(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Reformed parolee Steve Lacey is caught in the middle when a wounded former cellmate seeks him out for shelter.”
Now, one might show up to a film named Crime Wave (1953) expecting there to be a great deal of illegal shenanigans going down; but that isn’t quite the case here.
Essentially, the film opens with the biggest bit of skullduggery – your average gas station attendant takes the beating of his life and loses the contents of his safe to the three burglars of Gat Morgan (played by Nedrick Young), ‘Doc’ Penny (Ted de Corsia), and Ben Hastings (Charles Bronson) – and then morphs into mostly traditional silver screen police procedural of the era. Detective Lieutenant Sims (Sterling Hayden) leads the city’s finest in tracking down the scum, and the now straight-laced ex-con Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson) and his wife Ellen (Phyllis Kirk) getting curled up in the action when the hubby’s fellow inmate buddies come to them for assistance in getting away. Well, there’s one last job Penny wants to pull before fleeing the country, but you get the idea: this is life on the wild side, and the faint of heart need not apply.
After the high stakes opening, Crime Wave passes the reins to the police force for a good portion of time. Audiences are taken through the steps officers and beat cops went back in the day, and director André De Toth rather capable stages what feels like all of the scenes in real locations spread out through greater Los Angeles and Glendale. Necessarily, Wave – like other pictures did – earns stripes more for being a kinda/sorta travelogue presentation – albeit somewhat dry in places – to the geography of the 1950’s big city. While this alone might draw scholars of Film Noir to the production, I found a great deal of it nice but … meh. De Toth’s almost matter-of-fact cinematography just left me feeling empty at too many points.
What worked better, however, was the director’s grasp of character and space.
There’s rarely time to catch a breath in this brisk moving crime, and each and every actor and the sole actress expend exactly as much effort necessary to convey the message. There isn’t a bit of fluff in the 75-minute running time, and that, too, makes Wave acceptable for what it is even if some of the players feel more like they’ve been plucked from any acceptable dime novel and forced onscreen. Even Hayden wasn’t allowed much scenery to chew as he was always pictured chomping on the toothpick in his mouth (his doctor made him give up smoking). A few scenes are framed wonderfully – two hands reaching out for a ringing phone, Hayden always being shot at some extreme up-angles, etc. – so kudos to De Toth for, minimally, sweating the small stuff when other directors might’ve cared less.
That said, the flick has an uncharacteristically upbeat closing scene, one that honestly had me chuckling at the naivety. When many noirs choose to go out on a kinda/sorta whimper instead of a bang, Crane Wilbur’s screenplay tries to give our two lovebirds hope that a semblance of normalcy was right around the corner; and I can’t help but wonder if a cagey District Attorney would’ve thrown the man behind bars for what he did while letting his squeeze off with a benevolent probation. Either way, it winds Wave down to the point of incredulity even though I’ve no doubt everyone’s intentions were in the right place.
Lastly, a young Charles Bronson makes an impressive appearance in the picture as one of the central thugs. The film might be worth seeing just for that alone – I’ve always been a fan of his work – because he probably does more with some expressiveness here than one sees in his later projects. Still, he’s got that steely gaze down perfectly, and it shows when given the chance.
Crime Wave (1953) was produced by Warner Bros. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at the Warner Archive. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure readers that the film looks and sounds exceptional. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Well, to the WB’s credit, there are a few supplementals that look at the film and its production here, along with some other fodder from the era. There’s also a commentary track from celebrated author James Ellroy and Film Noir expect Eddie Muller that honestly was a bit disappointing: Ellroy kept ‘aping it up’ at bit, at times, and his puerile was more distracting than it was funny. A bit of a miss for me.
Mildly Recommended.
Here’s the thing about Film Noir: because purists debate what authentically does and does not make for one, I suppose it’s acceptable to tag Crime Wave (1953) as a suitable entrée. For my take, it lacks some of the cinematographical grittiness other efforts have shown; but what there’s missing in visuals is mostly made up (in spades) with the usual cast of characters. While the ensemble is pretty good, the only memorable performance is Hayden: his toothpick-chewing, wisdom-spewing Detective Sims is the kind of creation who either works or doesn’t for audiences (personally, I love this stuff), but there’s no denying the entire story wouldn’t work with his absence. Kirk is also pitch perfect as the gal caught between normal, peaceful living and existence-on-the-edge; and she, too, makes every scene she’s in better by her presence.
