User Reviews

Odds Against Tomorrow is a sharp little Black-and-White noir caper movie. Robert Ryan is very good as a southern accented hateful bigot. He's teamed with the sharp dressed, compulsive gambler Harry Belafonte. Belafonte financed the movie. No doubt that's why the bouncy jazz soundtrack is so good. The movie's pairing of the two builds to an explosive finale following the heist that goes about as wrong as it could. Also starring Ed Begley is the leader of the gang. He's also excellent as the one man keeping the caper on track and keeping the two crooks from killing each other.

Here's what Begley says after one of Ryan's racial slurs:

"Don't beat out that Civil War jazz here, Slater! We're all in this together, each man equal. And we're taking care of each other. It's one big play, our one and only chance to grab stakes forever. And I don't want to hear what your grandpappy thought on the old farm down in Oklahoma! You got it?"

A worthwhile caper for fans of noir or Belafonte.

Influenced by the more comic The Asphalt Jungle

Robert Wise's Odds Against Tomorrow grinds along to an inevitable conclusion, but offers a great performance by Ed Begley as Dave Burke, an ageing ex con looking to set up one last job. Filmed in black and white in winter in New York (both the city and a small-town upstate venue where the bank is) it has a drabness that permeates the whole film. Robert Ryan plays racist small-timer Earle Slater, who must team up with Johnny Ingram (Harry Belafonte) a jazz singer/vibraphonist who owes gambling debts to mobster Bacco played by Will Kuluva. Shelley Winters plays Slater's girlfriend Lorrie, a lonely woman with a steady job trying to buy his affection. Their relationship is based more on mutual need than love, her for sex and him for the money and company. Begley as Dave Burke must referee between his two cohorts. The racial tension between Slater and Ingram is carried to the extreme, and in the end it is what does in the heist. The subdued jazzy musical score combined with the bleak photography make this one moody movie. While the ending for Begley is pure drama, for Ryan and Belafonte it is too ironic for its own good, a clear example of the so-called message interfering with the plot, or maybe the message was the plot.

Odds Against Tomorrow is a decent, somewhat unimaginative crime picture with a message. It's mostly about three man who plan a robbery, and their reasons why. Robert Wise directed, and Harry Belafonte was the star-producer. There's an unfortunate air of deja vu about the picture, as this kind of story had become all too common by the time it was made. Indeed, director Robert Wise had made crime movies before, and had worked with Robert Ryan before, too, on the excellent The Set-Up. This one was filmed mostly on location in New York, and nicely reflects life at the lower but not quite lowest depths of that city.

It's worth seeing for the acting, which is good much of the time, and on occasion excellent. Belafonte's performance as a compulsive gambler is pleasingly cool and refined, like everything he does. I found it difficult to accept him as a loser, though. He seemed too good looking. There's a sharp rather than forlorn edge to him, and had a white actor been cast instead it would have been someone like Jack Klugman. His miscasting not withstanding, Belafonte manages to more than hold his own with his co-stars, not, I would imagine, an easy thing to do. Robert Ryan is the sociopath of the piece, and he'd perhaps been down this road once too often. In his peak years,--the late forties and early fifties--Ryan was one of the best bad men in the movies. He's still pretty good here, but a bit long in the tooth to be punching out Wayne Rogers in a bar, since he's old enough to be Rogers' father. Ryan aged badly, and his somewhat dissipated look makes him less intimidating than he ought to be. The key to his character's nastiness is his racism, which is laid on a bit heavy at times. Why this Southern redneck is living in a city where he is surrounded by the kinds of people he despises is never made clear. I wish it had been.

What saved the movie for me is Ed Begley's performance as the ex-cop who plans the robbery. Begley was one of the best American actors in the business at this time. He was for various personal reasons a late bloomer, and he didn't come into his own in films and on television until he was well into his fifties. He shows here a keen understanding of the sort of man toward whom life has been cruel, personally and professionally, and he gives a performance, smart and without a trace of self-pity, worthy of Eugene O'Neill. His work is vastly superior to the film itself, and he makes the movie worth seeing. Begley was one of a handful of actors who could singlehandedly make a film come alive, and who made too few movies worthy of him. While certain gifted actors,--John Malkovich, Tommy Lee Jones--get more than their share of opportunities to shine, Begley belongs to the group that got too few chances. I think of Sam Jaffe, Laird Cregar and James Anderson, actors whom I would like to have seen do many more films than they made. Begley makes this one worth seeing, and he singlehandedly lifts it up in quality, almost to the level of tragedy.

