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Wednesday, January 29, 2020

THE SELL OUT (1952)

As fat as he is corrupt, Sheriff Thomas Gomez runs his district just outside the city limit as a personal fiefdom, with fraudulent charges, lockups & prison goons pulling in a steady flow of income in shakedowns & kickbacks. And most of the police force, local judges & elected officials in for a cut. But tonight, one of his men has arrested the wrong man: crusading newspaper editor Walter Pidgeon, and at just the wrong time since Asst. Attorney-General John Hodiak is investigating for the State. At last, an irreproachable witness against Gomez to put on the stand in court. Or maybe not. Pidgeon turns out to be Gomez’s pigeon and refuses to testify. What’s the sheriff got on him? Even with Audrey Totter, Karl Malden, Cameron Mitchell, Whit Bissell & Everett Sloane in support, this B+ programmer does next to nothing with the situation. Dramatically flat, with windy speechifying substituting for character & action; the M-G-M factory system in ‘50s decline, grinding to a halt.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Director Gerald Mayer hasn’t the flair for B-pic violence. Anthony Mann would have gotten the job done but had just left the studio. See BORDER INCIDENT/’49 to get the idea. Even closer to the mark, Phil Karlson’s fine low-budget indie THE PHENIX CITY STORY/’55.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Imagine this one updated for Arizona’s former tough-guy Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

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