The Clay Pigeon

Last updated
The Clay Pigeon
ClaypigeonLobby.jpg
Theatrical release lobby card
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Written by Carl Foreman
Produced by Herman Schlom
Starring Bill Williams
Barbara Hale
Richard Quine
Cinematography Robert De Grasse
Edited by Samuel E. Beetley
Music by Paul Sawtell
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • February 14, 1949 (1949-02-14)(US) [1]
Running time
63 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Clay Pigeon is a 1949 American film noir directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Carl Foreman, based on a true story. The drama features Bill Williams and Barbara Hale, a real-life husband and wife. [2]

Contents

Plot

Jim Fletcher (Williams), a former inmate in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, awakes from a coma at a Naval hospital, and is then informed that he has been accused of murder. As Fletcher is uncertain of his guilt, he escapes from the hospital to search for his best friend, another ex-POW.

Cast

Depiction of Japanese Americans

Although the movie shows Jim's Japanese captors as extremely sadistic and inhumane, it also casts the much-maligned Japanese Americans in a positive light. As Mrs. Mioto, (a Japanese American) helps Jim escape his pursuers, he sees a photograph of her deceased husband, Sergeant John Mioto, member of the 442d Regimental Combat Team of the U.S. Army. It is accompanied by the certificate for his Distinguished Service Cross, awarded for "Extraordinary Heroism". [3]

Film noir specialist Eddie Muller speculates this is the first time the highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed mostly of Japanese Americans, was acknowledged in a movie, and states that this was not simply the studio's formulaic trope of balancing something negative with a positive, but rather screenwriter Carl Foreman's personal progressive outlook. [3]

Reception

Critical response

Time Out film reviews wrote of the film, "Directed by Fleischer with tight, spare energy, although the implausible script and bland leading performances (with Hale as the dead friend's wife, initially hostile but soon losing her heart) make it much inferior to The Narrow Margin . [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Fleischer</span> American film director (1916–2006)

Richard Owen Fleischer was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave.

<i>Brute Force</i> (1947 film) 1947 film by Jules Dassin

Brute Force is a 1947 American crime film noir directed by Jules Dassin, from a screenplay by Richard Brooks with cinematography by William H. Daniels. It stars Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford and Yvonne De Carlo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Williams (actor)</span> American actor (1915–1992)

Herman August Wilhelm Katt, known professionally as Bill Williams, was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the titular character in the western series The Adventures of Kit Carson, which aired in syndication from 1951 to 1955.

<i>The Unfaithful</i> (1947 film) 1947 film noir directed by Vincent Sherman

The Unfaithful is a 1947 American murder mystery film noir directed by Vincent Sherman and starring Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres and Zachary Scott. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. Regarded by some as a film noir, the picture is based on the W. Somerset Maugham-penned 1927 play and William Wyler-directed 1940 film The Letter, which was reworked and turned into an original screenplay by writers David Goodis and James Gunn who shifted the setting from Malaya to the United States.

<i>Repeat Performance</i> 1947 film by Alfred L. Werker

Repeat Performance is a 1947 American film noir starring Louis Hayward and Joan Leslie. The film was released by Eagle-Lion Films, directed by Alfred L. Werker, and produced by Aubrey Schenck.

<i>Armored Car Robbery</i> 1950 film by Richard Fleischer

Armored Car Robbery is a 1950 American film noir starring Charles McGraw, Adele Jergens, and William Talman.

<i>T-Men</i> 1947 film by Anthony Mann

T-Men is a 1947 semidocumentary and police procedural style film noir about United States Treasury agents. The film was directed by Anthony Mann and shot by noted noir cameraman John Alton. The production features Dennis O'Keefe, Mary Meade, Alfred Ryder, Wallace Ford, June Lockhart and Charles McGraw. A year later, director Mann used the film's male lead, Dennis O'Keefe, in Raw Deal.

<i>Trapped</i> (1949 film) 1949 film by Richard Fleischer

Trapped is a 1949 American film noir crime film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton, and John Hoyt. It was written by George Zuckerman and Earl Felton.

<i>The Crooked Way</i> 1949 film by Robert Florey

The Crooked Way is a 1949 American film noir starring John Payne, Sonny Tufts and Ellen Drew. Directed by Robert Florey and shot by John Alton, the film has a similar plot to another film noir, Somewhere in the Night.

<i>His Kind of Woman</i> 1951 crime thriller movie produced by Howard Hughes

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.

<i>High Wall</i> 1947 film by Curtis Bernhardt

High Wall is a 1947 American film noir starring Robert Taylor, Audrey Totter and Herbert Marshall. It was directed by Curtis Bernhardt from a screenplay by Sydney Boehm and Lester Cole, based on a play by Alan R. Clark and Bradbury Foote.

<i>Walk Softly, Stranger</i> 1950 film by Robert Stevenson

Walk Softly, Stranger is a 1950 American romantic drama film starring Joseph Cotten and Alida Valli and directed by Robert Stevenson. Also regarded by some as either or both a film noir and crime film, it tells the story of a small-time crook on the run who becomes reformed by the love of a disabled woman.

<i>Drive a Crooked Road</i> 1954 film by Richard Quine

Drive a Crooked Road is a 1954 American crime film noir directed by Richard Quine and starring Mickey Rooney and Dianne Foster. The drama's screenplay was adapted by Blake Edwards and Richard Quine from "The Wheel Man", a story by Canadian James Benson Nablo.

<i>Abandoned</i> (1949 film) 1949 film by Joseph M. Newman

Abandoned is a 1949 American crime film noir starring Dennis O'Keefe, Gale Storm and Jeff Chandler.

<i>Two OClock Courage</i> 1945 film by Anthony Mann

Two O'Clock Courage is a 1945 American film noir directed by Anthony Mann and written by Robert E. Kent, based on a novel by Gelett Burgess. The drama features Tom Conway and Ann Rutherford. It is a remake of Two in the Dark (1936).

<i>The Mysterious Mr. Valentine</i> 1946 film

The Mysterious Mr. Valentine is a 1946 American film noir crime film directed by Philip Ford starring William Henry, Linda Stirling and Virginia Christine.

<i>Hit and Run</i> (1957 film) 1957 film by Hugo Haas

Hit and Run is a 1957 American drama film noir directed by Hugo Haas starring Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, and Vince Edwards.

Strange Bargain is a 1949 American crime mystery starring Martha Scott and Jeffrey Lynn. It is directed by Will Price. Harry Morgan appears in support.

<i>Hunt the Man Down</i> 1950 film by George Archainbaud

Hunt the Man Down is a 1951 American crime film directed by George Archainbaud and starring Gig Young.

<i>That Way with Women</i> 1947 film by Frederick de Cordova

That Way with Women is a 1947 American comedy film directed by Frederick de Cordova, written by Leo Townsend and Francis Swann, and starring Dane Clark, Martha Vickers, Sydney Greenstreet, Alan Hale, Sr., Craig Stevens and Barbara Brown. It was released by Warner Bros. on March 29, 1947.

References

  1. "The Clay Pigeon: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  2. The Clay Pigeon at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films .
  3. 1 2 Muller, Eddie. "Noir Alley: The Clay Pigeon (outro) 20180527". Noir Alley. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  4. Time Out Archived 2011-06-07 at the Wayback Machine . Film reviews, 2008. Last accessed: February 16, 2008.