Good low budget heist film. Ryan's character is one of the ugliest portrayals of a white racist in film. Belafonte's character is one of the most multi-faceted and complex potrayals of an African American up until that time, and the performance doesn't date at all. Wise keeps the pacing taut and the suspense high. There's great black and white location shooting in New York City and upstate in Hudson, New York. Other things of interest: it's written by black-listed Abraham Polonsky under a pseudonym (check out his great "Force of Evil"); Cicely Tyson appears in a bit part; Richard Bright portrays a pretty overt homosexual for the time; early use of a zoom lens and infrared photography; edited by Dede Allen; some interiors shot at the old Gold Medal Studios in the Bronx.

I returned to NYC a couple of months ago, late September I believe. It's taken me until this Christmas week to get back into the flow of big city life. I had spent the past year living on a mountain in Northern New England.. remote and peaceful but lonely and isolated. It was surreal watching films in my cabin miles away from everyone else, films that connected me so dearly to late night local television in NYC. The loneliness eventully overwhelmed me and I realized that I will return to this mountain home later in my life.. when i am much older and less anxious.

So after one full year I returned to my apartment in Harlem. I took with me 250 of my most favorite films from my 1000 DVD collection, and one of my most adored of those 250 is Odds Against Tomorrow. This past thursday I took the subway down to Greenwich Village on a job search and walked across 13th Street, from 8th avenue. It could have been the holiday season, but passing the old townhouses and quaint street level restaurants touched a place in my heart, it triggered the affection and adoration of the old New York that had been buried deep inside my emotional gut. Being I'm in my late 40's my "old" New York is the mid 1970's.. but still such an atmospheric era. In the 1970's remnants of the 40's and 50's were still vivid; the restaurants, theaters and buildings and landmarks all took you back to those late night black and white movies that came on television.

This reminiscent rant does have a purpose dear readers, it really does, and thanks so much for being patient.. at times I go to these emotional places, and this moment I really wanted to share with you.

Odds Against Tomorrow is one of those special films that really connects the viewer to a city which once had such sincerity, authenticity and character that you bonded with it like it was a living breathing being. No, you dont have to be a New York native to understand.. you could be from a small town in Maine watching OAT and still feel that familiarity towards the big apple. The first scene which shows Robert Ryan walking down a side block and then turning onto Riverside Drive in Harlem will draw you in immediately. From Central Park West and the park itself to other unnamed streets where our characters live and social gives you a taste of old New York's duality.. it's grit and it's hospitality.

There are one hundred better reviews to read than this one if you'd like an in depth description of the plot and characters of the film, because I won't delve into those too deeply. Yes, this is a film with a grave social commentary; racism, bigotry and how it can utterly be such a factor in the demise of humanity. It also manifests the birth of an evolving period in the city, with the jazz music and the cultural shifts that began occuring at the end of the 50's. But.. what I found to be most potent in the film was the undeniable connection alll three main characters had. Ryan, Belafonte and Begley were all so very desperate, all were unique and individual but they shared a common disparity, the need of money, a chance at a big bundle of cash, one which would give each one of them a fresh start.. a new beginning. As I said, the racist Ryan posturing at Belafonte fuels the engine of the film, but there is so much more to the characters than that. There are three generations of men here, all with dilemmas and turmoil and even we the viewers are convinced that the only way these characters can win is by robbing this bank in upstate New York.

I believed these men. Who they were, how they felt, they convinced me of their flaws and fears, and I honestly felt for all of them, even the hateful Earl Slater. The depiction of these men could have been based on a real story.. and I've known men this desperate in my life, and I have myself, been behind the eight ball like Ingram, Burke and Slater.

The supporting actors are brilliant as well. From each character at the Jazz club and the neighborhood bar to Shelley Winters, and Ms. Grahamm to the young gas attendent in upstate NY... such inividual conviction and character is evident even in the briefest performance in the film.

