The Underworld Story

The Underworld Story
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Cy Endfield
Screenplay by	Henry Blankfort Adaptation: Cy Endfield
Story by	Craig Rice
Produced by	Hal E. Chester
Starring	Dan Duryea Herbert Marshall Gale Storm Howard Da Silva Michael O'Shea
Cinematography	Stanley Cortez
Edited by	Richard V. Heermance
Music by	David Rose
Production company	FilmCraft Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	July 26, 1950 (1950-07-26) (United States)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Underworld Story is a 1950 American film noir crime film directed by Cy Endfield and starring Dan Duryea, Herbert Marshall, Gale Storm, Howard Da Silva and Michael O'Shea. Da Silva plays the loud-mouthed gangster Carl Durham, one of his last roles before becoming blacklisted.

The newspaperman played by Duryea is similar in tone (a reporter that does anything for publicity for himself regardless of ethics) to Kirk Douglas in Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole (1951). This B-movie was shot in black and white by director Cy Endfield and cinematographer Stanley Cortez.

Plot

When big-city newspaper reporter Mike Reese (Duryea) writes and publishes a story (after breaking his promise to withhold it) that results in the murder of a state's witness against a local gang lord, he loses his job. He soon finds that no one else will hire him, so he extracts money from the drug lord (who is actually grateful for the story Reese published), moves to small-town Lakeville, and buys a half-interest in the newspaper, The Lakeville Sentinel. The newspaper is owned by Catherine Harris (Storm), who immediately has differences with Reese on how things should operate. Reese, trying to use the paper as a step up, latches onto a murder of a woman who happens to be the daughter-in-law of a newspaper magnate, his former employer. When a local black woman is suspected (revealed to the audience early as a scapegoat), Reese turns the story into a media circus, and soon his reporting is back in the spotlight again. Eventually, he finds himself having to decide if he will reform his opportunistic ways. The film is notable for the pejorative use of the word "nigger," though this is clearly dubbed, not what was originally filmed.

Cast

• Dan Duryea as Mike Reese
• Herbert Marshall as E.J. Stanton
• Gale Storm as Catherine Harris
• Howard Da Silva as Carl Durham
• Michael O'Shea as District Attorney Ralph Munsey
• Mary Anderson as Molly Rankin
• Gar Moore as Clark Stanton
• Melville Cooper as Maj. Redford
• Frieda Inescort as Mrs. Eldridge
• Art Baker as Lt. Tilton
• Harry Shannon as George "Parky" Parker
• Alan Hale Jr. as Shaeffer
• Stephen Dunne as Chuck Lee
• Roland Winters as Stanley Becker
• Sue England as Helen
• Lewis L. Russell as Calvin
• Frances Chaney as Grace
• Stanley Blystone as Policeman (uncredited)
• Jack Mower as Diane Stewart's Father (uncredited)
• Edward Van Sloan as Minister at Funeral (uncredited)

Production

The film was known as The Whip.

Reception

Critical response

The New York Times film critic, Bosley Crowther, panned the film. He wrote, "It is so poorly made, so haphazard and so full of detectable holes that it carries no impact or conviction, regardless of credibility. Mr. Chester and his associates are free to proclaim, if they wish, that newspaper men are no good. We think the same of his film."

Film historian and critic Glenn Erickson wrote about the film's theme, "The Underworld Story plays like the work of angry men. The title isn't very appropriate, as the story doesn't center on gangsters. Its main focus is the misuse of the power of the press, with side excursions into racism, class arrogance and the influence of organized crime. As in Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole, raw greed leads to gross injustice. Like Wilder's venal Chuck Tatum, the reporter in The Underworld Story thinks of little beyond the next fast buck. 'Times are tough all over,' says a cynical official. 'Pretty soon a man won't be able to sell his own mother.'"

Comic book adaption

• Avon Periodicals: The Underworld Story (1950)

External links

• The Underworld Story at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Underworld Story at IMDb
• The Underworld Story at the TCM Movie Database
• The Underworld Story information site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images)