A Dangerous Profession | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ted Tetzlaff |
Written by | Warren Duff Martin Rackin |
Produced by | Robert Sparks executive Sid Rogell |
Starring | George Raft Ella Raines Pat O'Brien |
Narrated by | Jim Backus |
Cinematography | Robert De Grasse |
Edited by | Frederic Knudtson |
Music by | Frederick Hollander (as Frederick Hollander) |
Production company | RKO Radio Pictures |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 79 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
A Dangerous Profession is a 1949 American film noir directed by Ted Tetzlaff, written by Warren Duff and Martin Rackin, and starring George Raft, Ella Raines, and Pat O'Brien. [2] [3] The supporting cast features Jim Backus.
It was one of a series of thrillers Raft made in the late 1940s, with decreasing commercial results. [4]
The story begins as Police Lt. Nick Ferrone (Jim Backus) explains what bail bondsmen do and tells the viewers the setting is Los Angeles. One such man is Vince Kane (George Raft), a former police detective who worked with Ferrone. When one of his customers, Claude Brackett (Bill Williams), is murdered, Kane decides to investigate. He has two reasons for investigating: the curiosity of a former cop and it seems that he has fallen in love with Brackett's widow Lucy, an old flame.
It was the fourth movie George Raft made for RKO following World War II, following Johnny Angel , (aka The Big Jump, and Hounded); Nocturne ; and Race Street .
The film was an original script by Warren Duff and Martin Rackin called The Bail Bond Story. It was originally sought by Humphrey Bogart's company. [5] Later Fred MacMurray optioned it for his company but he allowed the option to expire. [6]
Eventually the script was bought by RKO who got George Raft to star. Raft was meant to star in The Big Steal but had been held up making Hounded, (aka The Big Jump, but released as Johnny Angel , and so was replaced by Robert Mitchum; RKO gave him this film instead. [7] [8] Pat O'Brien signed to co star and filming was pushed back to enable O'Brien to appear in a stage production of What Price Glory? directed by John Ford and so that Raft could go to Europe. [9] [10]
In February 1949 Howard Hughes announced that Lewis Milestone would direct and Raft would star alongside O'Brien and Jane Russell. [11] However, in the end Ted Tetzlaff directed.
Filming started in May 1949. Jean Wallace played the female lead but was fired after four days. She was replaced by Ella Raines, who was flown out from England. [12]
The film's title was changed to A Dangerous Profession in September. [13]
Pat O'Brien later called the film "a dog". [14]
Raft's three previous films for RKO were profitable but this film recorded a loss of $280,000. [15]
The New York Times gave the film a mixed review, and wrote, "Laconic and familiarly tough are the words for Raft's performance as the torch-bearing bail bonds-man. Ella Raines is decorative if little else as the object of his affections; Pat O'Brien contributes a standard portrayal as his hard business partner; James Backus is professional as a tenacious detective lieutenant and Bill Williams is adequate in the brief role of the embezzler. A Dangerous Profession, in short, proves that the bail-bond business can be dangerous and that it also can be the basis for an exceedingly ordinary adventure." [16]
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembered for his gangster roles in Quick Millions (1931) with Spencer Tracy, Scarface (1932) with Paul Muni, Each Dawn I Die (1939) with James Cagney, Invisible Stripes (1939) with Humphrey Bogart, and Billy Wilder's comedy Some Like It Hot (1959) with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon; and as a dancer in Bolero (1934) with Carole Lombard and a truck driver in They Drive by Night (1940) with Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino and Bogart.
William Joseph Patrick O'Brien was an American film actor with more than 100 screen credits. Of Irish descent, he often played Irish and Irish-American characters and was referred to as "Hollywood's Irishman in Residence" in the press. One of the best-known screen actors of the 1930s and 1940s, he played priests, cops, military figures, pilots, and reporters. He is especially well-remembered for his roles in Knute Rockne, All American (1940), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and Some Like It Hot (1959). He was frequently paired onscreen with Hollywood star James Cagney. O'Brien also appeared on stage and television.
The Window is a 1949 American black-and-white film noir, based on the short story "The Boy Cried Murder" by Cornell Woolrich, about a lying boy who witnesses a killing but is not believed. The film, a critical success that was shot on location in New York City, was produced by Frederic Ullman Jr. for $210,000 but earned much more, making it a box-office hit for RKO Pictures. The film was directed by Ted Tetzlaff, who worked as a cinematographer on over 100 films, including another successful suspense film, Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946). For his performances in this film and in So Dear to My Heart, Bobby Driscoll was presented with a miniature Oscar statuette as the outstanding juvenile actor of 1949 at the 1950 Academy Awards ceremony.