The cinematography, of course is incredible. The stark, grey shots, the clouds and the lights clashing and the closeups and pans of the characters and landscapes are superior. The shadows and glares show brillance in both extremes.. interior or exterior, just incredible. I read that Robert Wise used a special film which affected the darks and lights of the movie. There are a couple of shots of Ed Begley's character that are quite moving and potent, this film almost conveys art in the sense of portraits of the characters. I also believe that Ed Begleys character doesnt get enough recognition, I felt him to be the most desperate of all three men, and in trying to keep Ryan and Belafonte from being at odds (pardon the pun) and unified, doubled his burden. Watch Begleys character closely, this is truly a brilliant performance. I wont reveal any spoilers, but there is a point in the film where I cried.

I have watched this film sometimes twice a year since I have purchased it ten years ago, SO, I do suggest revisitng it every year to see how brilliant and amazing it is and so you will be able to see beyond the relevant but not singular social commentary. There are so many layers to the film which I continue to discover.

After leaving thirteenth street I decided to walk uptown on 6th avenue for a while. Amidst the millions of corner banks and fast food restaurants, I peeked up side streets and saw old buildings that I remembered seeing when I was young. An old store front or diner occassionally remained and I smiled. I turned at Rockafeller Center and visited the tree. People were everywhere, smiling. taking pictures and ice skating. At that moment my heart ached and i walked speedily away from the crowds before anyone could see my tears. I had felt like a child again, a brief rememberance of old New York had appeared like a holiday ghost and reminded me of how good it once was to live here. Odds against tomorrow is a film that shares visions of that remembrance and how special New York City once was..

Peace to all.

Odds Against Tomorrow is directed by Robert Wise and adapted to screenplay by Abraham Polonsky and Nelson Gidding from the novel written by William P. McGivern. It stars Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Ed Begley, Shelley Winters and Gloria Grahame. Music is by John Lewis and cinematography by Joseph C. Brun.

"Don't beat on that Civil War jazz here Slater. We are all in this together - each man equal. And we're taking care of each other, it's one big play, our one and only chance to grab sticks forever. And I don't wanna hear bout what your Grandpappy thought on the old farm down on old Oklahoma. You got it? "

A seething ball of fatalism, pessimism and racism, Odds Against Tomorrow packs a firm handed noir punch. At the core it's a tale of 3 men doing a heist, each man with their own reasons for breaking the law, to tackle what looks to be a simple job. Begley is a bitter ex-cop, Ryan a loser living off of his girlfriend, and Belafonte likes to gamble on the horses, only he's not very good at it and now his financial provider wants cashing in - or there are bigger prices to be paid...

All men are evil.

Wise is in no hurry here, he builds the characters and inner turmoil of each protagonist for a good portion of the running time. It's a good move. The racial tension is palpable, Earle Slater (Ryan) is a venomous racist, which obviously doesn't go down too well with Johnny Ingram (Belafonte), their scenes together crackle with electric tinged hatred, which in turn gives the whole pic its ism factors. It's bitter stuff, further compounded by the two femmes of the piece, both of whom are attached to Slater. They are not fatale types, but Lorry (Winters) and Helen (Grahame) are sad cases for differing reasons, both adding to the all round sourness of the narrative, with Helen's key scene with Slater containing razor edged scripting.

Hello dear!

The makers fill out the pic with an array of noir standards, from gay henchmen, facially blemished bystanders and acerbic dialogue, to a whole bunch of scenes and imagery that linger large. Daylight scenes have a threatening hue to them, most often boosted by crafty images such as deflated balloons, a battered doll, a rusty old tin can, a dizzying carousel or even a serene shot of a rabbit caught in the sights of our most hate filled protag. Brun's night photography out in the streets is rich with oppressive and ominous atmosphere, and the interior environments of a cramped apartment (scary stairs outside of course) and a smoky club (hello percussion abuse!) are ripe with a claustrophobic hopelessness befitting the story. And all the time John Lewis lays some sumptuously moody jazz over everything.

It all builds to the big finale, the heist and the heart tugs, a welcome to noirville sign going blink blink blinkity blink somewhere in the shadowed city. The message is clear, and every lover of film noir owes Robert Wise a debt of gratitude for overseeing a change of endings from the literary source. Yes, even the director of two of the most popular musicals of all time could beat a black heart. Thank you Bobby. 9/10

In New York, the former cop Dave Burke (Ed Begley) summons the veteran Earle Slater (Robert Ryan) and the jazz musician Johnny Ingram (Harry Belafonte) to heist a bank in a small town. Slater is financially supported by his woman Lorry (Shelley Winters) and feels uncomfortable with the situation. Johnny is a compulsive gambler and owes a large amount to the shark Bacco (Will Kuluva), who is threatening his ex-wife and his daughter. They both are reluctant to accept the invitation, but they need money and accept to participate in Burke's plan. However Slater is racist and does not trust in Johnny.

