Watching Odds Against Tomorrow what struck me is who former and disgraced cop Ed Begley chose for his caper. If this had been a legitimate or at least a semi-sanctioned operation by powers that be, I can't help feeling that a much bigger pool of talent would have been available. But when you're doing an out and out criminal act you have to take what you can get and who you know is available.
Desperation seems to be the key here. Both Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan are desperate for money. Belafonte is in deep to the bookies, in particular Will Kulava who thinks he's given him enough time to settle up.
With Belafonte it's slow horses, with Ryan it's fast women. He's got a wife in Shelley Winters and a girlfriend in Gloria Grahame and they both are making demands. He's the muscle of the operation, he's already done time for manslaughter. But Ryan has an additional problem, he's a southern boy who has a rabid hatred for blacks.
As I said Begley has in mind a robbery of a bank in a small town in upstate New York. Small police force with rube cops, should be a cinch if he can keep his two tigers from killing each other.
Odds Against Tomorrow's cast gave director Robert Wise a good ensemble performance. There are similarities here between this and The Asphalt Jungle and White Heat. But those caper films had gangs of professional criminals and headed by smart criminal brains. And both of those films had the capers fail in the end. What chance did Begley have with his picked crew?
Probably with the blacklist not quite over, Abraham Polonsky who wrote the script might have directed as well. A pseudonym was used for Polonsky. I think Wise was probably true to Polonsky's vision, but it's interesting to speculate as to what the differences in the film might have been. I do think that the aura of doom and gloom that Wise envelops his work with here is definitely something Polonsky would have done.
If professionals like Dr. Reifenschneider and Cody Jarrett could fail, what chance did Ed Begley have with his help?
Odds Against Tomorrow is one crackerjack noir film recommended highly for fans of the genre.
Desperation seems to be the key here. Both Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan are desperate for money. Belafonte is in deep to the bookies, in particular Will Kulava who thinks he's given him enough time to settle up.
With Belafonte it's slow horses, with Ryan it's fast women. He's got a wife in Shelley Winters and a girlfriend in Gloria Grahame and they both are making demands. He's the muscle of the operation, he's already done time for manslaughter. But Ryan has an additional problem, he's a southern boy who has a rabid hatred for blacks.
As I said Begley has in mind a robbery of a bank in a small town in upstate New York. Small police force with rube cops, should be a cinch if he can keep his two tigers from killing each other.
Odds Against Tomorrow's cast gave director Robert Wise a good ensemble performance. There are similarities here between this and The Asphalt Jungle and White Heat. But those caper films had gangs of professional criminals and headed by smart criminal brains. And both of those films had the capers fail in the end. What chance did Begley have with his picked crew?
Probably with the blacklist not quite over, Abraham Polonsky who wrote the script might have directed as well. A pseudonym was used for Polonsky. I think Wise was probably true to Polonsky's vision, but it's interesting to speculate as to what the differences in the film might have been. I do think that the aura of doom and gloom that Wise envelops his work with here is definitely something Polonsky would have done.
If professionals like Dr. Reifenschneider and Cody Jarrett could fail, what chance did Ed Begley have with his help?
Odds Against Tomorrow is one crackerjack noir film recommended highly for fans of the genre.