film begins. He is getting out as the film starts from San Quentin. His wife and father, also a cop, meet him. The wife is given the brush off, because she cheated during the five years. Ladd is interested is finding the real killer. Edward G. Robinson is the crime boss in San Francisco who has side kicks. He owns a corrupt cop. Both Ladd and Robinson are always worth watching. Robinson's nephew is killed and made to look like suicide. Robinson's wife finds out he was murdered by her husband and then tells the cops where to find him. There is a magnificent boat scene at the end which is astounding and could never be replicated. San Francisco scenes are incredible. The Golden Gate looks freshly painted through the rear of the bus from San Quentin.

As is the case with so many f these films rom the 40's and 50's, the sub plots involving love trysts/issues bring down the movie. I suspect they were added to get a female in the film. Too bad. Alan Ladd, who is the star is actually a weak link. Robinson is good as the gangster. Over all tho, despite some glaring plot holes (like a guy tells you he's gonna kill you when YOU have the gun and you let him go?) it's a pretty good flick.

Unless you happened to have seen this movie on TV, you have probably not seen it. It has not been released for DVD, although it is a big budget movie filmed in Cinemascope. Like most Cinemascope films of the time, it brings in the flavor of the locale with panorama shots. I see it a a period piece first and film noir only because of Robinson. For its time, it was incredibly gritty. Robinson is the classic Little Ceasar, and his performance carries the movie. Ladd may have been miscast, but carries the part OK. The dynamic boat-ride ending may be commonplace now, but was a real innovation at the time. I have always wondered why this film was not released on tape or DVD. Perhaps its the title, since San Franciscans loath the nickname "Frisco."

Edward G Robinson dismissed this one with a passing comment in his autobiography and it's not hard to see why. He exudes menace in the classic 'Little Caesar' manner and his interplay with the underrated Paul Stewart does have a touch of real quality. However, Cinemascope is not a process designed for urban thrillers and the wide open spaces rob the film of any sense of tension or claustrophobia. The greatest weakness, however, lies in Ladd's robotic performance. His boredom is evident throughout and the lacklustre supporting cast do little to help. In the end Robinson is left out on his own, gat in hand, the true professional giving it all he's got.

The original title for "Hell on Frisco Bay" was "Hell on the Docks." Apparently, either Warner Bros. or Alan Ladd, whose company, Jaguar, produced the film, thought the title wasn't colorful enough or specific enough about its location, so "Frisco Bay" was substituted just prior to the film's release. I have a few stills with the original title printed on them. This film, like others produced by Ladd in the 1950s, including Delmer Daves' Western, "Drum Beat," has not appeared on DVD because, according to a Warner Bros Archives Edition executive, the Ladd estate has not permitted its release. "Drum Beat" just appeared on Turner Classic Movies in its original CinemaScope format, but it was shorter than its published length of 111 minutes by at least four minutes. No US DVD release is imminent.

While most of the territory covered in this film has been covered before in countless movies, still this story of organized crime is very watchable and packed with great dialog and lots of action. In fact, this is very much a Film Noir piece, despite its having been filmed in color. Ladd is great as the angry guy seeking out justice (yes, I know it isn't very much of a stretch) and Edward G. Robinson turns in exactly the type of performance that made him famous (once again, not much of a stretch I know). And, overall, the film is very gritty, entertaining as well as great fun to watch. It does lose a couple points for the lack of originality, but considering how well it is put together, it certainly makes up for much of this.