Mathew Englander (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} mathew5000) wrote,@ 2006-07-06 05:14:00 |
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Odds Against Tomorrow
Odds Against Tomorrow. I rented this 1959 American heist film because it had been mentioned along with The Asphalt Jungle by Jean-Pierre Melville in an interview on the Le Cercle Rouge DVD. Before that, I had never heard of the film, but it deserves a wider audience. It features searing performances by Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan, as two men who are reluctantly recruited by an ex-cop (Ed Begley) to hold up a bank in upstate New York.
Although the plot moves briskly, the story is character-driven; the two main characters are simmering with anger and intense desperation. Belafonte’s character criticizes his ex-wife for hosting a PTA steering committee meeting with “those ofay friends of yours”, while Ryan’s character, an ex-con relying on his wife (Shelley Winters) to pay the bills, tells her “you don’t have to hold my hand” after a personal setback. Later, Ryan has a compelling scene with his upstairs neighbour (Gloria Grahame), and another great scene in a bar where he shows up a young soldier whom I recognized as Wayne Rogers, 13 years prior to his portrayal of Trapper John on the TV series M*A*S*H.
I loved the sharp black-and-white cinematography by Joseph C. Brun. The screenplay was written by Abraham Polonsky, who used a front because he was blacklisted. The film was directed by Robert Wise.
Odds Against Tomorrow. I rented this 1959 American heist film because it had been mentioned along with The Asphalt Jungle by Jean-Pierre Melville in an interview on the Le Cercle Rouge DVD. Before that, I had never heard of the film, but it deserves a wider audience. It features searing performances by Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan, as two men who are reluctantly recruited by an ex-cop (Ed Begley) to hold up a bank in upstate New York.
Although the plot moves briskly, the story is character-driven; the two main characters are simmering with anger and intense desperation. Belafonte’s character criticizes his ex-wife for hosting a PTA steering committee meeting with “those ofay friends of yours”, while Ryan’s character, an ex-con relying on his wife (Shelley Winters) to pay the bills, tells her “you don’t have to hold my hand” after a personal setback. Later, Ryan has a compelling scene with his upstairs neighbour (Gloria Grahame), and another great scene in a bar where he shows up a young soldier whom I recognized as Wayne Rogers, 13 years prior to his portrayal of Trapper John on the TV series M*A*S*H.
I loved the sharp black-and-white cinematography by Joseph C. Brun. The screenplay was written by Abraham Polonsky, who used a front because he was blacklisted. The film was directed by Robert Wise.
