Forgotten Noir, Vol. 5 (FBI Girl / Tough Assignment)

FBI Girl/Tough Assignment (1951/1949) These two similar crime flicks have been paired up on one DVD as a volume of "Forgotten Noir." I'm not sure they both qualify as true noir, but that's a discussion for another time. More importantly, are they fun to watch? I'm happy to report that they are. FBI Girl pairs Cesar Romero and George Brent as two special agents for the Bureau up against smooth villain Raymond Burr who has criminal ties all the way up to the governor of the unnamed state the agents work in. This one is pretty good, with some early police procedural work mixed in with some actual action setpieces (a boat vs helicopter chase!) all tied up in a bow by the star trio. Tough Assignment is also fun, punching in for a fast hour and two minutes. A reporter (Don "Red" Barry) and his new bride (the curiously fetching Marjorie Steele) run afoul of beef smuggling bad guys (including 2 time Bond villain Marc Lawrence; perennial Superman baddie Ben Welden; and the ever energetic Sid Melton of TV's Green Acres), then go undercover to bust the ring. While shot on a noticeably lower budget than FBI Girl, Assignment is still pretty fun, with a couple of quick fist fights and gun battles to keep things moving. Basically, if you like old movies at all, there are enough familiar faces here to warrant a recommendation, and move that up a notch if you're a buff of this kind of crime movie.

I've seen a fair chunk of VCI's "Forgotten Noir" series thus far, and a couple of brief general comments are in order: first, many of these films wouldn't really qualify as "true" noir to a lot of aficionados, and aren't recognized as such by most of the authorities on the subject; and second, most of them are a decent amount of fun, regardless of how "noir" they really are. This release is no exception.

First up, FBI GIRL (1951, directed by William Berke)

This Lippert Pictures low-budget police procedural with noirish undertones is certainly one of the better films from this cheap studio that I've seen. The paint-by-numbers story (by three credited writers) certainly isn't the reason - unscrupulous Governor Owen Grisby (Raymond Greenleaf) hires even more unscrupulous Blake (Raymond Burr) to try to get back fingerprints from the FBI that prove that Grisby is actually wanted murderer John Williams. Their first attempt proves futile; though Blake has the "FBI Girl" murdered, for some reason she doesn't have the prints. But the girl, Natalie Craig (Margia Dean) made a mistake while lifting the prints, and another FBI employee noticed something wrong, which leads to investigators Stedman and Donley (Cesar Romero and George Brent) getting involved, and eventually another fingerprint clerk, Shirley Wayne (Audrey Totter) serving as their mole.

It's all pretty predictable stuff, you know the bad guys are going to get it in the end and the FBI will come out triumphant, but what saves the film is some pretty nice nighttime photography by Jack Greenhalgh, decent set-ups and camera movement from director Berke, and a really impressive cast for such a low-budget production. In addition to those named - and it should be noted that Romero and Brent are rather wasted in pretty dull "just the facts ma'am" cop roles" - we have the incredibly gorgeous Joi (here spelled Joy) Lansing as one of Shirley's roommates and Tom Drake giving probably the best performance in the film as her ambitious boyfriend Carl, who is also connected to the governor though not aware of his secret. Alexander Pope, who's an even larger man than Burr, does a nice turn as a henchman who takes a quite literal dive that keeps the FBI from finding out too much for a while, and Marie Blake plays a rather creepy and odd landlady that our FBI heroes get to interview. Burr is his usual brutal and cold self; Totter is looking a bit worn and tired here - only 33, but with most of her best work behind her - but she's perfectly fine.

All in all, nothing special but a nice enough example of how little studios like this used to be able to make a 75-minute film that was full of incident, colorful faces and personalities (even in black-and-white) and enough fun that you could forget just how generic it is.

