Call Northside 777 (1948)
Directed by Henry Hathaway

Crime / Drama / Thriller

Film Review

Abstract picture representing Call Northside 777 (1948)
Arguably the highpoint of director Henry Hathaway's career, Call Northside 777 is a compelling noir thriller that relates a real-life incident using an extremely effective near-documentary approach, as he had previously done on The House on 92nd Street (1945).  James Stewart is exceptionally well-cast as the driven journalist who unravels the mystery, motivated less by personal gain than by a simple honest desire to see a terrible miscarriage of injustice put right.   Stewart's laconic everyman persona makes his character easy to engage with and he resembles a beacon of light in a murky and corrupt world in which the boundary between the lawmakers and the lawbreakers is far from apparent.  Northside 777 is a sublime example of what may be termed realist film noir - it lacks the obvious motifs and heavy stylisation of classic film noir, but it retains its essential elements, notably a lone hero fighting against a seemingly insuperable adversary, only to end up enmeshed in a dangerous web of intrigue.

Hathaway avoids the kind of tawdry sensationalism that American thrillers of this era were prone to but still delivers a film that is thoroughly riveting.  The concluding twenty or so minutes are especially nail-biting and Hathaway keeps us on tenterhooks as the last piece of jigsaw is slowly slotted into place.  One of the things that sets this film apart from other crime dramas of this era is the quality of the acting.  Without exception, the performances are true to life and compelling, the scenes with Stewart and Kasia Orzazewski being particularly moving.  Whilst the film avoids an all-out assault on the police and judiciary (who are obviously the villains of the piece), it still makes a very effective argument against capital punishment.  Northside 777 is ahead of its time in other ways - with its almost forensic attention to the details of crime investigation, it is an obvious forerunner of the modern police procedural.
© James Travers 2011
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Henry Hathaway film:
Niagara (1953)

Film Synopsis

In 1932, in the era of prohibition, the police of Chicago are fighting a losing battle against the mobsters and the bootleggers.  When a policeman is shot dead on entering a speakeasy, two Polish men - Frank Wiecek and Tomek Zaleska - are soon arrested on the flimsiest of evidence.  Although both men protest their innocence, they are found guilty and sentenced to 99 years' imprisonment, on the testimony of the speakeasy's owner.  Eleven years later, Wiecek's mother places an ad in a newspaper, offering a reward of 5000 dollars to anyone who can provide evidence that will clear her son's name and get him released from prison.  Hard-nosed reporter P.J. McNeal is assigned by his editor to interview Wiecek's mother and is surprised to learn that she had raised the 5000 dollars by working hard as a cleaning lady since her son was imprisoned.  Moved by the old woman's faith in her son's innocence, McNeal begins to investigate the case and is soon persuaded that Wiecek has been wrongly convicted.  Unfortunately, most of the evidence that supports Wiecek's version of events turns out to be inadmissible in a court of law and his case appears hopeless - until McNeal makes a surprising discovery...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.


Film Credits

  • Director: Henry Hathaway
  • Script: James P. McGuire, Jack McPhaul, Jerome Cady (play), Jay Dratler (play), Leonard Hoffman, Quentin Reynolds
  • Cinematographer: Joseph MacDonald
  • Music: Alfred Newman
  • Cast: James Stewart (P.J. McNeal), Richard Conte (Frank W. Wiecek), Lee J. Cobb (Brian Kelly), Helen Walker (Laura McNeal), Betty Garde (Wanda Skutnik), Kasia Orzazewski (Tillie Wiecek), Joanne De Bergh (Helen Wiecek), Howard Smith (K.L. Palmer), Moroni Olsen (Parole Board Chairman), John McIntire (Sam Faxon), Paul Harvey (Martin J. Burns), Robert Adler (Taxicab Driver), Richard Bishop (Warden of Stateville Prison), Larry J. Blake (Police Photographic Technician), John Bleifer (Jan Gruska), Truman Bradley (Narrator), Dollie Caillet (Secretary), Al Capone (Himself (archive footage)), Michael Chapin (Frank Wiecek Jr.), George Cisar (Policeman)
  • Country: USA
  • Language: English / Polish
  • Support: Black and White
  • Runtime: 111 min

The very best period film dramas
sb-img-20
Is there any period of history that has not been vividly brought back to life by cinema? Historical movies offer the ultimate in escapism.
The very best French thrillers
sb-img-12
It was American film noir and pulp fiction that kick-started the craze for thrillers in 1950s France and made it one of the most popular and enduring genres.
The silent era of French cinema
sb-img-13
Before the advent of sound France was a world leader in cinema. Find out more about this overlooked era.
The best French films of 2018
sb-img-27
Our round-up of the best French films released in 2018.
The very best of the French New Wave
sb-img-14
A wave of fresh talent in the late 1950s, early 1960s brought about a dramatic renaissance in French cinema, placing the auteur at the core of France's 7th art.
 

Other things to look at


Copyright © filmsdefrance.com 1998-2024
All rights reserved



All content on this page is protected by copyright