Railroaded

RAILROADED! 1947

Director: Anthony Mann

Reviewed by Paghat the Ratgirl



There are some lovely lighting set-ups in Railroaded that do appeal to those of us who are film noir fanatics, who love to see the moodiness that can be created by light & shadow. The story line has a couple original bits, such as the women's gambling den behind the hair salon. I can't remember seeing a women's gambling den in another film.

Alchy beautician Clara (Jane Randolph) with her boyfriend (Keefe Brasselle) & a horrible thug (John Ireland as a truly revolting villain) hatch a crooked plan that goes awry, resulting in murder of a police officer & Clara's boyfriend wounded. An innocent guy (Ed Kelly) gets set up for the crime.

the railroaded fellow was a little too much of a boyscout to be so easily framed in the first place, so no big surprise that monotone hero detective Hugh "Beav's Father" Beaumont very, very, very slowly does figure out the obvious.

Oddly enough the railroaded boyscout is a minor character, with the action focusing on Beaumont's detective, the innocent guy's sister (Sheila Ryan) who is the only one who believes in her brother's innocence, & sundry villains.

I was completely satisfied by the film, & even though it lacks the cynicism of a thorough-going film noir, I might even so place it in the second tier just below the truly classic film noirs.

copyright © by Paghat the Ratgirl



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