Second, TOUGH ASSIGNMENT (1949, directed by William Beaudine)
Donald "Red" Barry is probably just barely recognizable to serious 40s and 50s western buffs today; he produces and stars in another Lippert cheapie directed by William "One-Shot" Beaudine" - nicknamed thus not for his liquor capacity but for his speedy shooting ability which allowed him to direct (approximately) 350 films and 100 TV episodes in 53 years. This is likely one of his better efforts - and it's just OK. Producer-star Barry has sort of a slowed-down James Cagney look and voice and that's rather appealing, but he was only a borderline name for a few years, never really hitting it big; he mostly did b-westerns, and this is sort of a modern-dress western with some slight noirish elements.

Barry here plays Dan Reilly, a newspaper reporter just returned to LA with his wife, photographer Margie (Marjorie Steele). Margie insists on taking pictures of everywhere they go, and so as she's walking into a butcher shop she poses for Dan - while at the same time three thugs make their way quickly out after beating up the proprietors. Soon Margie and Dan are involved in investigating an illegal meat operation that rustles cattle and forces butchers to buy it. Dan gets beaten up a couple of times, but is undaunted in pursuing the great story - hey, he's only got 64 minutes to do so, he'd best get cracking!

Like I said, this is awfully low budget, and you won't see any particularly famous - or even just sort-of-famous - names in the cast, except perhaps for Steve Brodie who plays the lead heavy, Morgan. Brodie had significant roles in OUT OF THE PAST and THE STELL HELMET among other films; he usually played bad guys and though he was occasionally the chief villain it doesn't look like he ever got the lead despite good looks and a reasonably commanding presence. He's fine here, as are the menacing Marc Lawrence and the brutish Steve Richards as a couple of his henchmen, and the leads are fine, but the film is pretty routine and undistinguished overall with no real drama or excitement to speak of, particularly in the last half.

Both films have commentaries, which I haven't listened to yet; there's a nice short video-bio of Barry and several trailers. The image and sound quality here is really pretty solid; VCI can be rather variable but they've been doing a better job all the time and this series in particular has always been nicely presented. Definitely worth a look for us serious fans of the lower-budget side of the noir and crime film.

VCI Entertainment and Kit Parker Films presents "FORGOTTEN NOIR 5" ... FBI Girl (1951) & Tough Assignment (1949) --- (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe Hollywood crime dramas that set their protagonists in a world perceived as inherently corrupt and unsympathetic...Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hard-boiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression...the term film noir (French for "black film"), first applied to Hollywood movies by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unknown to most of the American filmmakers and actors while they were creating the classic film noirs..the canon of film noir was defined in retrospect by film historians and critics; many of those involved in the making of film noir later professed to be unaware at the time of having created a distinctive type of film ... featuring top performances from the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays, along with a wonderful cast and supporting actors to bring it all together ... another winner from the vaults of almost forgotten film noir gems

First up we have Lippert Pictures feature "FBI GIRL" (1951) (74 mins/B&W) --- Under William A. Berke (Director), William A. Berke (Producer), Dwight V. Babcock (Screenwriter), Rupert Hughes (Screenwriter), Richard H. Landau (Screenwriter), Jack Leewood (Associated Producer), Darrell Calker (Original Score), Jack Greenhalgh (Cinematographer), Philip Cahn (Editor) - - - - the cast includes Cesar Romero (FBI Agent Glen Stedman), George Brent (FBI Agent Jeff Donley), Audrey Totter (Shirley Wayne), Tom Drake (Carl Chercourt), Raymond Burr (Blake), Raymond Greenleaf (John Williams, alias Gov. Owen Grisby), Margia Dean (Natalie Craig, the FBI girl), Don Garner (Paul Craig), Alexander Pope (George 'Georgia' Denning), Richard Monahan (Donald, the clerk), Tommy Noonan (Tommy, TV comic as Tom Noonan), Peter Marshall (Pete, TV comic as Pete Marshall) - - - - - released on November 4, 1951, our story line has the governor hiring Raymond Burr to steal a file from the FBI that has fingerprint evidence proving he previously was a wanted criminal ... Agent Cesar Romero and George Brent are hot on the trail, with Audrey Totter in the thick of things ... Raymond Burr as usual is the scene stealer as the snake in the grass wonderful part and a great actor.

