Powerful

hyped garbage

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

711 OCEAN DRIVE 1950This Columbia Pictures production from 1950 is about an ordinary Joe being taken by the "dark side". The film stars Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dru, Otto Kruger, Barry Kelly, Sammy White, Dorothy Patrick, Howard St John, Don Porter and Robert Osterloh. O'Brien is an employee for the phone company at the bottom of the salary ladder. This is not the greatest thing as O'Brien has a fondness for playing long shots at the ponies. His bookie, Sammy White, says he can hook O'Brien up with his boss, Barry Kelly. Kelly runs a string of bookies that use a wire service for horse results. White is sure a guy with O'Brien's smarts with phones etc could be useful. Sure enough, O'Brien has Kelly's wire service up and running at top speed in no time. Kelly hires the man on the spot at a hefty raise over his phone company pay. He moves up in the organization rapidly as he helps Kelly improve his cash inflow. O'Brien decides he wants a bigger cut of the take and forces Kelly to cut him in for it. Kelly agrees because he needs O'Brien to run the new electronic set up. O'Brien is soon flush with a new ocean front pad, a fancy car and wads of cash. Things get better when his partner, Kelly, is killed by a disgruntled bookie. Now O'Brien is running the show. This happy series of events (for O'Brien) soon hits a speed bump. O'Brien's racket has gotten big enough for the eastern mob boys to take an interest. They decide to invite themselves in as partners for a 50 percent cut.The mob boss, Otto Kruger, sends out his man, Don Porter to talk with O'Brien about the deal. Porter takes his wife, Joanne Dru along to see the coast. O'Brien does not like the mob move, but knows he should play along. He also takes to Porter's wife, Dru. The two are soon stepping out behind Porter's back. Needless to say this is going to lead to a spot of trouble. Dru is on the receiving end of a beating from Porter, which is also a warning to O'Brien to lay off Dru. O'Brien has fallen hard for Dru and wants Porter out of the way. He hires a hit-man, Robert Osterloh to take care of the problem. 10 large to Osterloh, soon has Mister Porter acquiring several large holes in the middle of his back. The mob is not pleased with the hit and question O'Brien, Dru etc. They intend to even the score if they can discover who did the deed. O'Brien swears he had nothing to do with Porter's death. The mob keeps looking for the killer. They do not like loose ends. By this time, the Police have become interested in O'Brien and the operation. The Detective in charge, Howard St. John roots around looking for a reason to bust up O'Brien and the mob's racket.Now a further fly lands in the old ointment, Osterloh. He has decided that O'Brien is ripe for a spot of blackmail. He puts pressure on O'Brien to cough up a healthy bundle of cash, or the mob will find out about O'Briens's part in Porter's death. O'Brien agrees to the deal and meets Osterloh late that night. O'Brien however bumps off Osterloh ending the man's ploy. Of course matters now start to go to pieces for O'Brien and Dru. The mob has tumbled on their own to O'Brien's involvement with their man Porter's killing. They call up the Police and tell them about the killing. Mob boss Kruger thinks it will be funny to let the Police take care of the matter. O'Brien, Dru and his man, Sammy White, are soon on the road to Vegas. There, they use some of O'Brien's knowledge of the wire service to beat the mob out of 250 large. This is their get out of the country loot. Needless to say this idea goes south in a hurry. The mob grabs up White for a trip to out to the desert to fill in a hole. O'Brien and Dru are chased down by the Police at Boulder Dam. Dru is captured while O'Brien is given a less than healthy dose of lead poisoning. This is meat and potatoes mid-range noir that gets the job done. The cast is all first rate, with O'Brien in particular doing excellent work. One can see him change as the lure of cash and power overcome him. The director, Joseph M Newman was a two time Oscar nominated 2nd unit helmsman who moved up the ladder to director. While never an A list director, he did pump out some decent films in various genres. These include, ABANDONED, PONY SOLDIER, THIS ISLAND EARTH, DANGEROUS CROSSING, THE GEORGE RAFT STORY and GUNFIGHT AT DODGE CITY. The look of the film is quite sharp with the talented Franz Planer handling the cinematography duties. The 5 time Oscar nominated Planer's films include the film noir, THE CHASE, THE SCARF, THE LONG WAIT, 99 RIVER STREET and the classics, CHAMPION and CRISS CROSS. ROMAN HOLIDAY, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S and THE BIG COUNTRY are some of his other film work.A much better film than this humble review would suggest.

Unless I have been taken in by some very good set design, there are several scenes filmed in the famed Musso-Frank's Grill on Hollywood Boulevard. It's been about 15 years since I was in there, but remember it very well: it's a time warp! Now that Chasen's is gone, Musso-Frank's remains one of the few fine old dining establishments in Los Angeles from the golden era of Hollywood. The place dates from 1919 and the decor is timeless. Sort of a 1930's feel to it. The bar is a special treat. You can imagine dialogue from a period movie spoken in such a setting.I still remember the wonderful vodka martini (straight up, two olives) that I got there. One (or two) of those and you can almost forget the present, save for the prices, of course!

A better than routine, if not exceptional, noir crime drama, with O'Brien excellent in the lead, and good casting throughout. Opening and closing textural comments convey the sense that this is more of a sensational expose of syndicate control of horse-race betting (a major West coast institution if there ever was one), produced "under threat". That remains to be seen. What is undeniable is that a well-paced tale of one man's ambition is engagingly portrayed. Of particular interest are the wonderful filming locations in the L.A. area -- rich streetscapes--full of marvelous period detail, "Modern" architecture as seen in circular drive-ins, open plan houses, groovy bars ands nightclubs, and some flavor of Palm Springs weekending. With the evolution of O'Brien's character from a telephone repairman into a major crime so well reflected in the improvements in his dress, along with the sartorial variety among the leads, one gets a nice sense of personal style in this period. Worth a look.

Along with DOA, The Killers, White Heat, Shield for Murder, the Hitchhiker, this entry attests to the style of O'Brien, who may be the worlds best sweater. This film is quick, has good dialogue, and location shooting. The best moments are really not the climactic finale, but rather those where O'Brien banters with Otto Kruger (who is perfect) and Don Porter. I agree however that the preachy ending might best be ignored.