The Narrow Margin
Encyclopedia
The Narrow Margin is a 1952 American
film noir
directed by Richard Fleischer
and written by Earl Felton, based on an unpublished story written by Martin Goldsmith
and Jack Leonard. Writers Goldsmith and Leonard were nominated for an Academy Award
for their story.
The picture stars Charles McGraw
, Marie Windsor
and Jacqueline White
. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures.
The story tells a cat-and-mouse stalk aboard a California
-bound train. Walter Brown, a tough and conscientious detective, is assigned to safeguard a slain gangster's widow until she can testify before a Los Angeles grand jury. Keeping her alive keeps Brown busy.
) is assigned to protect a mob boss's widow, Mrs. Frankie Neall (Marie Windsor
), as she rides a train from Chicago
to Los Angeles
to testify to a grand jury
.
Brown, on the way to meet her, expresses his contempt for Mrs. Neall to his longtime partner and friend Gus Forbes (Don Beddoe
): "She's the sixty cent special. Cheap. Flashy. Strictly poison under the gravy."
Forbes is killed by the mob just after they pick up the woman. At the station, Brown discovers that he has been followed by gangsters Joseph Kemp (David Clarke
) and the genteel Vincent Yost (Peter Brocco), who unsuccessfully tries to bribe him.
Brown's relationship with Mrs. Neall is caustic. She is cynical and flashy, constantly flirting with him while doubting his integrity and commitment to protecting her. Brown makes friends with an attractive passenger he meets by chance, Ann Sinclair (Jacqueline White
), and her too-observant young son Tommy (Gordon Gebbert). However, Kemp spots them together and thinks that Sinclair is the target. When he confronts Kemp and gets into a fight with him, Brown learns of the mistake. He turns Kemp over to overweight railroad agent Sam Jennings (Paul Maxey) and hurries to warn Mrs. Sinclair.
However, she has a surprise for him - she is really Mrs. Neall. The other woman is a decoy named Sarah Meggs. Meanwhile, Jennings is knocked out by Kemp's more-dangerous associate Densel (Peter Virgo), the assassin who killed Brown's partner, and Kemp is freed.
The gangsters enter Brown's compartment and kill Meggs. Then Densel goes for Mrs. Neall. He is cornered in a locked compartment with her, with Brown outside. Brown uses the reflection from the window of a train on the next track to shoot Densel through the door, then enters the compartment and finishes him off. Kemp jumps off the stopped train, but is quickly arrested.
genre. It was well received at the time it was made, as a model "B" movie.
According to a review in The New York Times
, "Using a small cast of comparative unknowns, headed by Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor and Jacqueline White, this inexpensive Stanley Rubin production for R. K. O. is almost a model of electric tension that, at least technically, nudges some of the screen's thriller milestones. Crisply performed and written and directed by Earl Felton and Richard Fleischer with tingling economy, this unpretentious offering should glue anyone to the edge of his seat and prove, once and for all, that a little can be made to count for a lot."
Film critic Dennis Schwartz said, "A breathtakingly suspenseful low-budget crime thriller that is flawlessly directed ... The fast-paced pulpish taut story is filled with tense incidents and a well-executed twist ...
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
reported that 84% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 8 reviews.
with Anne Archer
and Gene Hackman
in 1990
. It was directed by Peter Hyams
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
directed by Richard Fleischer
Richard Fleischer
-Early life:Fleischer was born in Brooklyn, the son of Essie and animator/producer Max Fleischer. He started in motion pictures as director of animated shorts produced by his father including entries in the Betty Boop, Popeye and Superman series.His live-action film career began in 1942 at the RKO...
and written by Earl Felton, based on an unpublished story written by Martin Goldsmith
Martin Goldsmith
Martin Goldsmith wrote several classic B-movies including Detour , Blind Spot and The Narrow Margin in 1952 for which he was Oscar-nominated....
and Jack Leonard. Writers Goldsmith and Leonard were nominated for an Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Story
The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:...
for their story.
