Joe Stemme
A bit of an odd duck of a Newspaper noir. Cy Endfield's film begins promisingly with big city muck, but then detours into the New England countryside. It's more than a bit jarring in tone, as the small town 'quaintness' takes over much of the middle section of the film. Dan Duryea is a noir icon, but, he comes on a bit too strong as the scheming newspaper man (Gale Storm's character should have called the cops and put a restraining order on him).Things pick up when a black maid is falsely accused of murder (not a spoiler). All of a sudden, the movie returns to its crime roots, and it becomes more than a subtle McCarthy red baiting tale (indeed, several of the filmmakers were soon ensnared, including DaSilva and Endfield). Herbert Marshall is fine as is the full supporting cast, but Howard DaSilva steals the show as a jovial mobster - the more he smiles, the more menacing he becomes.UNDERWORLD STORY is a mixed bag, but still effective enough in the end, even if the climactic scene is bit too brief. One of the other oddities is that the accused (Mary Anderson) is not only an obviously white actress, but, given precious little screen time. It's been written that the Red Scare aspect gave UNDERWORLD STORY a taint that kept it from being more seen over the years (Warner Classics has re-issued it, and TCM runs the pretty good-looking transfer; a bit noisy on the sound end, though). Would make a good double bill with the similar superior Robert Wise film CAPTIVE CITY (1952) with John Forsythe as a small town newspaper man batting the mob.
MartinHafer
When the story begins, newspaper man Mike Reese (Dan Duryea) is fired from a big city paper for unethical conduct...conduct that resulted in someone's murder by the local mob boss, Durham (Howard Da Silva). Not surprisingly, he's fired and no one will hire him.He soon finds himself in a small town and gets himself a job with a tiny, unimportant paper. However, when a rich and very important lady is murdered, he sees it as a chance to make it back to the big time papers. He champions the cause of the woman accused of the murder-- even though he probably doesn't believe in her innocence at all. However, through the course of the film something interesting happens...folks, including Durham, start pressuring Mike to drop the story. So, there must be something to all this and the fix is on...and suddenly the opportunistic and soulless guy is read to risk his life to do what is right! But he might just get himself killed in the process...and folks seem more than ready to oblige.While this film isn't strictly a traditional film noir picture in some ways, as the plot isn't at all typical of noir, but it sure is noir in spirit. There are many dark and evil characters you'd see in a noir picture and there also is the morally challenged hero. But what's most noir about this film is the camera-work...with camera angles and shadows that you'd find in any decent noir picture. This film proves that Dan Duryea was a heck of an actor. While he's normally known for playing greasy, pusillanimous jerks, here he has so much more to him and he is a great combination of grit, cynicism and, believe it or not, decency! Overall, a fantastic film that's undergone a recent revival in interest and is now seen by many as a classic. Classic? Yes, I can see that.
dcole-2
Dan Duryea is one of the best actors out there, able to play the slimiest slime-ball and the staunchest of heroes. Here he does a little of both and you're never sure which side he's on. The movie starts as a Noir Crime Thriller, then becomes a 30's-style social drama, then switches back to noir and crime -- but it never loses its style, its verve and its pace. Constantly fun and involving, due to Duryea's movable morals -- and to Stanley Cortez's gorgeous black-and-white cinematography. Director/Writer Endfield does a fine job keeping things going, setting up interesting shots and corralling a cast that's great down to every tiny part. Bad Guy Howard Da Silva chews the scenery with relaxed gusto and is a joy to watch. Highly recommended.
Foster Grimm
The sleeve on the VHS release of "Underworld Story" calls it "a powerful indictment of sensationalistic journalism." But this very interesting little "B" film's real "powerful indictment" is against the methods of the House Un-American Activities Committee in its search, during the late 1940's and early 1950's, for Communists and fellow travelers in America, especially in the film industry. "Underworld Story" was filmed just after HUAC's hearings of 1949/50 had ended. It was released (1951, through United Artists)as the first of the Hollywood Ten were going off to prison. Both director Cyril Enfield and screenwriter Henry Blankfort were "named" as Communists and both ended up blacklisted (as was actor Howard DaSilva). "Underworld Story" is not mentioned in the various books on the Hollywood blacklist, probably because it was an indie genre picture and lacked the cachet of a big-budget major studio effort. But, make no mistake, "Underworld Story" is a savage indictment of witch hunts, moral ambivalence and racism. All this would be very dry, but "Underworld Story" - although the story is familiar (cad sees the light) - is well plotted, well written, and well acted.
AD
