The Racket

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The Racket

Robert Mitchum stars in this crime story that has him star as Police Captain Thomas McQuigg, the only honest captain left in a corrupt police force paid off by local crime boss Nick Scanlon(played by Robert Ryan) who has to deal with the national crime syndicate moving in, and being pressured to conform to their methods, which isn't in Nick's nature. William Talman plays honest patrolman Bob Johnson, who helps McQuigg battle the gangsters and a corrupt D.A. turned politician(played by Ray Collins) even as his life is put in grave danger. Good cast cannot save routine and predictable story that also defies credibility one time too many.

It's based on Al Capone's subterranean control of Chicago in the 1920s, as filtered through a play by Bartlett Cormack. Robert Ryan plays the mob boss (the role was originated on Broadway by Edward G. Robinson), with Robert Mitchum as the honest police chief trying to put him in jail. It's a tough job, with District Attorney Ray Collins on Ryan's payroll and small folk like Robert Hutton and Lizabeth Scott afraid to testify. Cinematographer George E. Diskant shoots it like a noir, with plenty of shadows, but it's actually a tough crime drama, with Ryan letting loose. With William Talman and William Conrad. It was a typically micromanaged Howard Hughes production, with four screenwriters (with Samuel Fuller turning in an early draft that wasn't used. Too bad), and five directors. John Cromwell was the one who was credited. He had been a performer in the stage production.

The governor's crime commission fears a large criminal syndicate is moving into the city. The criminals are trying to elect Welsh as their own county judge. They recruit local gangster Nick Scanlon (Robert Ryan) but he's uncertain of their all-encompassing political ways. Corrupted officials are pushing the incorruptible police Captain Thomas McQuigg (Robert Mitchum) to the sideline. Then there is the nightclub singer Irene Hayes (Lizabeth Scott). This should be a great hardcore crime noir. It has Mitchum. The story is simple good cop against bad criminals. It falters with the flat uninspired story. It should have started with Mitchum right off the bat. I have nothing against Ryan and his shaving scene is fun. There is nothing that memorable and Mitchum is wasted in the effort. His presence is still powerful enough to drive this crime action movie forward but this is definitely not upper level stuff.

THE RACKET is a very familiar crime story produced by Howard Hughes. The typically mild-mannered Robert Mitchum stars as a cop leading a task force against the sinister criminal organisation blighting his city, and the man at the top is a ruthless murderer who has to be stopped at all costs. What follows is entirely predictable to anybody who's familiar with this genre in any way, but at the same time it's rather engaging with a literate script and some excellent performances from actors who lift the material above its pulpish origins. Mitchum is only middling here as he seems to be sleepwalking through the role, but Robert Ryan's kingpin is much better and rather hissable. The real scene-stealer, though, is William Talman (THE HITCH-HIKER) as the rookie cop who finds himself involved in something far beyond his means.

Entertaining film with politics, crime and corruption the main themes here. Robert Mitchum plays a dedicated, righteous policeman who heads a unit of officers. He is as honest as 24 hours in a day. He takes pride in such officers as Bill Talman, a young cop gunned down in police headquarters by the usually evil Robert Ryan. Without the insanity of his earlier crime driven roles, Ryan comes across as the embodiment of evil. Ray Collins steals the show as a worm of a prosecuting attorney up to his neck in corruption. It is interesting to note that both Collins and Talman went on to TV careers in "Perry Mason." Lizabeth Scott, as a lounge singer, caught up in the mayhem, tries hard to please but she does not evoke the emotion needed for her role. To say that the ending is justified is more than right.

This film reminds me a lot of an earlier film that paired Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan (CROSSFIRE), as both have very tough and gritty plots that are excellent examples of Film Noir. However, in this film instead of a plot involving anti-semitism, it's a good cop versus organized crime flick. Once again, Ryan is a scumbag and Mitchum is a decent and hard-as-nails cop bent on justice. A particular standout is the dialog between them--very snappy and pure Noir! I particularly liked the exchanges between them in the police station when they were cross-examining the cocky and unrepentant Ryan. And, since it is Noir, you know that there will be ample quantities of violence and testosterone. Give it a try--this is a seldom-mentioned classic.

A deep cast of well-known actors highlights this film noir effort. Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Lizabeth Scott, William Talman, Ray Collins, Don Porter and William Conrad are all familiar names, especially to film noir buffs. Ryan lifts this from an average classic-era crime film to above-average with a convincingly nasty character. He plays a no-compromise hood who lives by the code of violence. You have a problem? Violence, not brains, is the answer, according to Ryan's character "Nick Scanlon." The film is fast-moving despite not having a lot of action scenes. All the characters are good, not just Ryan's, and the dialog is excellent in spots. The photography is nothing special, at least not as dramatic as most noirs, but it's a solid crime film, thanks to this cast. I would rate this a bit higher but I didn't care for the ending.