I Walk Alone
I Walk Alone is a 1947 film noir directed by Byron Haskin and starring Burt Lancaster and Lizabeth Scott, with a supporting cast featuring Wendell Corey and Kirk Douglas.[2]
| I Walk Alone | |
|---|---|
Original film poster | |
| Directed by | Byron Haskin |
| Screenplay by | Charles Schnee Robert Smith (adaptation) John Bright (adaptation) |
| Based on | the play Beggars Are Coming to Town by Theodore Reeves |
| Produced by | Hal B. Wallis |
| Starring | Burt Lancaster Lizabeth Scott Kirk Douglas Wendell Corey |
| Cinematography | Leo Tover |
| Edited by | Arthur P. Schmidt |
| Music by | Victor Young |
Production company | Hal Wallis Productions |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.1 million (US rentals)[1] |
This was the first of six films that Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas made together over the decades, including Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) with Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and Douglas as Doc Holliday, The Devil's Disciple (1959) with Laurence Olivier, The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) with George C. Scott and John Merivale, Seven Days in May (1964) with Fredric March and Ava Gardner, and Tough Guys (1986). Douglas was always billed beneath Lancaster but, with the exception of I Walk Alone and The List of Adrian Messenger, their roles were almost of equal importance.
A restoration of the film played at the Noir City festival at the Castro Theatre in February 2018.[3][4] The movie was officially released on home video for the first time on July 24, 2018.[5][6][7]
Plot edit
Frankie Madison and Noll "Dink" Turner are rum-running partners during Prohibition. They are involved in a shootout with thieves attempting to steal their liquor, attracting the attention of the police. Frankie and Noll part ways with an agreement that if one of them should be caught, he will still receive an equal share after serving his prison sentence. Frankie is sent to prison for 14 years, and when he is set free, he visits Noll.
Noll now runs a swanky nightclub. When Frankie visits the club, Noll stalls, sending him to dinner with his singer girlfriend Kay Lawrence. Noll instructs Kay to discover exactly what Frankie is seeking and learns that Frankie expects him to honor their old bargain. He tells his old partner that the deal only applied to their former nightclub that closed years ago. Dave, Frankie's brother and the only member of the old gang whom Frankie had trusted, had him sign legal papers - without full knowledge as to what they meant - to that effect some time ago.
Noll estimates that Frankie's share is less than $3,000. Furious, Frankie slugs Noll and leaves to recruit men to take what he figures he is owed. However, Noll had Dave arrange for ownership of the nightclub to be divided among several corporations, with bylaws that prevent him from surrendering anything. Frankie's men actually work for Noll, and they beat Frankie and leave him in an alley.
Noll informs Kay that he intends to marry wealthy socialite Alexis Richardson in order to ensure the success of the nightclub. Repulsed by the idea and strongly attracted to Frankie, Kay quits and overcomes Frankie's suspicions about her.
Dave, aghast at how Frankie has been treated, tells him that he is willing to divulge what he knows, which will devastate Noll. However, he foolishly tells Noll what he intends to do and is killed by Noll's henchman, with the murder pinned on Frankie.
Evading a police manhunt, Frankie and Kay visit Noll's mansion. Although Noll is waiting with a loaded gun, Frankie wrests it away from him and takes Noll to the nightclub. Frankie threatens Noll in order to extract a written confession from him, which Frankie gives to the police when they arrive. Noll is arrested but he escapes the policemen and heads toward Frankie, but before Noll can reach him, he is shot dead by a policeman.
Cast edit
- Burt Lancaster as Frankie Madison
- Lizabeth Scott as Kay Lawrence
- Wendell Corey as Dave
- Kirk Douglas as Noll "Dink" Turner
- Kristine Miller as Mrs. Alexis Richardson
- George Rigaud as Maurice
- Marc Lawrence as Nick Palestro
- Mike Mazurki as Dan, the nightclub doorman
- Mickey Knox as Skinner
- Roger Neury as Felix Walter
- Freddie Steele as Tiger Rose
Reception edit
In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther wrote: "It's a mighty low class of people that you will meet in the Paramount's 'I Walk Alone'—and a mighty low grade of melodrama, if you want the honest truth—in spite of a very swanky setting and an air of great elegance." Crowther found Kirk Douglas' performance "fairly effective" but panned the other leads: "Burt Lancaster plays the would-be 'muscler' with the blank-faced aplomb of Tarzan. ... Lizabeth Scott has no more personality than a model in the window of a department store."[8]
James Agee, writing in The Nation, opined that the film should be made to "walk alone, tinkle a little bell, and cry, 'Unclean, unclean.'"[9]
Variety called I Walk Alone "a tight, hard-boiled melodrama."[10]
A portion of footage from I Walk Alone was manipulated in 1982's Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid to make it appear as though Kirk Douglas is speaking to Steve Martin's character.
References edit
- ^ "Top Grossers of 1948", Variety 5 January 1949 p 46
- ^ I Walk Alone at IMDb .
- ^ G. Allen Johnson (21 January 2018). "Castro Theatre's 16th SF Film Noir Festival a course in genre from A to B". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ "Program for 2018 Noir City Film Festival, January 26-February 4, Pg 2". Noir City. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
- ^ Josh Steinberg (30 July 2018). "I Walk Alone Blu-ray Review (Kino)". Home Theater Forum. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
Long unavailable on any home video format, Kino's new disc of I Walk Alone is a quality release.
- ^ "I Walk Alone Blu-ray". DVDBeaver. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
- ^ Amy Longsdorf (1 August 2018). "Movies: 1947 thriller 'I Walk Alone,' is available for first time on DVD and Blu-ray". The Morning Call.
- ^ Crowther, Bosley (1948-01-22). "'I Walk Alone,' a Gangster Film, Starring Burt Lancaster, Opens at Paramount". The New York Times. p. 36.
- ^ Cited in Talty, Stephan. "Agee on Film". Chicago Review. Vol. 41, No. 1 (1995): 57-64.
- ^ Variety staff (December 31, 1947). "I Walk Alone". Variety.
External links edit
- I Walk Alone at IMDb
- I Walk Alone at AllMovie
- I Walk Alone at the TCM Movie Database
- I Walk Alone at the American Film Institute Catalog
- I Walk Alone film trailer on YouTube