Crooked Way, The (1949)

[MFPhoto]

I recorded this film off TCM about two or three weeks ago, and only now got a chance to watch it. As with many film noirs of the 1945-1949 era, this one deals with a war veteran. Eddie (John Payne) returns from the war with a Silver Star and a case of amnesia. The only thing about his past that he know is that he enlisted in Los Angeles. After a few years of treatment, Eddie decides to investigate his past. So he goes down to LA, and the first thing that happens when he gets off the bus is to be picked up by the cops. So you can see what direction this story is leading.

What really makes the film for me is John Alton’s cinematography. The shadowy, high-contrast black and white creates the mood for this film. The blacks are dark blocking out any image providing the feeling there is something hidden. The story contains some hard to believe elements, but the camera work really catches the eye and helps draw you in. If you have never seen The Crooked Way, I recommend you do.

[Harry Fabian]

I saw this a couple weeks ago after on TCM as well. Still trying to get over my image of John Payne as Gailey the idealistic lawyer in Miracle on 34th Street. This was a decent film, but I can't even recall the ending. Guess I should take notes.

[MFPhoto]

Give John Payne his due. He obviously had range as an actor. But not remembering the ending? Well, that should say something about the film. The difference between a good movie and a great one is that the greats leave a more lasting impression. I remember the plot details, but admittedly I remember the cinematography more. Rather than take notes, why not watch the film again?

So The Crooked Way is not a great movie. But it is an entertaining one.

[Harry Fabian]

Me not remembering the ending is not indicative of how good a film is. Sometimes I don't remember much about a movie other than "I liked-loved-loathed" it. I have seen "Asphalt Jungle" 2 or 3 times and I love it, but I cannot remember exactly how it finishes. It's not so bad for rewatching films with my wife, but pretty much sucks when trying to discuss it with others. I do watch several movies every week, so maybe things don't stick out as much for me. I'd watch The Crooked Way again, but I have so many unseen movies on my "to see" lists, it may not be for awhile.

[MFPhoto]

I've seen The Asphalt Jungle all the way through only once, but I clearly remember the ending. I won't spoil it for you.

There are plenty of films I thought were great when I first saw them, but after a while I forget the details. When I re-watch them, I realize they were not so great. This does not mean they were bad movies. In the long run, they just don't pass the test of time to qualify as a true classic. For true classics that I love, they remain fresh in my mind. I clearly remember the endings of Modern Times, Citizen Kane and Ran.

On the other hand, I can't remember the name of someone I met at a conference today. But part of that may be age.

[cigar joe]

Got to watch this last night, Director Robert Florey, Director of Photography John Alton with John Payne, Sonny Tufts, Ellen Drew, Rhys Williams, Percy Helton, and John Doucette and many others. Based on a radio play.



Eddie Rice (Payne), wakes up in a San Francisco Veterans Hospital after WWII with a Silver Star but no memory. The Doc tells him his amnesia is "organic" and that the piece of shrapnel in his head has permanently erased his past. The Doc suggests that he attempt to piece his life together by returning to familiar surroundings, maybe he will run into someone who knew him. He gets discharged and heads to L.A. that is all he knows about himself. At Union Station, two police detectives meet him, calling him Eddie Riccardi. From them he discovers that he worked for mob boss Vince Alexander (Sonny Tufts), whom he framed before he joined the Army.

He also finds out he was married to B-Girl (Nina) Ellen Drew, who also has mob connections working in an illegal gambling joint. Caught between the cops and the mob, Payne wakes up in a car with a gun in his hand and a dead cop in the seat next to him. He awakes just before the tipped off police arrive and scrambles for his life.

Payne tracking his past life through "Noirville" LA



This Film is a gem. Alton's cinematography is extremely dark and claustrophobic and fits the subject matter well, a feast for Noir eyes with a nice juxtaposition of studio set & seedy location shots that make a fine example of the noir aesthetic. The large and varied cast actually enhances the amnesia angle to the story since minor character actors flicker for a few moments of screen time out of the shadows and then are gone and just like Eddie, you don't know whether they are a part of Eddie's past life or not.