In the interest of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive (via Allied Vaughn) provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Crime Wave (1953) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Reformed parolee Steve Lacey is caught in the middle when a wounded former cellmate seeks him out for shelter.”
Now, one might show up to a film named Crime Wave (1953) expecting there to be a great deal of illegal shenanigans going down; but that isn’t quite the case here.
Essentially, the film opens with the biggest bit of skullduggery – your average gas station attendant takes the beating of his life and loses the contents of his safe to the three burglars of Gat Morgan (played by Nedrick Young), ‘Doc’ Penny (Ted de Corsia), and Ben Hastings (Charles Bronson) – and then morphs into mostly traditional silver screen police procedural of the era. Detective Lieutenant Sims (Sterling Hayden) leads the city’s finest in tracking down the scum, and the now straight-laced ex-con Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson) and his wife Ellen (Phyllis Kirk) getting curled up in the action when the hubby’s fellow inmate buddies come to them for assistance in getting away. Well, there’s one last job Penny wants to pull before fleeing the country, but you get the idea: this is life on the wild side, and the faint of heart need not apply.
After the high stakes opening, Crime Wave passes the reins to the police force for a good portion of time. Audiences are taken through the steps officers and beat cops went back in the day, and director André De Toth rather capable stages what feels like all of the scenes in real locations spread out through greater Los Angeles and Glendale. Necessarily, Wave – like other pictures did – earns stripes more for being a kinda/sorta travelogue presentation – albeit somewhat dry in places – to the geography of the 1950’s big city. While this alone might draw scholars of Film Noir to the production, I found a great deal of it nice but … meh. De Toth’s almost matter-of-fact cinematography just left me feeling empty at too many points.
What worked better, however, was the director’s grasp of character and space.
There’s rarely time to catch a breath in this brisk moving crime, and each and every actor and the sole actress expend exactly as much effort necessary to convey the message. There isn’t a bit of fluff in the 75-minute running time, and that, too, makes Wave acceptable for what it is even if some of the players feel more like they’ve been plucked from any acceptable dime novel and forced onscreen. Even Hayden wasn’t allowed much scenery to chew as he was always pictured chomping on the toothpick in his mouth (his doctor made him give up smoking). A few scenes are framed wonderfully – two hands reaching out for a ringing phone, Hayden always being shot at some extreme up-angles, etc. – so kudos to De Toth for, minimally, sweating the small stuff when other directors might’ve cared less.
That said, the flick has an uncharacteristically upbeat closing scene, one that honestly had me chuckling at the naivety. When many noirs choose to go out on a kinda/sorta whimper instead of a bang, Crane Wilbur’s screenplay tries to give our two lovebirds hope that a semblance of normalcy was right around the corner; and I can’t help but wonder if a cagey District Attorney would’ve thrown the man behind bars for what he did while letting his squeeze off with a benevolent probation. Either way, it winds Wave down to the point of incredulity even though I’ve no doubt everyone’s intentions were in the right place.
Lastly, a young Charles Bronson makes an impressive appearance in the picture as one of the central thugs. The film might be worth seeing just for that alone – I’ve always been a fan of his work – because he probably does more with some expressiveness here than one sees in his later projects. Still, he’s got that steely gaze down perfectly, and it shows when given the chance.
Crime Wave (1953) was produced by Warner Bros. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at the Warner Archive. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure readers that the film looks and sounds exceptional. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Well, to the WB’s credit, there are a few supplementals that look at the film and its production here, along with some other fodder from the era. There’s also a commentary track from celebrated author James Ellroy and Film Noir expect Eddie Muller that honestly was a bit disappointing: Ellroy kept ‘aping it up’ at bit, at times, and his puerile was more distracting than it was funny. A bit of a miss for me.
Mildly Recommended.
Here’s the thing about Film Noir: because purists debate what authentically does and does not make for one, I suppose it’s acceptable to tag Crime Wave (1953) as a suitable entrée. For my take, it lacks some of the cinematographical grittiness other efforts have shown; but what there’s missing in visuals is mostly made up (in spades) with the usual cast of characters. While the ensemble is pretty good, the only memorable performance is Hayden: his toothpick-chewing, wisdom-spewing Detective Sims is the kind of creation who either works or doesn’t for audiences (personally, I love this stuff), but there’s no denying the entire story wouldn’t work with his absence. Kirk is also pitch perfect as the gal caught between normal, peaceful living and existence-on-the-edge; and she, too, makes every scene she’s in better by her presence.
In the interest of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive (via Allied Vaughn) provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Crime Wave (1953) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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