BIOS:

1. Cesar Romero

Date of birth: 15 February 1907 - New York, New York

Date of death: 1 January 1994 - Santa Monica, California

2. George Brent

Date of birth: 15 March 1899 - Shannonbridge, Offaly, Ireland

Date of death: 26 May 1979 - Solana Beach, California

3. Audrey Totter

Date of birth: 20 December 1918 - Joliet, Illinois

Date of death: Still Living

4. Raymond Burr

Date of birth: 21 May 1917 - New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

Date of death: 12 September 1993 - Sonoma, California

5. William A. Berke (Director)

Date of birth: 3 October 1903 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Date of death: 15 February 1958 - Los Angeles, California

Second on the double bill is a Robert L. Lippert Picture release "TOUGH ASSIGNMENT" (1949) (64 min/B/W) --- Under William Beaudine (Director), Carl K. Hittleman (Screenwriter), Miltan Luban (Screenwriter), Don 'Red' Barry (Executive Producer), Carl K. Hittleman (Producer), Murray Lerner (Associate Producer), Robert L. Lippert (Executive Producer), Albert Glasser (Original Score), Benjamin H. Kline (Cinematographer), Harry W. Gerstad (Editor) - - - - the cast includes Don 'Red' Barry (Don Reilly), Marjorie Steele (Margie Reilly), Steve Brodie (Boss Morgan), Marc Lawrence (Vince (a tough), Ben Welden (Sniffy (a tough), Sid Melton (Herman (crooked rancher), John L. Cason (Joe (crooked rancher), Frank Richards (Steve (thug at ranch), Fred Kohler Jr. (Grant (head rancher), Michael Whalen ('Hutch' Hutchison), Edit Angold (Mrs. Schultz), Leander De Cordova (Schultz (the butcher), Stanley Andrews (Chief Investigator Patterson), Stanley Price (Al Foster (butcher) - - - - our story and film released November 15, 1949, involves a newspaper reporter (Don Barry) pursues a modern-day rustling gang whose truck driving "cowboys" are far more dangerous than their horse riding counterparts ... veteran actor Steve Brodie heads the cast as the bossman heavy. . . . . all courtesy of VCI Entertainment, who in my humble opinion is the best there is in restoring early serials and film noir features like this one.

BIOS:

1. Don 'Red' Barry (aka: Donald Barry De Acosta)

Date of birth: 11 January 1912 - Houston, Texas

Date of death: 17 July 1980 - Hollywood, California

2. Marjorie Steele

Date of birth: 27 August 1930 - Reno, Nevada

Date of death: Still Living

3. Steve Brodie (aka: John Stevens)

Date of birth: 21 November 1919 - El Dorado, Kansas

Date of death: 9 January 1992 - West Hills, California

4. Sid Melton (aka: Sidney Meltzer)

Date of birth: 23 May 1920 - Brooklyn, New York

Date of death: Still Living

5. Marc Lawrence (aka: Max Goldsmith)

Date of birth: 17 February 1910 - New York, New York

Date of death: 27 November 2005 - Palm Springs, California

6. William Beaudine (Director)

Date of birth: 15 January 1892 - New York, New York

Date of death: 18 March 1970 - Canoga Park, California

BONUS FEATURES:

1. Commentary - by Alan K Rode

2. Trailers:

Bad Blonde

Deadly Game

F.B.I. Girl

Man Bait

3. Bios

4. Photo Gallerys

5. Video Biography on Don "Red" Barry

Great job by the people at VCI Entertainment, hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been Cowboys!

Total Time: 143 mins on DVD ~ VCI Home Video KPF-556 ~ (4/24/2007)

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 4 reviews  3.8 out of 5 stars