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A Movie A Week: CALL NORTHSIDE 777 (1948) You must run a nice jail. This guy doesn’t want to get out either!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with the next installment of A Movie A Week.
[For those who new to the column, A Movie A Week is just that, a dedicated way for me explore vintage cinema every week. I’ll review a movie every Monday and each one will be connected to the one before it via a common thread, either an actor, director, writer, producer or some other crew member. Each film, pulled from my DVD shelf or recorded on the home DVR (I heart TCM) will be one I haven’t seen.]
No, you’re not crazy. I missed last Monday’s column for a myriad of reasons, the main one being Comic-Con craziness spilling over to International travel while I was exuding mucus due to the Nerd AIDS (the clinical term for the head cold I got at Comic-Con). By the time I finally go home it was late last week and I figured I’d just put last week’s movie in this week’s slot and move everything up a bit.
This week’s AMAW follows a whole lot of people over from the previous HOW THE WEST WAS WON including Lee J. Cobb, James Stewart, director Henry Hathaway and composer Alfred Newman. The flick is called CALL NORTHSIDE 777 and is part of the Fox Noir series, a few of which we’ve covered in AMAD and AMAW.
And like most of the Fox Noirs this one doesn’t really feel very noir to me. In fact, if anything this movie feels like a docu-drama about the prohibition era crime spree in Chicago.
The flick starts off with a narrator telling us about the era and Hathaway gives us documentary footage mixed with filmed scenes all telling us the story of the murder of one policeman.
In fact, the movie is indeed based on a true story, but it’s not about a cop tracking down murderers or even a docudrama about the people who committed the crimes. Instead we follow a cynical newspaperman who seems to have to forced to explore the innocence of the men accused of the murder and sentenced to life in prison.
That’s really the angle that makes this movie stand out to me. Jimmy Stewart could have played the investigative journalist PJ McNeal as a sensitive guy... and that’s honestly how I expected him to play it given his filmography, but he doesn’t.
McNeal constantly has to be pushed into following up this story, which began as a suspicious advert placed in the classified section of their newspaper offering $5,000 for any information on the innocence of Frank Wiecek (Richard Conte). The title comes from this ad, asking for interested parties to call Northside 777.
Stewart believes this is either a scam or something more dangerous… a trap set by the organized crime bosses to eliminate witnesses, but follows up on it. He doesn’t find a sleazeball with a tommy gun. Instead he finds an old woman on her hands and knees polishing the floor of an upperscale hotel or apartment building. This is Wiecek’s mother who has spent the 11 years since his conviction working and saving to offer that $5,000.
Kasia Orzazewski plays this woman and is fantastic in the role, the perfect mixture of pathetic, sympathetic and sad. Out of wanting to help her not get gypped out of her hard-earned money, Stewart features her sob story, giving her a larger voice and more prominent position.
Of course the readers are touched by this story and Stewart’s editor (Lee J. Cobb) wants more. Stewart is reluctant… he wrote the story, but doesn’t believe for a second this man who was convicted by due legal process, with eye-witness testimony no less, is innocent.
But he’s forced to follow the story up, so he says he’ll do it, but only in his way. Stewart takes it upon himself to end this series by finding proof that this man is guilty and not the innocent angel his mother portends.
Seriously, the dude doesn’t become a champion for this convicted murderer’s innocence until damn near the end of the movie, which I thought was a fascinating angle for the protagonist to take.
The flick deals with some weighty issues, like police corruption and the sensationalism of news. In this particular case it works for the good of people. Lee J. Cobb keeps publishing these stories because it’s saving the paper, but he’s also using the stories for good.
Another really interesting thing about this film is how it revels in the technology of its time, like the ability to wire photos (over a loooooonnnnggg period of time). By the end of the movie Stewart is using every reporter trick in his bag to track down the one person who could free Wiecek. Today it would be done with Google and tracing of cell phones, etc, but in ‘40s it’s all about the footwork. Stewart takes his time, going from Polish bar to Polish bar looking for a woman who may or may not even still be in town… or alive for that matter.
It’s a really cool flick, even if it doesn’t particularly fit into my own vision noir. The argument can be made that even though Stewart is a newspaperman he’s still essentially playing the part of detective, wading through shady people, scummy bars and corrupt cops to get the information he wants.
Final Thoughts: I’d certainly recommend this movie, especially to those who want to round out their James Stewart movie knowledge. He plays against type a bit here, but is still has that Jimmy Stewart charm and likability. Also of note… It’s this movie’s premiere at the Chinese Theater where Stewart immortalized himself with the hand and footprints in cement.
Upcoming A Movie A Week Titles:
Monday, August 10th: ROPE (1948)
Monday, August 17th: THE SEVENTH CROSS (1944)
Monday, August 24th: TRACK OF THE CAT (1954)
Monday, August 31st: THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931)
Next week brings us another 1948 Jimmy Stewart film, this time one of his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock called ROPE, famous for it’s mostly continuous shooting with the only cuts being hidden as the camera mags had to be changed out. See you folks next week for that one!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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Previous AMAWs:
April 27th: How To Marry a Millionaire
May 4th: Phone Call From A Stranger
May 11th: Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte
May 18th: Too Late The Hero
May 25th: The Best Man
June 1st: The Catered Affair
June 8th: The Quiet Man
June 15th: Rio Grande
June 22nd: The Getaway
June 29th: The Mackintosh Man
July 6th: The Long, Hot Summer
July 13th: Journey Into Fear
July 20th: How The West Was Won
Click here for the full 215 movie run of A Movie A Day!
