James Hitchcock "The Racket" combines elements of two distinct, if related, sub-genres of the crime movie. It was made in 1951, and visually it is an obvious example of the film noir style which was so popular around that time. In terms of its subject-matter, however, it has more in common with a gangster drama from the twenties or thirties, even though it has a contemporary fifties setting. That is perhaps unsurprising, given that it is based on a Broadway stage play from 1926 and that an earlier film version was made in 1928. The film is set in an unnamed American city, dominated by a local mobster named Nick Scanlon who has allied himself to a national crime syndicate. The syndicate is headed by a shadowy figure known only as "the old man", who is never seen. Scanlon believes himself to be untouchable because of widespread corruption, which means that he has several local government officials and police officers on his payroll. The one man who worries him is police captain Tom McQuigg, one of the few honest senior officers on the force, but he has so far managed to deal with this problem by using his influence to have McQuigg transferred to out-of-the-way precincts. Until, that is, one of his hit men is ill-advised enough to carry out a killing in McQuigg's district. That is enough to give McQuigg the reason he needs to begin a crusade not only against Scanlon but also against organised crime throughout the city.Lizabeth Scott was an actress who seemed to specialise in films noirs, often playing a sexy, seductive femme fatale. Here her character Irene Hayes, a nightclub singer, is still sexy, but ends up on the side of the angels when she puts her life at risk by deciding to testify against Scanlon after witnessing a killing ordered by him. There is also a sub- plot involving a romance between Irene and Dave Ames, a naive young journalist. Robert Mitchum was another actor with plenty of experience in the noir style. His McQuigg, however, is rather different from most noir heroes, who were often conflicted or morally ambiguous characters. McQuigg may occasionally act like a prototype Dirty Harry; his methods of interrogation, for example, are not always the most gentle, and on one occasion he rips up a writ of habeas corpus because he believes (with good reason) that the judge who has issued it has done so corruptly. Despite these lapses, however, the audience is supposed to accept him as one of the good guys, an incorruptible and indefatigable campaigner against crime and corruption.Although I have never seen the 1928 version of "The Racket", the basic story- tough-but-honest cop takes on the Mob- is familiar enough to me from innumerable gangster movies, and it was doubtless already a cliché even in 1951. This film, however, simply goes through the motions of acting out that old story without adding anything original to it. A much more effective version of a similar story was told in another fifties film noir "The Big Heat" where the hero Dave Bannion, played by Glenn Ford, is a typically flawed, conflicted noir hero, and therefore more interesting. There are occasionally some effective action sequences, such as a rooftop fight between Mitchum and a gunman, and there are some good acting contributions, such as the one from William Talman as another honest cop, but the film also has its weaknesses. The plot, especially towards the end, can be difficult to follow, and some details do not always ring true. The willingness of the bad guys to gun down their victims in front of witnesses, for example, might suggest that they were actively trying to make McQuigg's job easier for him. However many crooked detectives, prosecutors or judges Scanlon might have on his books, I felt that in reality he would have shown a little more concern for his own self-preservation; sooner or later there will come a case in which the accused's guilt is so manifest that no District Attorney could refuse to prosecute and no jury could do anything other than convict. Some of the great films noirs- the likes of "Double Jeopardy", "The Big Sleep" or "Pickup on South Street"- remain as watchable as they were when they were first made. Indeed, many of these films are more highly regarded today than they were in the forties and fifties. "The Racket", however, does not belong in this class. It might use the techniques of film noir, but it comes across as a dull, dated and unoriginal gangster flick. 5/10

AaronCapenBanner Robert Mitchum stars in this crime story that has him star as Police Captain Thomas McQuigg, the only honest captain left in a corrupt police force paid off by local crime boss Nick Scanlon(played by Robert Ryan) who has to deal with the national crime syndicate moving in, and being pressured to conform to their methods, which isn't in Nick's nature. William Talman plays honest patrolman Bob Johnson, who helps McQuigg battle the gangsters and a corrupt D.A. turned politician(played by Ray Collins) even as his life is put in grave danger. Good cast cannot save routine and predictable story that also defies credibility one time too many.

Spikeopath The Racket is a remake of the 1928 film of the same name, itself based on a popular Bartlett Cormack play. With Howard Hughes backing the production it was beset with a number of problems, interference and a few director changes were prominent and the script was tampered with to try and capture the zeitgeist of the Kefauver Committee Hearings that were running prominently at the time. Plot in basic form pitches Robert Mitchum's honest police captain against Robert Ryan's no good crime boss, and the location is some corrupt American city (almost certainly Chicago).At the time of its making, the film had a cast list that cried out as a roll for film noir/crime movie big hitters: Robert Mitchum (Out of the Past), Robert Ryan (Crossfire), Lizabeth Scott (Pitfall) and William Talman (Armoured Car Robbery), while in support there was the likes of William Conrad (The Killers), Ray Collins (Leave Her to Heaven) and Virginia Huston (also Out of the Past). Even looking at the directors who contributed on the production sees some fine genre credentials: John Cromwell (Dead Reckoning), Nicholas Ray (In a lonely Place), Mel Ferrer (The Secret Fury) and Tay Garnett (The Postman Always Rings Twice). But too many cooks can often spoil the broth, such is the case here.Solid enough story that's unspectacular in its execution, a choppy yet just about watchable experience, and certainly a softer crime movie than it really ought to have been. It has often been coined as being a hard-hitting melodrama, but the decent thriller sequences are cloaked by a narrative that actually doesn't flow with any conviction. There's also the odd casting of Mitchum as a good guy to get around, and the film doesn't achieve that, namely because Mitchum plays it distinctly unenthusiastically. Ryan, too, looks to be going thru the motions, while Scott is woefully underused. Thankfully there's good work from Talman, Collins and Conrad to enjoy, while Huston impacts with what little she is given to work with.On a surface viewing it's easy to believe that The Racket is a better film than it is. We enjoy seeing Ryan doing snarly villainy and throwing punches, and Mitchum, in spite of walking thru the picture, is always a watchable presence. Pulses are raised too with some gun play, auto pursuits and a roof top punch up. But strip those away and you find the odd scene slotted in that doesn't make a great deal of sense, they exist but serve no purpose since the writing doesn't recall them later. There's also the whiff of stupidity about the way the makers were clearly trying to craft an intelligent take on organised crime, yet the police really don't have to do much to nail these bad boys. It's all very well portraying Mitchum and Talman as bastions of good and pure, but at least let them have to do work to bring down the crims! While the ending is wholly unsatisfactory.The names involved ensure the film is never boring, but confused messages and a jumbled narrative make it a film of big intentions but not much substance. As for film noir? Well it does contain film noir type characters, but really this is about as film noir as my day- glow socks. 5/10

kenjha A crime boss has all the city politicians on his payroll, but must contend with an honest police captain. Saddled with an extended and talky exposition, this film takes a while to get going, but then turns into a solid crime drama. As the crime boss, Ryan is a mean, sneering, and intimidating figure, a type of role he could have played in his sleep. Mitchum is fine as the cop who has the guts to take on Ryan. As a nightclub singer, Scott not only looks like Lauren Bacall but also displays the toughness typical of Bacall in her films with Humphrey Bogart, including "Dead Reckoning," which was also directed by Cromwell. It is helped by a good supporting cast.