Undertow

Alfred Hitchcock is my favourite director of all time bar none. If you are of a like mind you will also love this film noir in the Hitchcock form very enjoyable. I had never heard of this movie until I came across it on YouTube. Scott Brady is very effective in the wrong man Jimmy Stewart type lead male role. William Castle does a fine job as director.

"Undertow" is a simplistic example of a good 'B' picture, your basic Film Noir 101 movie. There are no surprises, lots of coincidences and plot contrivances, and the endgame is telegraphed about midway through. Screenwriters could have written this one in their sleep, which may account for the flawed, unsatisfying nature of Undertow. The cast is attractive; several familiar 'B' actors put this picture over with performances that infuse it with much-needed energy. I thought Scott Brady, John Russell, Bruce Bennett and Peggy Dow were just fine, production values were good, but the movie lacks suspense and tension. Every time a crucial scene would come up you just knew the outcome. Nevertheless, 'Undertow" succeeds in its own unsophisticated way, and for 40's theater audiences it would have been a good time killer while waiting for the main feature to come on.

Today ,William Castle is known as the man who bought Ira Levin's "Rosemary's baby " rights and produced one of the best horror movies of all time. "Undertow" has a quite derivative screenplay but the director made the best of it and any film noir buff can give it a chance :it thoroughly deserves it.It features at least one unforgettable scene: the chase in the long corridor which gives you goose flesh.Of the two female leads,I prefer Dorothy Hart to the rather bland Peggy Dow. In the 1968 movie Castle produced ,there was a corridor which played a prominent part too.

In Undertow wich was shot on location in Chicago the same way The Naked City was shot on location in New York, Scott Brady our protagonist is fresh out of prison and he's vowed to take out the mob boss who put him there. That was what we would call a lot of trash talk today, but said trash talk is making Brady look very good for the homicide of said Chicago mob boss. Brady spends most of the film on he run and looking for assistance. He finds it in Peggy Dow a girl he met while out of town and from homicide detective Bruce Bennett a childhood friend. Although it's fairly obvious from the gitgo who's behind the murder still Undertow is a good mystery thriller. Look for Rock Hudson in a small role as one of the detectives assigned to the case. Nice 2nd feature B film from Universal.

William Castle was always a B movie director .His talent -amounting almost to genius -elevated some of his 50's work to the status of "event movies" but works like "The Tingler" "Homicidal"and "Macabre"were nothing but glorified B pictures wrapped in the razzle -dazzle of showmanship. "Undertow"makes no pretense at being other than what it is-a brisk programmer for the bottom half of double features-and satisfies on this level Scott Brady is Tony Reagon,an ex-con going straight who is framed for the death of a mob boss,Big Jim,and the movie deals with Reagon's fight to clear his name with the help of a sympathetic cop and a schoolteacher with whom he struck up a friendship while en route to Chicago where the bulk of the movie is set. Good use of the Chicago locations and a brisk pace compensate for moderate acting.Its predictable but narrative pace stops it getting tiresome

Tony (Scott Brady) is the perfect patsy. He's an ex-con and the Chicago police are more than willing to believe the worst of him. So, when some unknown people kidnap him, shoot him and set him up for his future father-in-law's murder, the case seems pretty air-tight. However, like so many noir films, he investigates the case himself and aims to prove his innocence. Along the way, he gets the help from a nice lady and even from a cop. "Undertow" is an excellent and enjoyable film. While Peggy Dow's character makes no sense (why would anyone help a wanted man when they barely know them?!), the overall story is quite well made and keeps your attention. It has some excellent twists and the acting is quite good despite the actors mostly being second-tier. It sure helped having the excellent director William Castle in charge, as he had a habit of making the most of lower budgets.