THE UNDERWORLD STORY (1950)

Like Joseph Losey & Jules Dassin, up-and-coming director Cy Endfield was BlackListed out of Hollywood by the early ‘50s Communist Witch Hunts. And just when he was moving from the ‘D’ to the ‘B’ list. Reestablished in England, he’d have a mid-career breakout with ZULU/’64, but judging by this sharp little tabloid thriller, the talent was already in place, the loss considerable. The story’s a bit far-fetched, but Endfield (who also did the adaptation) shows how to run with the ball to good effect. Dan Duryea, playing the flawed hero for a change, is a wised-up reporter, always playing the angles until he gets booted from a big-city rag and lands at a struggling small-town journal. Owner Gale Storm isn’t too sure about the guy’s ethics, but his new position is saved when a juicy local murder falls into his lap. Victim: daughter-in-law of Herbert Marshall’s big-time newspaper titan. Murderer: his own son, the girl’s ne’er-do-well husband. Fall Gal: the victim’s Negro personal servant, caught pawning ‘stolen’ jewelry. A local news campaign at first supports the accused, but is soon run over by Marshall’s national news syndicate. Lots of fun watching Duryea switch sides to take immediate advantage of the changing situation before growing a spine and taking a principled POV. (Duryea?  Principled?!) And if Gale Storm underwhelms, other support is dandy with Howard Da Silva’s mob boss channeling Ed Wynn’s Perfect Fool character for a truly original giggling threat of a villain. Wonderfully shot by Stanley Cortez with much of the small-town noir flavor he’d use in NIGHT OF THE HUNTER/’55. If you can swallow some of the convenient plot turns, this is pretty snazzy work, loaded with hot button issues on the free press, race, conspiracy, trial by innuendo & whispering campaigns. Not great, but a real find.  (That's a one-shot 1950 tie-in comic-book for our poster; Duryea on the left, D.A. Michael O'Shea on the right.) 

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: BlackListed along with Endfield by 1951, scripter Henry Blankfort who lived to 1993 and never got another credit; Howard Da Silva, with only stage work between ‘51 and ‘59.