The Sniper (1952 film)

Last updated
The Sniper
The Sniper 1952.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
Screenplay by Harry Brown
Story by Edna Anhalt
Edward Anhalt
Produced by Stanley Kramer
Starring Adolphe Menjou
Arthur Franz
Gerald Mohr
Marie Windsor
Richard Kiley
Cinematography Burnett Guffey
Edited by Aaron Stell
Music by George Antheil
Production
company
Stanley Kramer Productions
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • May 9, 1952 (1952-05-09)(New York City)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Sniper is a 1952 American film noir, directed by Edward Dmytryk, written by Harry Brown and based on a story by Edna and Edward Anhalt. The film features Adolphe Menjou, Arthur Franz, Gerald Mohr and Marie Windsor.

Contents

The film marks Dmytryk's return to directing after he had first been named to the Hollywood blacklist and had a jail term for contempt of Congress. He chose to testify in April 1951, and named fellow members of leftist organizations from his brief time with the Communist Party. Afterward he went into political exile in England for a time. Producer Stanley Kramer was the first to hire him again as a director. The film was shot on location in San Francisco, though the city is not named in the film.

Plot

Eddie Miller (Arthur Franz), a delivery man, struggles with his hatred of women. This hatred is exacerbated if he feels drawn to a woman who turns out to be unattainable; he tends to see this as a personal affront. Also, he is especially bothered when he sees women with their significant others. Miller knows he is disturbed and, out of despair, burns himself by pressing his right hand to an electric stove. The doctor treating him in an emergency room suspects he might need psychological help, but gets too busy to follow through.

Miller begins a killing spree as a sniper by shooting women from far distances with an M1A1 carbine. Trying to be caught, he writes an anonymous letter to the police begging them to stop him. As the killings continue, a psychologist has the keys (early criminal profiling techniques) to finding the killer. The film is unusual in that its ending is non-violent, despite its genre and expectations raised throughout.

Cast

Production background

Producer Stanley Kramer was the first to hire Dmytryk as a director after his encounters with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and testifying in 1951. For first refusing to testify, Dmytryk was named as one of the "Hollywood Ten", barred from work in the film industry and jailed for contempt of Congress. In April 1951 he changed his mind and testified, both about his brief time with the Communist Party and naming fellow members of leftist organizations. Afterward he went into a short political exile in England. [1]

The film's comparatively comprehensive outdoor footage of 1952 San Francisco remains unsurpassed in variety for a narrative film. Many of the film's outdoor scenes were shot in the Telegraph Hill area, and at the Paper Doll Club. [2] One scene not shot in San Francisco, although it purports to be Playland at the Beach, was actually filmed at The Pike amusement park in Long Beach.

Reception

Critical response

Critic Bosley Crowther of The New York Times gave the drama a mixed review when it opened, writing:

"Therefore, The Sniper develops, as it casually gets along, into nothing more forceful or impressive than a moderately fascinating "chase." The kick-off murder of a sultry saloon singer, whom Marie Windsor plays, is ticklishly enacted, and the dragnet thrown out by the police, headed by a clean-shaved Adolphe Menjou, is interesting to observe. Frank Faylen, Gerald Mohr and Richard Kiley also contribute to the pace as assorted police factotums and the real San Francisco building and streets used for locales of the picture give it authority. But the menace and understanding of the sex fiend hopefully implied in the foreword to the picture are never clearly revealed." [3]

Britain's Channel 4's wrote in its 2008 review,

"A little dated now, especially the nervous documentary-style camera work which soon outstays its welcome, The Sniper's thriller mechanics nevertheless work efficiently, while Franz's psycho is uncannily convincing." [4]

Awards

Nomination

Related Research Articles

<i>Crossfire</i> (film) 1947 noir drama film directed by Edward Dmytryk

Crossfire is a 1947 American film noir drama film starring Robert Young, Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan which deals with the theme of anti-Semitism, as did that year's Academy Award for Best Picture winner, Gentleman's Agreement. The film was directed by Edward Dmytryk and the screenplay was written by John Paxton, based on the 1945 novel The Brick Foxhole by screenwriter and director Richard Brooks. The film's supporting cast features Gloria Grahame and Sam Levene. The picture received five Oscar nominations, including Ryan for Best Supporting Actor and Gloria Grahame for Best Supporting Actress. It was the first B movie to receive a Best Picture nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolphe Menjou</span> American actor (1890–1963)

Adolphe Jean Menjou was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris, where he played the lead role; Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory with Kirk Douglas; Ernst Lubitsch's The Marriage Circle; The Sheik with Rudolph Valentino; Morocco with Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper; and A Star Is Born with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, and was nominated for an Academy Award for The Front Page in 1931.

<i>Detective Story</i> (1951 film) 1951 film by William Wyler

Detective Story is a 1951 American crime drama directed by William Wyler and starring Kirk Douglas that tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detective squad. The ensemble supporting cast features Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell, and George Macready. Both Lee Grant and Joseph Wiseman play large roles in their film debuts. The film was adapted by Robert Wyler and Philip Yordan from the 1949 play of the same name by Sidney Kingsley. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Director for Wyler, Best Actress for Parker, and Best Supporting Actress for Grant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Dmytryk</span> American film director (1908–1999)

Edward Dmytryk was a Canadian-born American film director and editor. He was known for his 1940s noir films and received an Oscar nomination for Best Director for Crossfire (1947). In 1947, he was named as one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who refused to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in their investigations during the McCarthy-era Red Scare. They all served time in prison for contempt of Congress. In 1951, however, Dmytryk testified to the HUAC and named individuals, including Arnold Manoff, whose careers were then destroyed for many years, to rehabilitate his own career. First hired again by independent producer Stanley Kramer in 1952, Dmytryk is likely best known for directing The Caine Mutiny (1954), a critical and commercial success. The second-highest-grossing film of the year, it was nominated for Best Picture and several other awards at the 1955 Oscars. Dmytryk was nominated for a Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures.

<i>Affair in Trinidad</i> 1952 film by Vincent Sherman

Affair in Trinidad is a 1952 American film noir directed by Vincent Sherman and starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. It was produced by Hayworth's Beckworth Corporation and released by Columbia Pictures.

<i>Murder, My Sweet</i> 1944 film directed by Edward Dmytryk

Murder, My Sweet is a 1944 American film noir, directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor and Anne Shirley. The film is based on Raymond Chandler's 1940 novel Farewell, My Lovely. It was the first film to feature Chandler's primary character, the hard-boiled private detective Philip Marlowe.

<i>Cornered</i> (1945 film) 1945 film by Edward Dmytryk

Cornered is a 1945 American mystery thriller film noir starring Dick Powell and directed by Edward Dmytryk. This is the second teaming of Powell and Dmytryk. The screenplay was written by John Paxton with uncredited help from Ben Hecht.

<i>The Sound of Fury</i> (film) 1950 film by Cy Endfield

The Sound of Fury is a 1950 American crime film noir directed by Cy Endfield and starring Frank Lovejoy, Kathleen Ryan, Richard Carlson. The film is based on the 1947 novel The Condemned by Jo Pagano, who also wrote the screenplay.

Edward Anhalt was an American screenwriter, producer, and documentary filmmaker. After working as a journalist and documentary filmmaker for Pathé and CBS-TV, he teamed with his wife Edna Anhalt, one of his five wives, during World War II to write pulp fiction.

<i>Sirocco</i> (film) 1951 film by Curtis Bernhardt

Sirocco is a 1951 American film noir directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Humphrey Bogart.

<i>Scandal Sheet</i> (1952 film) 1952 film by Phil Karlson

Scandal Sheet is a 1952 American film noir directed by Phil Karlson. The film is based on the novel The Dark Page by Samuel Fuller, who himself was a newspaper reporter before his career in film. The drama features Broderick Crawford, Donna Reed and John Derek.

<i>The Young Lions</i> (film) 1958 film

The Young Lions is a 1958 American epic World War II drama film directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, and Dean Martin. It was made in black-and-white and CinemaScope and was theatrically released by 20th Century-Fox. The film is based on the 1948 novel of the same name by Irwin Shaw.

<i>State of the Union</i> (film) 1948 film by Frank Capra

State of the Union is a 1948 American drama film directed by Frank Capra about a man's desire to run for the nomination as the Republican candidate for President, and the machinations of those around him. The New York Times described it as "a slick piece of screen satire...sharper in its knife-edged slicing at the hides of pachyderm schemers and connivers than was the original." The film was written by Myles Connolly and Anthony Veiller and was based on the 1945 Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name.

<i>I Walk Alone</i> 1947 film

I Walk Alone is a 1947 film noir directed by Byron Haskin and starring Burt Lancaster and Lizabeth Scott, with a supporting cast featuring Wendell Corey and Kirk Douglas.

<i>Hitlers Children</i> (1943 film) 1943 American black-and-white propaganda film

Hitler's Children is a 1943 American black-and-white war film made by RKO Radio Pictures. The film stars Tim Holt, Bonita Granville and Kent Smith and was directed by Edward Dmytryk from an adaptation by Emmet Lavery of Gregor Ziemer's book Education for Death.

<i>The Juggler</i> (film) 1953 film

The Juggler is a 1953 drama film starring Kirk Douglas as a survivor of the Holocaust. The screenplay was adapted by Michael Blankfort from his novel of the same name. It was the first American feature film that was made in Israel.

<i>Give Us This Day</i> (1949 film) 1949 British film

Give Us This Day is a 1949 British film, directed by Edward Dmytryk. This film was released in the United States as Christ in Concrete. Another alternate title was Salt to the Devil.

<i>Step Lively</i> (1944 film) 1944 film by Tim Whelan

Step Lively is a 1944 American musical film directed by Tim Whelan and starring Frank Sinatra. Step Lively was based on the 1937 play Room Service, by Allen Boretz and John Murray. It was a remake of the 1938 RKO film Room Service, starring the Marx Brothers, Lucille Ball, and Ann Miller.

<i>Eight Iron Men</i> 1952 American film

Eight Iron Men is a 1952 American World War II drama film directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Stanley Kramer. It stars Bonar Colleano, Arthur Franz, Lee Marvin, Richard Kiley and Mary Castle. Lee Marvin's powerful performance as the squad's leader ratchets up the suspense along with Dmytryk's noir style direction and J. Roy Hunt's deft cinematography.

<i>A Date with the Falcon</i> 1942 film by Irving Reis

A Date with the Falcon is the second in a series of 16 films about the suave detective nicknamed The Falcon. The 1942 sequel features many of the same characters as the first film, The Gay Falcon (1941).

References

  1. "Hollywood Ten". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  2. Rich, Nathaniel (2005-03-31). San Francisco Noir: The City in Film Noir from 1940 to the Present. New York Review of Books. pp. 83–85. ISBN   978-1-892145-30-7.
  3. Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, May 10, 1952. Last accessed: January 26, 2008.
  4. Channel 4 film review, 2008. Last accessed: January 26, 2008.
  5. "The 25th Academy Awards (1953) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Retrieved 2018-11-05.