"Odds against Tomorrow" is a suspenseful crime drama with the story of the preparation and execution of a heist of a bank. Directed by Robert Wise and with magnificent performance of Robert Ryan, the plot discloses the racism in America in 1959. The racial tension between the characters performed by Robert Ryan and Harry Belafonte is increasing reaching the climax in the tragic conclusion. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available on Blu-Ray or DVD.

Except for its patent anti-racist message at the end, this is a top-notch caper picture. Harry Belafonte as an in-debt horse player, Robert Ryan as a southerner with a temper living off a suitably blowzy Shelly Winters, Ed Begley as a bitter ex-cop--all come together in a tightly planned bank hold-up in a small NY town upstate. The black-and-white photography makes you wonder why they ever used color for anything other than musicals and cartoons.

Belafonte's acting never came up to his singing, but he does all right here. Ryan was a consummate actor, and Begley is perfectly cast. Gloria Grahame has a very small part but was never sexier.

The soundtrack, by the Modern Jazz Quartet, may be better than the picture itself (I listen to it all the time), but that's not to slight this gritty little crime flick.

A heist film that takes about an hour to get to the heist, something I loved about it. It allows its two main characters to be fully formed, and of course also sows the seeds for what the film is really about, which is racism. Robert Ryan plays an aging lowlife with a record and backward, racist views, and Harry Belafonte plays a nightclub performer with a mountain of gambling debts. Both men are veterans, and each has a complicated relationship (Ryan with a younger woman, Shelley Winters; Belafonte with his ex-wife, Kim Hamilton). They also both play around; Ryan with his neighbor, Gloria Grahame, and Belafonte with a woman at the nightclub. Out of desperation they both allow themselves to get pulled in to the caper by an ex-cop (Ed Begley), who has a "sure thing" lined up for them.

The black and white cinematography on location is fantastic and director Robert Wise does a great job telling the story. I was riveted for the full 95 minutes and thought the production quality was very high. For most of the film Wise uses restraint in slipping in the moments that deal with race, even when Belafonte tells his wife "It's their world and we're just living in it!" while they argue over his gambling and her attempts to assimilate, which was a brilliant moment. It's a wee bit heavy-handed towards the end, but the way the message that we're all the same beneath the surface was delivered was clever. While Ryan, Belafonte, and Begley are the stars here and turn in great performances, Winters, Hamilton, and Grahame are also excellent. Grahame's part is small but I loved how she played the part of a woman who didn't have the sassy confidence of her normal roles. Also, keep an eye out for Cicely Tyson and Zohra Lampert. Because of its cast, cinematography, and direction this one is satisfying as a noir/heist film on its own, and special because of how it deals with race. Definitely recommended.

Harry Belafonte produced and starred in "Odds Against Tomorrow," a 1959 film also starring Robert Ryan, Ed Begley, Gloria Grahame, and Shelley Winters and directed by Robert Wise. It's a depressing story of a bunch of losers who team up for what is supposed to be an easy robbery. For all of them it represents a last chance.

A gritty, black and white film that takes place on lonely streets, barren roads, cheap apartments, and cheap night clubs, what makes it interesting is that at the end, there is very little dialogue and a big "Top of the world, ma," finish that is both splashy and ironic.

Other than that, it's routine stuff. Robert Ryan plays his usual cruel, deeply prejudiced wacko with an itchy trigger finger. Is it my imagination, or did his characters just get meaner as he aged? Other than John the Baptist, that is. Supposedly, he was a wonderful man - it's amazing that these roles didn't get to him after a while. The story goes that while he was at RKO, the scripts for the year would be delivered at the annual Christmas party. Ryan would take half and Mitchum the other half. Somehow Ryan always ended up with the monsters. Winters is his clinging, desperate wife - also nothing new there, and Grahame is the horny neighbor. Not exactly a departure.