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Still my favorite AICN piece. By far.
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Soon I will grow up
And turn into a man
I'll find me a lady
As fast as I can
Won't you let me know, daddy?
Won't you tell me please?
What are the other kids talkin' about
When they talk about the birds and bees?
Do you really have to pee in a girl's mouth
Do you really have to pee in a girl's mouth
To make babies?
Do you really have to pee in a girl's mouth
Do you really have to pee in a girl's mouth
To make babies? -
and didn't get through it. I think part of my problem may have been I expected it to be more noir than it was. As far as I'm concerned Jimmy Stewart has one of the best filmographies ever (Vertigo, Rear Window, Rope, all the Anthony Mann westerns, the Capra films, the Philadelphia Story, oh and Harvey...) But this one didn't click with me. May have to give it another shot sometime. And Quint, how have you never seen the Public Enemy?! You're in for a treat, you lucky bastard.
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Liked it better when it was AMAD, but this is better than nothing.
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Tom Powers lives!
For anybody who thinks old movies are pointless, just remember the best shot in the Limey (when Terrance Stamp walks into the warehouse in a one shot and we hear gunshots) would not exist without Public Enemy. -
That this film isn't Noir enough for my taste. But what do you expect, no way would the studios put one of their big stars in a A-picture and have it going into true Noir territory. That was what B films where for.
But Henry Hathaway has down darker movies (some with A list stars): The House on 92nd Street, 13 Rue Madeline, Kiss of Death, Niagara, Fourteen Hours. I guess audiences were not ready for Stewart to go dark yet (would have to wait for Hitchcock's Vertigo and Anthony Mann). -
http://tinyurl.com/ko3dyg
The eyes are too far apart. I can see that causing people headaches in 2d let alone 3d. People tend to focus on eyes. That distance is way to far and it causes a visual bleed effect to our own eyes in 2d it reminds me of the horizontal triple nose mouth eye face in the black in the movie Jacobs Ladder- You just can't focus in on a face like that and compute it. The eyes on this avatar prevent you from doing so as well. A very odd choice. I don't like it, and I'm kinda sad. -
http://tinyurl.com/mxozdw
That Avatar eye distance is causing the same optical bleed issue effect. You can not look at both eyes without losing focus. -
I'm starting a one-man campaign. Oh, and welcome back Quint. AMAD is still the best thing on this site and was missed last week. Good review of a good movie. In a weird way, Stewart's work here reminds me of John Wayne in The Searchers. He played against type which gave his character a real edge. Thanks for the good work.
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Stewart was one of the few movie actors who was as good on dramatic radio as were the many skilled character actors who worked regularly on the air. Stewart guest-starred on the show "Suspense" several times--most notably in an episode called "Mission Completed" in which he was a WWII vet obsessed with taking revenge on a cruel Japanese officer. In the 1950s, when the introduction of audio tape made it more practical to record radio shows in advance rather than do them live, Stewart starred in an excellent western called "The Six Shooter." Stewart was classy actor in everything he did. {comicsradio.blogspot.com}
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They're having a noir fest at the musicboxtheatre this week. Was planning on going too. Bummer.
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Your AMAW postings are exactly what this site needs - sincere and naked thoughts about film. Besame mucho.
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wow, i just got around to watching that myself! it's a fantastic one you're likely to enjoy, and a terrific first lead role for Cagney.
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I like having a strange face shape more than using all that CGI to make glorified Klingons
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...I don't care. It is a great film about the newspaper business and a mystery to boot. Stewart surprised me with the anger that he attacks Wanda with(verbally). He really lets her have it, even though she doesn't give a shit. In fact Wanda does seem like a character out of a noir film. Love this movie, don't let the fact that it's not a true noir to prevent you from seeing it.
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Just that I was disappointed. And I think people who are going to see it should be told that they shouldn't expect Murder My Sweet or Double Indemnity. It would be like telling people to see The Ballad of Cable Hogue and labeling it a Western; it is a misleading description.
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C'mon pallie that's a great great one you Gotta see. this movie sounds okay, I'll rent it and watch. I like both Cobb and Jimmy.
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...I wasn't singling you out, but you make a good point. I guess I understand why Fox promoted 777 as a noir and I hope that anyone who sees it isn't disappointed, like I said, it is a mystery. Glad you brought up Cable Hogue, though I may disagree about it being a western. My girlfriend was never into westerns but since we've started sharing a house I have turned her in to a (kind of) western fan. The thing I used to love about westerns is that there wasn't one kind. There were noirs, crime, comedies, satires, dramas and of course, actions. Sadly since westerns went out of style, they don't vary the genre much anymore.
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