Alton's stylistic cinematography





Scary Mob Boss Sonny Tufts and his men



Payne plays a convincing amnesia victim, Drew is good as his ex wife, but Sonny Tufts as the mob boss is excellent. A very similar story to Somewhere in the Night, but darker, more gun play and bodies piling up. The Geneon DVD is cheap, adequate but featureless, still a 8-9/10

[MartinTeller]

(review from November 13, 2011)

The story, about a returning war veteran with amnesia discovering his criminal past, is remarkably similar to Somewhere in the Night from a few years earlier. Plotwise, it's not nearly as compelling as its predecessor. The amnesia angle really isn't exploited well and what's left is a rather uninteresting gangster story with bland characters. Decent performances from Payne, Tufts and Drew, but only Percy Helton really stands out. However, this has to be one the best-looking noirs out there, thanks once again to the talents of John Alton. Incredible shocks of bright light amidst deep shadows, unusual framing, dramatic angles, gritty locations... the entire picture is simply gorgeous, textbook noir. It's a shame that such impressive visuals aren't attached to a more engaging plot, but it's still a delight to behold. Rating: Good

[cigar joe]

(review from November 13, 2011)

The story, about a returning war veteran with amnesia discovering his criminal past, is remarkably similar to Somewhere in the Night from a few years earlier. Plotwise, it's not nearly as compelling as its predecessor. The amnesia angle really isn't exploited well and what's left is a rather uninteresting gangster story with bland characters. Decent performances from Payne, Tufts and Drew, but only Percy Helton really stands out. However, this has to be one the best-looking noirs out there, thanks once again to the talents of John Alton. Incredible shocks of bright light amidst deep shadows, unusual framing, dramatic angles, gritty locations... the entire picture is simply gorgeous, textbook noir. It's a shame that such impressive visuals aren't attached to a more engaging plot, but it's still a delight to behold. Rating: Good

That pretty much jives with what I got out of it, If I rated on cinematography alone it would be a 10/10, if story a 7/10 so hence my 8-9/10 overall rating.

[Nighthawk]

Using amnesia as a plot device has a long and varied history in film and television, showing up in everything from noirs such as Somewhere in the Night (1946) and The Clay Pigeon (1949), both of which feature amnesiac World War II vets trying to uncover their pasts, to modern-day mainstream films such as the recent Liam Neeson thriller Unknown (2011) as well as just about every soap opera ever broadcast. In theory, using amnesia as a plot device in a film like The Crooked Way should be a slam dunk, since it allows the filmmakers to invert the conventions of the detective genre by forcing the amnesiac to play the role of detective – except instead of investigating someone else’s crime, he must investigate himself. However, in this particular instance, the results are less than satisfactory.

The Crooked Way tells the story of Eddie Rice (John Payne), who has recently come home from World War II with a silver star and a chunk of metal in his head that has completely wiped out his memories. He only has one clue to his past – that before the War, he lived in Los Angeles. After getting his release from a psychiatric hospital, he decides to go back to L.A. in search of answers.

The film wastes no time getting Eddie into trouble. He’s barely stepped off the train from San Francisco when a cop named Joe Williams (Rhys Williams) accosts him and demands to know what he’s doing back in L.A. It turns out that the war hero’s past isn’t so stellar. Eddie finds out that his name isn’t Eddie Rice, it’s Eddie Riccardi, and Eddie Riccardi was part of a criminal organization with a heavy named Vince Alexander (Sonny Tufts). See, Eddie and Vince used to be partners – until Eddie turned state’s evidence and set Vince up to take the fall on a manslaughter rap in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Complicating matters is Nina Martin (Ellen Drew), who was once married to Eddie – until Eddie bailed on their marriage and skipped town, changing his name and going off to war, leaving Vince to pick up the pieces by giving Nina a job in his club’s back room, flirting with patsies and getting them to part with their money at his gambling tables. Needless to say, no one is particularly pleased to see Eddie back in town, and no one is exactly buying his I-can’t-remember-anything tale.

Unfortunately, the solid setup doesn’t pay off in the execution, particularly in the performances. Payne, who followed the Dick Powell career trajectory (star in some musicals, then make a mid-career move into more serious fare like noir), began a string of noir appearances in The Crooked Way, going on to star in Kansas City Confidential (1952), 99 River Street (1953), Slightly Scarlet (1956) and Hidden Fear (1957). His performance in this film is uneven, although it does improve as the film progresses. The rest of the cast doesn’t fare as well. Drew is average and unremarkable, Williams does little more than recite his lines, and Tufts – well, if you’ve ever seen a film with Sonny Tufts, you know where this is going. Calling his delivery wooden is insulting to trees.

The film also bites off more plot devices than it can chew, and this shows in the uneven pacing. The first half of the film tries to deal with Rice/Riccardi’s amnesia as well as his relationship with his ex-wife, and then it abruptly shifts to a more traditional revenge plot in the second half, in which Vince frames Eddie for a crime he didn’t commit. The end result is undercooked characters and implausible plot developments, testing the viewer’s suspension of disbelief on more than one occasion. In addition, the climax manages to be overlong, lacking in suspense, and laughably ridiculous on more than occasion.

