I’ve clearly been doing this too long, because not only have I already written up THE NARROW MARGIN, I even talked about being sure I’d already written it up before that.
Anyway, here I am, doing it again.
A hardboiled cop, played by gravel-voiced Charles McGraw, is tasked with escorting a gangster’s sultry and cynical widow on a train ride from Chicago to her court date in LA. Needless to say, nothing is as it seems and Noirish complications ensue, involving mistaken identities and a volatile mix of cops, crooks and a sweet blonde with a nosy, annoying kid.
I’m a sucker for the statuesque Marie Windsor in everything but she’s at her bitchy, cast-iron finest in this flick. Before he even meets her, the cop describes her character as “A 60 cent special. Cheap, flashy, strictly poison under the gravy.”
This flick is packed with snappy patter, brutal, two-fisted action and gripping suspense. If you haven’t watched it yet, you know what to do.
Next up, RIFIFI!
I’ve written this one up before too. (Scroll down.)
All I’m gonna say this time around is that it’s one of the best heist flicks of all time and you should watch it.
Tomorrow we head into the final weekend with BITTER RICE and THIEVES’ HIGHWAY.