The picture stars Charles McGraw
Charles McGraw
Charles Butters , best known by his stage name Charles McGraw, was an American actor, who made his first film in 1942, albeit in a small, uncredited role. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa.-Career:...
, Marie Windsor
Marie Windsor
Marie Windsor . Born as Emily Marie Bertelson in Marysvale, Piute County, Utah, Windsor was an actress known as "The Queen of the Bs" because she appeared in so many film noirs and B-movies like Cat-Women of the Moon...
and Jacqueline White
Jacqueline White
Jacqueline White is a former American film actress. She's probably best remembered appearing in the films noir Crossfire and The Narrow Margin. She usually played either lead actresses in B-movies or supporting parts in A-movies. Still active as of 2005, White appears occasionally at film...
. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures.
The story tells a cat-and-mouse stalk aboard a California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
-bound train. Walter Brown, a tough and conscientious detective, is assigned to safeguard a slain gangster's widow until she can testify before a Los Angeles grand jury. Keeping her alive keeps Brown busy.
Plot
Detective Sgt. Walter Brown (Charles McGrawCharles McGraw
Charles Butters , best known by his stage name Charles McGraw, was an American actor, who made his first film in 1942, albeit in a small, uncredited role. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa.-Career:...
) is assigned to protect a mob boss's widow, Mrs. Frankie Neall (Marie Windsor
Marie Windsor
Marie Windsor . Born as Emily Marie Bertelson in Marysvale, Piute County, Utah, Windsor was an actress known as "The Queen of the Bs" because she appeared in so many film noirs and B-movies like Cat-Women of the Moon...
), as she rides a train from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to testify to a grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
.
Brown, on the way to meet her, expresses his contempt for Mrs. Neall to his longtime partner and friend Gus Forbes (Don Beddoe
Don Beddoe
-Career:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Beddoe made his Broadway acting debut in 1929, receiving top billing in Nigger Rich....
): "She's the sixty cent special. Cheap. Flashy. Strictly poison under the gravy."
Forbes is killed by the mob just after they pick up the woman. At the station, Brown discovers that he has been followed by gangsters Joseph Kemp (David Clarke
David Clarke
-Entertainment:* David Clarke , motion picture and Broadway actor* Dave Clarke * Dave Clarke , techno DJ from England-Sport:* David Clarke , English footballer...
) and the genteel Vincent Yost (Peter Brocco), who unsuccessfully tries to bribe him.
Brown's relationship with Mrs. Neall is caustic. She is cynical and flashy, constantly flirting with him while doubting his integrity and commitment to protecting her. Brown makes friends with an attractive passenger he meets by chance, Ann Sinclair (Jacqueline White
Jacqueline White
Jacqueline White is a former American film actress. She's probably best remembered appearing in the films noir Crossfire and The Narrow Margin. She usually played either lead actresses in B-movies or supporting parts in A-movies. Still active as of 2005, White appears occasionally at film...
), and her too-observant young son Tommy (Gordon Gebbert). However, Kemp spots them together and thinks that Sinclair is the target. When he confronts Kemp and gets into a fight with him, Brown learns of the mistake. He turns Kemp over to overweight railroad agent Sam Jennings (Paul Maxey) and hurries to warn Mrs. Sinclair.
However, she has a surprise for him - she is really Mrs. Neall. The other woman is a decoy named Sarah Meggs. Meanwhile, Jennings is knocked out by Kemp's more-dangerous associate Densel (Peter Virgo), the assassin who killed Brown's partner, and Kemp is freed.
The gangsters enter Brown's compartment and kill Meggs. Then Densel goes for Mrs. Neall. He is cornered in a locked compartment with her, with Brown outside. Brown uses the reflection from the window of a train on the next track to shoot Densel through the door, then enters the compartment and finishes him off. Kemp jumps off the stopped train, but is quickly arrested.