Belafonte, a brilliant musical performer, gets to belt out a couple in the nightclub where his compulsive gambler character works. I have to agree with one of the comments - he's just too handsome and classy to be considered part of this bunch. If the character had been cast as a white man, would we have expected to see some hunk or a character actor? His performance is very good, however, as a man who believes it's a white man's world, and he's sick of playing by their rules.

Ed Begley is terrific as the seedy old man who puts the plan together but picks two people who are at terrible odds with one another. Which didn't give very good odds against tomorrow.

Worth seeing for the actors and the exciting ending.

By 1959 the film noir cycle had pretty much run its course. The "classic" period (as it is now referred to) had passed by the early 50s and "B" films were also a thing of the past, phased out by the seemingly endless need for inferior product to be displayed on television screens. "Odds Against Tomorrow" is still a great film, thoroughly ensconced in the tradition but something even a little bit more.

From the opening highly stylized credits to the lonely figure of Robert Ryan walking the empty streets of New York we know that we are in store for something unsettling, something special.

Each character in the film is tightly drawn with at least some level of complexity and interest. It has been said that it is the Begley performance that holds the film together but each contribution is key to creating the final effect of alienation and desperation that echoes even after the final credits role. Personally I found Belefonte's contribution the most searing. He captures the role of the divorced father to a tee. The scene where he is awakened by his ex-wife after sleeping (ever so slightly) with is daughter is masterful. You can sense the longing in his heart for the nuclear family that once was.

But the dream is over. He has tough call to make; he is the essence of film noir. As Sydeny Pollack notes in his summary of the noir protagonist, "You're %$W#%ed!" And he knows it.

Even though the Robert Ryan character is a confirmed racist he is still sympathetic, you still feel his desperation. Bad guys in most films today are just that, bad, and there is little attempt to draw the shades of gray in them. Ryan gave a lot of great performance but this nuanced turn even surpasses his earlier work in "Crossfire" where no such ambiguity exists.

Bigotry undermines this unholy trio's effort to execute the ultimate robbery. The actors whipped up for this illegal exercise are played by Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Ed Begley. The volatile chemistry between the three desperate fellows fuels this bleak film noir from the late Fifties. Once again, there is some gorgeous on location photography in Manhattan, especially Central Park. Fine Jazz and Calypso music are served up at the smoky club where Belafonte works. Crooked camera angles and cluttered set direction contribute nicely to a claustrophobic atmosphere. The apartment building where Begley resides has a weird elevator that has multiple exit doors as well as an operator who likes to talk about the wind piercing the elevator shaft. The dames--Gloria Grahame and Shelly Winters--are rough but warm around the edges. Wayne Rogers makes his debut in a small role as a braggart in a bar. Stick around for the killer final and be blown away.

Great suspenseful noir with one HECK of an ending. Don't read any reviews with spoilers!

Superb cast, direction, writing and great old New York locations. Sometimes you can catch a full clear copy on YouTube.

An adaptation of a novel by William P. McGivern, "Odds Against Tomorrow" is a perfectly absorbing example of socially conscious crime-noir. Ed Begley plays Dave Burke, a disgraced former cop who recruits two other participants for a bank job. Earl Slater (Robert Ryan) is a two-time loser with a frustrated girlfriend (Shelley Winters), and Johnny Ingram (Harry Belafonte) is a nightclub entertainer with a weakness for playing the horses. Both are in serious need of some cash, but tensions between the two will be inevitable, because Johnny is black and Earl is an unrepentant racist.

Vivid portraits of the personal lives of Earl and Johnny are created in a film that functions mainly as a character study. The big bank heist doesn't take place until the final quarter hour of the film. But director Robert Wise, who moved from genre to genre with ease during his career, guides it all in style. Wise gets excellent performances out of his entire cast. Supporting roles are played by Gloria Grahame (Earls' neighbour Helen), Will Kuluva (the mobster Bacco), Kim Hamilton (Johnny's ex-wife Ruth), and Richard Bright and Lew Gallo (as two of Bacco's henchmen). In small roles, both credited and uncredited, you'll see the likes of Wayne Rogers, Zohra Lampert, Robert Earl Jones, Barney Martin, Mel Stewart, and Cicely Tyson. Anchoring the tale are three highly engaging portrayals by Begley, Belafonte, and Ryan. The latter shines in one of his notable antagonist roles; Earl is such a pathological bigot that it undermines his effectiveness when push comes to shove.