His Kind of Woman is a 1951 film noir starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. The film features supporting performances by Vincent Price, Raymond Burr and Charles McGraw. The direction of the film, which was based on the unpublished story "Star Sapphire" by Gerald Drayson, is credited to John Farrow.
Johnny Angel is a 1945 American film noir directed by Edwin L. Marin and written by Steve Fisher from the 1944 novel Mr. Angel Comes Aboard by Charles Gordon Booth. The movie stars George Raft, Claire Trevor and Signe Hasso, and features Hoagy Carmichael.
Red Light is a 1949 American film noir crime film directed and produced by Roy Del Ruth, starring George Raft and Virginia Mayo, and based on the story "This Guy Gideon" by Don "Red" Barry, featuring strong religious overtones.
Broadway is a 1942 crime drama musical film directed by William A. Seiter and starring George Raft as himself and Pat O'Brien as a detective. The supporting cast features Janet Blair and Broderick Crawford.
Charles Schnee was an American screenwriter and film producer. He wrote the scripts for the Westerns Red River (1948) and The Furies (1950), the social melodrama They Live by Night (1949), and the cynical Hollywood saga The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), for which he won an Academy Award.
Riff-Raff is a 1947 American film noir starring Pat O'Brien, Anne Jeffreys and Walter Slezak. It was directed by Ted Tetzlaff, who later directed The Window (1949) and worked as a cinematographer for over 100 films, including Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946). The music was composed by Roy Webb and Joan Whitney.
Helena Carter was an American film actress in the 1940s and 1950s who is best known for her work in the film Invaders from Mars as Dr. Patricia Blake. From 1947 to 1953 she would appear in 13 films, during which time she also worked as a model.
Rumba is a 1935 American musical drama film starring George Raft as a Cuban dancer and Carole Lombard as a Manhattan socialite. The movie was directed by Marion Gering and is considered an unsuccessful follow-up to Raft and Lombard's smash hit Bolero the previous year.
Easy Living is a 1949 American drama film directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Victor Mature, Lucille Ball and Lizabeth Scott. The film features the real-life Los Angeles Rams football team.
I'll Get You for This is a 1951 British thriller film by Joseph M. Newman starring George Raft, Coleen Gray, and Enzo Staiola. It was made from an adaptation by George Callahan and William Rose of James Hadley Chase's 1946 book of the same name. The setting was shifted from Las Vegas in the novel to an Italian gambling resort.
Outpost in Morocco is a 1949 American action adventure film directed by Robert Florey, starring George Raft and Marie Windsor. Paul Gerard (Raft), a Moroccan Spahi officer and his French Foreign Legion garrison, holds off attacks from the native tribes of the Emir of Bel-Rashad, the father of Cara (Windsor), the woman he loves. As a rarity amongst American films of the Foreign Legion genre, the Legion cooperated with the producers. A second unit led by Robert Rossen filmed scenes in Morocco. Some of the large-scale action scenes of the film were reused in Fort Algiers and Legion of the Doomed.
Race Street is a 1948 American crime film noir directed by Edwin L. Marin. The drama features George Raft, William Bendix and Marilyn Maxwell. It was one of several collaborations between Raft and Marin.
Intrigue is a 1947 American film noir crime film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring George Raft, June Havoc and Helena Carter. Intrigue was intended to be the first of a number of films Raft made, with producer Sam Bischoff, for his own production company, Star Films. It was one of several movies Raft made with Marin.
Johnny Allegro is a 1949 American film noir directed by Ted Tetzlaff and starring George Raft. An ex-gangster (Raft), temporarily working as a federal agent, runs afoul of a counterfeiting crime lord (Macready) who enjoys hunting. It was one of several thrillers Raft made in the late 1940s.
Gambling House is a 1951 American film noir crime film directed by Ted Tetzlaff and starring Victor Mature, Terry Moore and William Bendix.
Loan Shark is a 1952 American crime film noir directed by Seymour Friedman and starring George Raft, Dorothy Hart and Paul Stewart.
Fighting Father Dunne is a 1948 American biographical film about the life of Father Peter Dunne, and the creation of his News Boys Home in St. Louis, Missouri. Directed by Ted Tetzlaff, the screenplay was written by Martin Rackin and Frank Davis, based on an original story by William Rankin. The film stars Pat O'Brien as Fr. Dunne, along with Darryl Hickman, Charles Kemper, Una O'Connor, Arthur Shields, Harry Shannon, Joe Sawyer, Myrna Dell, and Ruth Donnelly.