The Narrow Margin (1952)

“She’s the 60-cent special; cheap, flashy, and strictly poison under the gravy.”

If you watch a lot of films noir, you’ll soon get familiar with the RKO Radio Pictures logo that appears at the beginning of so many great films of the era, including Citizen Kane. RKO is long gone now, but it still lives on every time somebody starts up one of these great old black and white thrillers like The Narrow Margin.

According to William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) who participates with director Richard Fleisher in the excellent commentary accompanying the recently issued DVD of The Narrow Margin, most films noir were “B” pictures, cheaply made, using interior locations, potboiler stories that featured a universe of interesting character performers. Most were on a straitlaced shooting schedule of between two and three weeks. That’s it. The fact that they proved so enduring is an enigma but there is no question in my mind that some of the greatest movies ever made fall within the definition of film noir.

The Narrow Margin starts off fast and keeps going right until the end. A pair of Chicago police detectives (Charles McGraw and Don Beddoe) are assigned to take a witness to Lost Angeles to testify before a grand jury. The witness (Marie Windsor) is the widow of a gangster and she has the payoff list her husband used in buying influence. Before they even get out of the building, Beddoe is assassinated. McGraw’s job is to get Windsor to LA by train and deliver her to the DA in one piece. The rest of the running time concerns the two-day journey and the interactions with the various characters they meet.

Overall, I think The Narrow Margin is very well done, although I don’t quite share William Friedkin’s seeming belief that this is as good as it gets in film noir. I am a huge fan of Richard Fleischer, who has made films as diverse as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Vikings, and Soylent Green - all of which I think are top-notch.

I do think that Fleischer did as well as he could with the materials he had to work with - 13 days, no train, stationary sets, and hand-held camera, as well as some fairly pedestrian supporting actors. No Elisha Cook, Jr. or Sydney Greenstreet, and those types always add so much color to one of these little gems that their absence is sorely missed. I did think the recurring character of the little kid was kind of a pain, also, and co-star Jacqueline White was a little too white bread for as much screen time she occupied. I did appreciate Paul Maxey’s fat man character who was used to block the passageways at key moments, with sometimes humorous and other times suspenseful outcomes.

Sultry beauty Marie Windsor (The Killing ) plays the moll and her performance is a hard-edged treat. Her dark good looks are a real asset to the film and her hardboiled dialog exchanges with Charles McGraw really set sparks flying. Windsor spends most of her time in a lacy black peignoir, looking very seductive, hiding in the train compartment. I wish she would have had a little more variety in her role, though, as she warranted more screen time, for my buck. I guess I should say that Marie Windsor has that perfect “it” for playing a tough lady inhabiting the film noir universe. Charles McGraw himself is also good as a tough guy and he is a familiar face from myriad cop/thug roles in both films and television.

Richard Fleisher, of course, directed, and made the most of the scanty resources he had at his disposal. The commentary that accompanies the new Warner Bros disk goes over some of the challenges and work-arounds he created to deal with the limitations of the situation. George E. Diskant (Kansas City Confidential ) laid down some very nice expressionistic cinematography, including a number of shots with reflections in the glass showing action both inside and outside the compartments.

An interesting piece of trivia shared by Fleischer in his comments revealed that there was no music scored for the picture, as Fleischer could not conceive of any music that would lend itself to his visuals. Instead, he opted to fill the soundtrack with train sounds and that is what you hear, except for two brief scenes where a phonograph is playing.

The recently released Warner Bros DVD contains a nice print of the 71 minute movie, in black and white and in 1.33:1 theatrical format. The commentary is one of the better ones I’ve listened to recently. I think The Narrow Margin is a worthy addition to a film noir collector’s library and especially to fans of noir icon Marie Windsor.

Four-and-a-half stars (rounded up to five).

Thanks for reading!

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening