Bodyguard (1948 film)

Last updated
Bodyguard
Bodyguard 1948 Film Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Screenplay by
Story by
Produced by Sid Rogell
Starring
Cinematography Robert De Grasse
Edited by Elmo Williams
Music by Paul Sawtell
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • September 2, 1948 (1948-09-02)(United States)
Running time
62 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Bodyguard is a 1948 American film noir directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Fred Niblo Jr.and Harry Essex. It is based on a story written by George W. George and Robert Altman. The drama features Lawrence Tierney and, in her final screen appearance, Priscilla Lane.

Contents

Plot

After being put on suspension at the LAPD, Mike Carter punches his lieutenant and quits in disgust. A few days later, at a baseball game, he is approached by Fred Dysen, who wants to hire Carter as a bodyguard for his aunt, Gene Dysen, a widow and head of Continental Meat Packing Corp. Carter refuses. Later, at his apartment, an envelope is slipped under the door with $2000 in it. Carter rushes out, but the person who left it is already gone.

Carson drives to the Dysen mansion in Pasadena, where he pushes his way in and, after meeting the members of the household, finds Mrs. Dysen is uninterested in having a bodyguard. Carter returns the money to Fred, but just as he is leaving, someone shoots at Mrs. Dysen but gets away. After she goes to bed, Fred convinces Carter to stay, just for the night, and Carter takes back the money.

At 3:45 am, Carter catches Mrs. Dysen's secretary, Connie, digging the bullets out of the wall, then sees Mrs. Dysen drive away. He follows her car to the downtown Los Angeles warehouse district, where he is hit on the head, waking up later in his car, with the lieutenant shot dead beside him, on the railroad tracks with a train bearing down. Carter barely gets out in time.

Realizing he is being framed for the lieutenant's murder, he asks his fiancée, Doris, who is the lieutenant's secretary, to find out all she can about the cases the lieutenant was working on. She drives him to the Dysen home; finding Mrs. Dysen not at home he goes to the plant; she is not there either.

In the info on Lieutenant Borden's cases, one stands out, the death of an inspector at the Continental Meat Packing plant. Back at the Dysen mansion, Carter confronts Mrs. Dysen about her movements that morning. After she gives him a plausible explanation, he calls Doris and asks her to bring him more information on the inspector's death. He then talks to the dead man's brother, who recognizes Carter as being wanted by the police. Carter discovers evidence that the inspector's sight was not as faulty as claimed in the accident report.

Narrowly avoiding arrest checking out the testimony of the optometrist at his office, Carter next tries to find information at the glasses manufacturer; it's after hours so he breaks in. Finding the information he needs, he calls the captain and tells him to meet him at the Dysen home. Meanwhile, at the plant, where she went despite Carter telling her not to, Doris spies on Fred and Fenton, the supervisor.

At the mansion, Carter confronts Mrs. Dysen, who reveals that Freddie thinks Fenton has been adding water to the meat to increase its price and pocketing the difference. The inspector was murdered to cover it up. Carter tells her he believes Fred is in with Fenton on the fraud. Discovering Doris is in danger at the plant, Carter steals the police car and heads to the plant.

At the plant, Fred, reveals how he will frame Fenton for the deaths and exonerate himself, with Fenton dead. Carter arrives just as Fred is about to shoot Doris and, after Fred runs out of bullets, fights with and knocks out Fred. The police arrive and take both Carter and Fred into custody. The next scene shows the newlywed Mr. & Mrs. Mike Carter heading off for their honeymoon in a police cruiser.

Cast

Critical reception

Brian Baxter of The Guardian identified Bodyguard as one of Fleischer's early RKO films that has stood the test of time. [1] Michael Barrett of PopMatters rated it 6/10 and called it "a trim little B film that’s an unpolished gem of late-'40s noir". [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Mirror Crackd from Side to Side</i> 1962 Miss Marple novel by Agatha Christie

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, a novel by Agatha Christie, was published in the UK in 1962 and a year later in the US under the title The Mirror Crack'd. The story features amateur detective Miss Marple solving a mystery in St. Mary Mead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lane Sisters</span> American actress

The Lane Sisters were a family of American singers and actresses. The sisters were Leota Lane, Lola Lane, Rosemary Lane and Priscilla Lane.

<i>Kansas City</i> (film) 1996 American film

Kansas City is a 1996 American crime film directed by Robert Altman, and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, Harry Belafonte, Michael Murphy and Steve Buscemi. The musical score of Kansas City is integrated into the film, with modern-day musicians recreating the Kansas City jazz of 1930s.

<i>Born to Kill</i> (1947 film) 1947 film noir directed by Robert Wise

Born to Kill is a 1947 RKO Pictures American film noir starring Lawrence Tierney, Claire Trevor and Walter Slezak with Esther Howard, Elisha Cook Jr., and Audrey Long in supporting roles. The film was director Robert Wise's first film noir production, preceding his later work on The Set-Up (1949) and The Captive City (1952).

<i>The Fallen Idol</i> (film) 1948 British film

The Fallen Idol is a 1948 British mystery thriller film directed by Carol Reed, and starring Ralph Richardson, Bobby Henrey, Michèle Morgan, and Denis O'Dea. Its plot follows the young son of a diplomat in London, who comes to suspect that his family's butler, whom he idolises, has committed a murder. It is based on the 1936 short story "The Basement Room", by Graham Greene.

<i>Separate Lies</i> 2005 British drama film

Separate Lies is a 2005 British drama film directed by Julian Fellowes, who also wrote the screenplay, updating the 1951 novel A Way Through the Wood by Nigel Balchin, which had already been turned into a stage play under the title Waiting for Gillian in 1954. The film stars Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson and Rupert Everett. Separate Lies marked the directorial debut of Julian Fellowes, who had worked mostly as an actor and won an Academy Award with his screenplay for Robert Altman's Gosford Park.

<i>36 China Town</i> 2006 Indian film

36 China Town is a 2006 Hindi English-language mystery thriller comedy film directed by Abbas-Mustan and produced by Subhash Ghai. It is an official adaption of the 1992 American film Once upon a Crime.

<i>Docks of New York</i> 1945 film by Wallace Fox

Docks of New York is a 1945 film directed by Wallace Fox and starring the East Side Kids.

<i>London Belongs to Me</i> 1948 British film

London Belongs to Me is a British film released in 1948, directed by Sidney Gilliat, and starring Richard Attenborough and Alastair Sim. It was based on the novel London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins, which was also the basis for a seven-part series made by Thames Television shown in 1977.

<i>That Cold Day in the Park</i> 1969 film by Robert Altman

That Cold Day in the Park is a 1969 psychological thriller film directed by Robert Altman and starring Sandy Dennis. Based on the novel of the same name by Richard Miles and adapted for the screen by Gillian Freeman, it was filmed on location in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the events occur. The supporting cast includes Michael Burns, Luana Anders, John Garfield Jr., and Michael Murphy. The picture was screened at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival outside of the main competition.

<i>Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key</i> 1972 film by Sergio Martino

Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key is a 1972 giallo film directed by Sergio Martino. The picture stars Edwige Fenech, Luigi Pistilli, and Anita Strindberg. The film uses many elements from Edgar Allan Poe's 1843 short story "The Black Cat" and acknowledges this influence in the film's opening credits.

<i>Parlor, Bedroom and Bath</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

Parlor, Bedroom and Bath is an American pre-Code comedy film starring Buster Keaton, released by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer in 1931. It was Keaton's third talking picture after his successful silent career.

<i>A Study in Scarlet</i> (1933 film) 1933 American film

A Study in Scarlet is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery thriller film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring Reginald Owen as Sherlock Holmes and Anna May Wong as Mrs. Pyke. The title is taken from Arthur Conan Doyle's 1887 novel of the same name, the first in the Holmes series, but the screenplay by Robert Florey was original.

<i>Murder Over New York</i> 1940 film by Harry Lachman

Murder Over New York is a 1940 American mystery film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan. The cast also features Marjorie Weaver, Robert Lowery and Ricardo Cortez. Chan must solve a murder mystery while attending a police convention. Shemp Howard plays "Shorty McCoy" in an uncredited appearance.

<i>Sinners in the Sun</i> 1932 film

Sinners in the Sun is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Alexander Hall, and starring Carole Lombard, Chester Morris, Adrienne Ames, and Alison Skipworth. It was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priscilla Lane</span> American actress

Priscilla Lane was an American actress, and the youngest sibling in the Lane Sisters' family of singers and actresses. She is best remembered for her roles in the films The Roaring Twenties (1939) co-starring with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart; Saboteur (1942), an Alfred Hitchcock film in which she plays the heroine; and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), in which she portrays Cary Grant's fiancée and bride.

<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).

<i>The Casino Murder Case</i> (film) 1935 film by Edwin L. Marin

The Casino Murder Case is a 1935 American mystery film starring Paul Lukas and Alison Skipworth. Rosalind Russell is in the supporting cast. It was directed by Edwin L. Marin from a screenplay by Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine. It was the ninth film in the Philo Vance film series.

<i>Affair in Reno</i> 1957 film by R. G. Springsteen

Affair in Reno is a 1957 American comedic crime adventure film directed by R. G. Springsteen from a screenplay by John K. Butler. The film stars John Lund, Doris Singleton, John Archer, Angela Greene and Alan Hale. The film was released on February 15, 1957 by Republic Pictures.

References

  1. Baxter, Brain (March 28, 2006). "Richard Fleischer". The Guardian . Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  2. Barrett, Michael (March 2, 2011). "'Bodyguard': A Two-Fisted B Picture -- from Robert Altman?". PopMatters . Retrieved January 31, 2015.