Kim Tempts Fred

A bank robbery results in the murder of a guard and the theft of $92,000. Police detectives Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) and Rick McAllister (Phil Carey) are assigned to watch the girlfriend of the suspect, Lona McLane (Kim Novak).  But it’s not long before Paul finds himself a Pushover (1954) for Lona.  With a plot as twisty as a pretzel, the intrigue increases in intensity as Paul decides that he can have lots of money AND the girl by trapping robber Harry Wheeler (Paul Richards) and convincing his police colleagues that the money is long gone.

It's impossible to view this movie without mentally comparing it to Double Indemnity. While this is a decent film, the similarities to that earlier, brilliant picture, do it no service. As good as Fred MacMurray is - and he is very good - there is a major problem. Kim Novak is no Barbara Stanwyck.

This was Ms. Novak's first major role. She'd appeared in two other films (under her birth name, Marilyn Novak) (American Classic Screen Features edited by John C. Tibbetts, James M. Welsh). She's merely adequate as Lona - she has one expression, that of perennially unhappiness. As lovely as she is, it's difficult to understand why Paul falls so hard for her. She's not all that seductive, nor does she seem particularly intelligent or intriguing. Even her relationship with Harry Wheeler is haphazard - when asked why she was with him, her response is that he bought her nice things, but with a lack of enthusiasm that is numbing. Ms. Novak's casting is the film's weak link.

Fred MacMurray is excellent as a good cop gone bad for the love of a woman (and for a lot of money). Mr. MacMurray makes you believe his passion for Lona; to the very end of the film, Paul clearly is infatuated with her. As he spirals into more problematic actions, the audience can see, thanks to his deft performance, the guilt that plagues Paul for the choices he has made. 

Dorothy Malone (Ann Stewart) has a relatively small part as a nurse living next door to Lona. When we first meet her - seen through the binoculars of Rick McAllister - her presence seems to be merely a romantic interest for the honest cop in the team. That he is watching her constantly without her knowledge is rather creepy for a viewer in 2020, it does begin a theme that will be echoed more fully in Rear Window later that same year (TCM article). Ms. Malone gets her moment to shine towards the end of the movie. Ann is splendid under pressure and the audience is rooting for her because of her strength.

Philip Carey (he's Phil in this movie) is good as Paul's stoic partner.  A Marine, who served in both World War II and the Korean Conflict, Mr. Carey started his film career as a military man. At 6'4", he made an impressive soldier and police officer, and much of his film career cast him in those roles. He also made a convincing cowboy, and it is interesting to note that, the film marquee of the theater where Lona meets Paul is showing The Nebraskan - starring Philip Carey (Columbia Noir: A Complete Filmography, 1940-1962 by Gene Blottner). Mr. Carey would segue over to television, working as a guest star in a number of shows (including a highly regarded All in the Family episode as Archie Bunker's pro-football player friend, who turns out to be gay), and starring in the series Laredo and, from 1979 until 2007, the soap opera One Life to Live. Married twice, Mr. Carey died of lung cancer at the age of 83 in 2009.

Two supporting players should be noted - E. G. Marshall (Lt. Carl Eckstrom) as the stern lead on the investigation manages to make a character, who could have been an automaton, sympathetic. Allen Nourse (Paddy Dolan) is especially noteworthy as an alcoholic police officer who is on the edge of losing his job - and his pension - but who has a strict moral compass that will put him in jeopardy.

Based on the novel The Night Watch by Thomas Walsh, Pushover went through several working titles - The Killer Wore a Badge, 322 French Street and The Night Watch (AFI catalog). The reviews for the film were positive; the New York Times review by Howard Thompson (HHT) commented on the similarities to Double Indemnity, though acknowledged that the film should be reviewed independently (by the end of his review, Mr. Thompson did find it hard to completely eliminate comparison).

Pushover is a good but not great film. But, with the opportunity to see Fred MacMurray in another noir, playing a morally compromised character, it's one to see.  We'll leave you with a scene between Mr. MacMurray and Ms. Novak.