"Odds Against Tomorrow" is strikingly scored, by John Lewis, and photographed, by Joseph C. Brun. Familiar names among the crew include renowned editor Dede Allen and costume designer Anna Hill Johnstone. The screenplay is the work of Nelson Gidding and the blacklisted Abraham Polonsky, who was originally credited under a pseudonym.

This is gripping entertainment that doesn't waste time, wrapping up in a taut 97 minutes. The finale is truly explosive stuff, with a very pertinent comment on humanity right at the end.

Eight out of 10.

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.

If you want to see human nature at its worst, watch this little gem of a movie. ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW pulls no punches in a storyline of bad versus bad. That is it. The film noir productions of the 40s pale in comparison to this edge of your seat dramatization of a robbery gone wrong executed by the wrong people at the wrong place at the wrong time who have absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. In short, its an exercise on watching people you love to hate get their just dues.

The acting puts it over the top with a select cast that telegraph the blows and they pack a wallop, particularly as the last reel is played out. True, it's a film that will stay with you for a while, and for all the wrong reasons, but its a slice of reality, and exercise, if you will, of how nasty people can be, particularly when greed and racism is thrown into the mix.

What a tangled web "they" weave.

Always on dvd and remastered blu ray.

This film appeared a little later than the average Film Noir flick, coming out in 1959. However, being just a few years newer isn't a bad thing. In fact, as American sensibilities were changing and racial awareness was now fair game in Hollywood, they combine to produce a terrific film.

The real standout star in the film is Robert Ryan. His character is highly reminiscent of the bigoted bully from his earlier film, CROSSFIRE. But, in this case he also has a lot of prison time and a wasted life behind him because he has an enormous chip on his shoulder and is just chock full of rage. This character was very well-written, as the writers really understood the antisocial personality and combined it with a slimy coating of prejudice. This film could most likely not be made the same way today in this era of political correctness and this is a shame as bigotry is best served directly and unflinchingly.

Ryan's nemesis throughout much of the film is Harry Belafonte. Although they are both crooks working the same heist, Ryan's hatred of anything black can't help but set the men against each other--especially since Belefonte is both proud and very confrontational. This relationship really results in some amazing chemistry.

Other very notable performances come from Shelley Winters as the long-suffering girl who keeps waiting for Ryan to make good and Ed Begley as the mastermind behind the bank job.

Combining all this exceptional acting and writing with top-notch direction from Robert Wise, and you've got a real winner!! About the only Noir film that I like more that immediately comes to mind is THE KILLER (1946). Also, this film is highly reminiscent of THE KILLING--another terrific Noir classic.

Great movie! This movie was mostly filmed in my home town of Hudson New York and seeing this footage of my home town back in 1959 was a total trip. In the movie they changed the name of the city to Milton but it's really Hudson. Some things remain the same around here as they did back in 1959 but most things really changed a lot!! Anyway this is a great movie and i'm glad I finally found this on DVD! It's a classic! Other movies filmed in Hudson were the movies.. Ironweed and Nobodys Fool that i got to see being filmed here and I tell ya it was great to see some excitement around here for a change. Well thats about it, I think I babbled on enough!

The worst part of Odds Against Tomorrow is the very end. I want to get it out of the way now before I press ahead to what I liked about it (and there are a few good things to say about it). It involves the aftermath of the fate of two of the main characters, Robert Ryan and Harry Belafonte as Earle and Johnny respectively, two guys who have no business working together (Earle is a good-ol' boy from Oklahoma and sees Johnny as, well, 'Boy' just about sums it up, maybe without the capital in 'b'), but are thrown together by ex cop David Burke (Ed Begley, being his, uh, Begley-ist) to pull a bank heist on a weekday night when 200 grand is up for grabs in a brief window of time. In this climax the two men end up running away from the cops (oh, spoiler, the heist goes bad, sorry), and because they're running around by some giant tankers, their gun shots make everything around them explode, burning them to beyond recognition.

