Brian Loses Control

College friends Al Mercer (Guy Madison), Brick (Brian Keith), Roy (Brian Keith), and Ronnie (Kerwin Mathews) take a vacation trip to Harold's Casino in Reno, Nevada. Upon returning to school, Ronnie comes up with a supposedly foolproof method of robbing the casino. Ronnie and Roy see it as a game - they won't keep the money, so there is no crime. But unknown to them, Brick, a Korean War vet who has had mental issues since returning stateside, is finding it hard to cope with civilian life. This week, we'll discuss 5 Against the House (1955).

At first look, this appears to be a film in the vein of Oceans 11 - it was, in fact, an inspiration for Martin Scorsese's Casino (TCM article). There is one small problem - it's not a very good movie, and it's badly miscast. 

Two of our actors are supposed to be college students in their early 20s. Alvy Moore was 34 and looks it; Kerwin Matthews was 29 and looks older. It's therefore rather hard to find them believable as naive youths. Also, Matthew's character is supposed to be extremely intelligent. But he thinks he can commit grand theft and not be charged because he's going to give back the money. Really?? He's also really unpleasant - he's constantly hazing a younger student (which is supposed to be the comic relief), and he's vain enough to decide to trap Al into his illegal scheme. All in all, he is a self-important, spoiled brat.

Guy Madison is saddled with a character who's given little opportunity to develop. We know he is a Korean War veteran, and that Brick saved his life. We know that he is in love with Kay Greylek (Kim Novak). We're also told that he is intending to study law. Other than that, he is a blank slate, and the script does not allow us to really care about him at all.

The actor who is given the most to work with (and that still is not a whole lot) is Brian Keith. He gets the chance to play a man teetering on the verge of madness. But he's given precious little of a back story, and that does not help our understanding of the man. When one thinks of other post-war films, like The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), both of which have characters that have suffered emotional trauma because of their experiences, the audience is given a chance to taste some of the horrors that plague the men. Not here - like Al, Brick is written in shorthand. It's only thanks to the skill of Brian Keith that we have any sympathy for him.

This was only Kim Novak's fifth film, and while she too is saddled with a superficial character, we do warm to her, mainly because we see that she is a strong and intelligent woman.  If any character is a savior, it is she, and the audience likes her audacity by the end.  The same year as this film was released, Ms. Novak would appear as Madge in Picnic, and her stardom was assured.  

William Conrad (Eric Berg) has a brief appearance as a casino employee - strangely, he gets billing OVER Kerwin Matthews. Well, maybe not so strange - he's a far better actor.

The story was taken from a Good Housekeeping series (AFI Catalog) - an odd tale for such a magazine.  One nice feature is that it offers a glimpse of Reno (and Las Vegas) in the mid 1950s - not the cities that we think of today.

Unless you are a Kim Novak completist, or a fan of Brian Keith, we can't really recommend this one. Here is a trailer from the film:

 

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.