However, The Crooked Way has an ace up its sleeve: John Alton, the king of noir cinematography. Alton does typically excellent work on this picture, and since most of the action is set at night, he gets many chances to show his stuff. Some of the visuals in this film are truly striking – Eddie and Nina in her house at night, silhouetted against a backlit window; a car enveloped by the night as it speeds into the dark; Eddie wandering the seedier, neon-lit sections of L.A. after the sun has gone down. Even if the story doesn’t cohere and the performances leave a lot to be desired, the film is consistently a joy to watch on a purely visual level.

The Crooked Way would have been better served had it simply pared down the amnesia plot elements, cut out some of the more unbelievable aspects of the Eddie/Nina relationship and focused more on the Eddie/Vince dynamic, since the plot starts to hum along nicely once it shifts its focus to Eddie trying to clear his name. A different cast couldn’t hurt, either. If you’re an Alton aficionado or can enjoy a noir simply because it features excellent cinematography, then you’ll find some pleasure in watching The Crooked Way. Otherwise, skip it and watch Somewhere in the Night instead.

[Steve-O]

I'll agree with most of the criticisms... looks great but not filling. The amnesia stuff is silly, but it is in Somewhere in the Night, Clay Pigeon and even Backfire (if you want to talk film noir dealing with forgetful veterans)... I remember being blown away when I first saw Crooked Way. But yeah, it probably was because of how it looked. Payne is good here however. Better than The Boss or even Hidden Fear.

I would rate this one better than Somewhere in the Night and Clay Pigeon. But I'm probably not alone finding myself immediately taken out of a movie when the amnesia stuff is introduced.

I have to watch Somewhere in the Night and The Crooked Way again this week to confirm what I think of them. I liked Backfire enough to do a NOTW about it.... but I honestly can't get through it trying to watch it again on DVD recently.


Alan Rode let us use this photo this week. Tufts and Percy Helton...


Thanks Mr. Nighthawk for your NOTW piece...

[noirguru]

Percy Helton gave the best performance in the film, John Alton's cinematography is terrific! Some nice LA locations, the story is trite and John Payne acts bored throughout the film! I liked him in 99 River Street but not in The Crooked Way!

[Nighthawk]

I remember being blown away when I first saw Crooked Way. But yeah, it probably was because of how it looked.

Alton's work was really the only thing that kept me engaged. I mean, he's usually great, but he really outdoes himself in this film. Some of the night shots are some of the most beautiful stuff I've seen in any noir, period. It's just a shame that the rest of the film doesn't measure up to the visuals.

[noirton mcgraw]

eveybody has their own opinion of what they like in a film and what they consider a great film(be it great cast,the cinematography, the dialog, visuals,plot, excetera)... i find "The Crooked Way"to be a very good noir all the way around .... just my opinion

[noirton mcgraw]

Johnny (o'clock), i know you're a payne fan, what's your input on "the crooked way", i think it's a very good all around noir, couple of these mugs are giv'in it a bum rap,i need some support on it

[Nighthawk]

eveybody has their own opinion of what they like in a film and what they consider a great film(be it great cast,the cinematography, the dialog, visuals,plot, excetera)... i find "The Crooked Way"to be a very good noir all the way around .... just my opinion

Yeah, I figured there would be some blowback to my NotW review, since I was harder on it than most of the earlier reviews and comments. I wish I could have liked it more; regardless, I'm glad that you and some of the other folks here enjoy it.

[NOTW comment bot: comments from Noiroftheweek.com]

Nah. I think it's a great film.

comment by Anonymous



This comment was made at Noiroftheweek.com.



2012-06-24T20:35:22.911-05:00

[NOTW comment bot: comments from Noiroftheweek.com]

Oh you must see Random Harvest! My favourite amnesiac film of all time!

comment by yogaduchess1982



This comment was made at Noiroftheweek.com.



2012-06-25T22:26:06.069-05:00

[noirton mcgraw]

that's ok nighthawk, like i said, everybody's got their own opinion of what they like , like food and ice cream, clothes and woman, music, excetera... i'm not crazy about Citizen Kane or touch of evil, both considered classics but again, everybody's not gonna agree.. but i do like orson in
" Man in the Shadow " and he is fantastic as a narator.

[Guy Savage]

I'm not crazy about Touch of Evil either, and when I hear it praised, I think I must be missing something. I don't mind amnesia films at all, btw.

[Hard-Boiled-Rick]

The Crooked Way delivers a knock-out noir mood because of Alton's camera work. The photography compensates for the film's flaws and makes the film a durable film noir. Despite the quirky amnesia device, it's an unforgettable noir. It does not wear out after repeated viewings. I agree with Noirton..."it's a very good noir all the way around."