Quicksand (1950 film)

Infobox Film
name = Quicksand


image_size =
caption = DVD cover
director = Irving Pichel
producer = Mort Briskin
Samuel H. Stiefel
writer = Robert Smith
narrator =
starring = Mickey Rooney
Jeanne Cagney
Barbara Bates
Peter Lorre
music = Louis Gruenberg
cinematography = Lionel Lindon
editing = Walter Thompson
distributor = United Artists
released = flagicon|USA 24 March 1950
runtime = 79 min.
country = U.S.A.
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0042869

"Quicksand" (1950) is a United Artists feature film starring Mickey Rooney and Peter Lorre in a story about a garage mechanic's descent into crime. The film has been described as "film noir in a teacup... a pretty nifty little picture" in which Rooney "cast himself against his Andy Hardy goody goody image."dvdtalk.com, " [http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s158quick.html DVD Savant - Quicksand] ", 17 November, 2000, retrieved 9 February 2008]

Plot and cast

Young auto mechanic Dan Brady (Mickey Rooney) takes $20 from a cash register at work to go on a date with blonde "femme fatale" Vera Novak (Jeanne Cagney). Brady intends to put the money back before it is missed, but the garage's bookkeeper shows up sooner than wonted. As Brady scrambles to cover evidence of his petty theft, he fast finds himself drawn into an ever worsening "quicksand" of crime. His descent is sped along by his heartless and morally lacking boss Oren Mackay (Art Smith), and the seedy owner of a pinball arcade on Santa Monica Pier, Nick Dramoshag (Peter Lorre). Brady and Vera call it Splitsville when Vera purchases a mink coat with money Brady has stolen. Brady's still-loyal but unappreciated former girlfriend Helen (Barbara Bates) then reenters the scene and tries to woo him back. Later fleeing what he believes will be a murder charge, Brady carjacks a sedan which happens to be driven by a sympathetic lawyer (Taylor Holmes). By movie's end Brady is back with his faithful girlfriend, who promises to wait for him whilst he spends the next few years of his life in prison. Cast includes Jimmie Dodd and Minerva Urecal. A young Jack Elam, later widely noted as a character actor in Westerns, appears in an uncredited speaking role.

Production

Rooney co-financed "Quicksand" with Peter Lorre but their shares of the profits were reportedly left unpaid by a third partner.Eder, Bruce, Allmovie, " [http://www.answers.com/topic/quicksand-1950-film?cat=entertainment Quicksand] ", answers.com, retrieved 9 February 2008] Most of the film was shot on location in Santa Monica, California, with a few exterior scenes at Santa Monica Pier. Swing era bandleader Red Nichols and His Five Pennies are seen and heard in a nightclub scene. A display box of Bit-O-Honey candy shown by a cash register soon after the film begins is an early example of product placement.imdb.com, " [http://imdb.com/title/tt0042869/ Quicksand] ", retrieved 9 February 2008]

Reception

Bruce Eder of "Allmovie" wrote Rooney "...gives what many consider to be the best performance of his career" and characterized "Quicksand" as "one of the more fascinating social documents of its era." Fifty years after the film's first theatrical release "DVD Savant" noted, "the quasi-downbeat ending of "Quicksand" doesn't simply let him off the hook, [which] makes for an unusually mature ending."

References

External links

* [http://www.archive.org/details/quicksand. The complete film] available at the Internet Archive