Cut to the ending of the film when the cops are looking over the corpses and one of them says to the other, "Can't tell em apart now" or something to that effect. I get why the message is there - hey, at the end of it all, you're still dead and racial hatred doesn't mean a thing - but the bluntness of that message is much too hard, especially from what has come before. This isn't The Defiant Ones, where it's about how the white and black people of the world can set aside their differences through literally being tied to one another. Odds Against Tomorrow has a more cynical worldview, that, this is a world of MEN and how they have to appear MANLY to the people around them, and part of that is a feeling of racial superiority (though I believe Robert Ryan's character is the only out-n-out racist in the film, there's an air of uncertainty at times when Johnny is playing music at the club or with the guys he owes money to, it's subtle but it's there I think). So the ending robs it of what is already a potent enough image of these two guys being blown up in the midst of their hopeless and nihilistic end.

Indeed while of course it's easy to see the important of it being the first film noir with a black lead (though there was No Way Out with Poitier I'm not sure that counts like this does), and, strangely enough, considered by some to be the *last* of the "classic" era of film-noir before neo-noir would begin some years after, it's really less a movie about racism than it is about masculinity. Johnny and Earle each have paths in life that have brought them to the desperate points they're at to rob a bank, and a lot of it revolves around being flawed as men, whether it's to the women or children around them as with Johnny (he has a woman and a young child, but is in for $7,500 to people over some debts - by the way a great scene where he has to confront them and things are fine until Johnny pulls out a gun, then he's in real trouble), or with the dames in Earle's life (Shelley Winters and Gloria Grahame).

A key scene to me seems to not have much to do with the main story, and is just Earle in a bar. Some younger people are screwing around tossing themselves around the bar and one of them by accident knocks over Earle's drink. Earle is mad but tries to calm down, but the guys and gal attempt to toss themselves again, and Earle pipes up to one of them. S*** gets real, one of the guys (in an army outfit - by the way, as per a quasi-noir tradition of down-n-out toughs, Ryan's Earle is a WW2 vet), and the threat of violence escalates... with Earle doing some special kind of punch that puts this kid in pain. Earle is proud of himself, for a moment, and then feels ashamed at this, and the others are like "why did you have to do that?" He leaves quickly with his suit.

I wonder about this scene as being sort of an encapsulation about this movie, or this world where GUYS have to be TOUGH and do things THEIR way (sorry for the caps, but you know, it's for emphasis), and I think that's the skill Abraham Polansky and Robert Wise get with this material. Even the ex cop Begley plays is doing this "one last score" cliché in a way to prop himself up - he claims he wasn't dirty, on the force for decades, but, you know, never said a wrong word (i.e. rat on the wrong people) - and it gives him something to live for. He needs these guys perhaps more than they need him, money aside, so there's ego there too I think. Meanwhile for Johnny being a man is being able to provide for his family and not be a total screw-up as he has been. He'd rather just keep playing his music - Belafonte has a couple of good numbers in the film, one of them ties in story-wise to what's going on as it's post back-room argument over the money owed as stakes rise - but that's not going to last.

If it only hadn't been for the ending, and a couple of creaky moments in the writing, it would be really special instead of simply being... good. Actually, Belafonte is better than good, and I wish he'd acted more. 7.5/10

I found this a rather dreary film that could have been a superb caper film. Indeed, the caper sequences was well scripted and directed.

But for some reason the script focused on a silly plot, a sort of rehash of the Poitier-Curtis-Kramer film, "The Defiant Ones." The characters are one-dimensional and the plot elements contrived throughout, including dreary sequences, one of them where Ryan gets the better of a bully in a bar for no plausible reason except to show how tough he is, though later he can barely hold his own in a fighting sequence with Belafonte.

Scenes with Shelley Winters and especially Gloria Grahame are even more dreary and one has to wonder what the point is.

Final sequence of white and black blowing up their world is supposed to be terribly epic, I suppose, but it just comes across as silly. What did the famous producer say? If you want to send a message use Western Union.

Racism and caper films simply do not mix. And why plan a caper with one pathologically unstable person and someone with almost no background, by his own admission, in robbery? One would think the ex-cop, played by Ed Begley, would have had better contacts among fellow ex-police officers or in the underworld.

What turned out is unfortunate since the acting was superb, though I always found Robert Ryan's portrays of pathological characters one-dimensional. Too much telegraphing with little feeling of substance underneath,

Part of it, of course, is due to the half-baked contrived script throughout. But Harry Belafonte gave a superb performance, as did Begley.

The cinematography, however, was superb but wasted on a film with little substance in my view. The cinematography, though, created an almost surreal effect throughout and might have fit a post-nuclear blast film better.