Cast
- Charles McGrawCharles McGrawCharles Butters , best known by his stage name Charles McGraw, was an American actor, who made his first film in 1942, albeit in a small, uncredited role. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa.-Career:...
as Det. Sgt. Walter Brown - Marie WindsorMarie WindsorMarie Windsor . Born as Emily Marie Bertelson in Marysvale, Piute County, Utah, Windsor was an actress known as "The Queen of the Bs" because she appeared in so many film noirs and B-movies like Cat-Women of the Moon...
as Mrs. Frankie Neall - Jacqueline WhiteJacqueline WhiteJacqueline White is a former American film actress. She's probably best remembered appearing in the films noir Crossfire and The Narrow Margin. She usually played either lead actresses in B-movies or supporting parts in A-movies. Still active as of 2005, White appears occasionally at film...
as Ann Sinclair - Gordon Gebert as Tommy Sinclair
- Queenie LeonardQueenie LeonardQueenie Leonard was a British character actress and singer.-Early life and career:She was born as Pearl Walker in London in 1905 and began her career on stage in 1921, and debuted on film in 1931. She had already amassed 20 years of stage and screen experience when, in 1941, she made the first of...
as Mrs. Troll - David ClarkeDavid Clarke (actor)David Clarke was an American Broadway and motion picture actor.A native of Chicago and graduate of Butler University, Clarke was most well known for his film noir roles as a character actor....
as Joseph Kemp - Peter Virgo as Densel
- Don BeddoeDon Beddoe-Career:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Beddoe made his Broadway acting debut in 1929, receiving top billing in Nigger Rich....
as Det. Sgt. Gus Forbes - Paul Maxey as Sam Jennings
- Harry Harvey as Train conductor
Critical response
The film is considered by critics and film historians to be a classic example of the film noirFilm noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
genre. It was well received at the time it was made, as a model "B" movie.
According to a review in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, "Using a small cast of comparative unknowns, headed by Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor and Jacqueline White, this inexpensive Stanley Rubin production for R. K. O. is almost a model of electric tension that, at least technically, nudges some of the screen's thriller milestones. Crisply performed and written and directed by Earl Felton and Richard Fleischer with tingling economy, this unpretentious offering should glue anyone to the edge of his seat and prove, once and for all, that a little can be made to count for a lot."
Film critic Dennis Schwartz said, "A breathtakingly suspenseful low-budget crime thriller that is flawlessly directed ... The fast-paced pulpish taut story is filled with tense incidents and a well-executed twist ...
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 84% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 8 reviews.
Noir analysis
Film critic Blake Lucas makes the case that The Narrow Margin reflects the "noir view" of an unstable and deceiving moral reality."Award nomination
- Academy AwardsAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
: Oscar, Academy Award for Best StoryAcademy Award for Best StoryThe Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:...
, Martin Goldsmith and Jack Leonard; 1953.
Adaptation
The film was remade as Narrow MarginNarrow Margin
Narrow Margin is a 1990 film directed by Peter Hyams and released by TriStar Pictures, loosely based on the 1952 film noir, The Narrow Margin.-Plot:...
with Anne Archer
Anne Archer
Anne Archer is an American actress who has performed in feature films, television, and stage and was named Miss Golden Globe in 1971. Among her best known roles is that of Beth Gallagher in the 1987 movie Fatal Attraction, for which she received a nomination for an Academy Award.-Career:Archer's...
and Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
in 1990
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
. It was directed by Peter Hyams
Peter Hyams
Peter Hyams is an American screenwriter, director and cinematographer, probably best known for directing the 1984 science fiction adventure 2010 , Capricorn One, the comic book adaptation Timecop and the Arnold Schwarzenegger horror/action film End of Days.-Family:Hyams was born in New York...
.
External links
- The Narrow Margin opening credits at You Tube
- The Narrow Margin featurette at Turner Classic MoviesTurner Classic MoviesTurner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
Media Room - The Narrow Margin film trailer at Turner Classic MoviesTurner Classic MoviesTurner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
Media Room