IMDb > Decoy (1946)

Overview

User Rating:
7.1/10   367 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 37% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Nedrick Young (screenplay)
Stanley Rubin (story)
Contact:
View company contact information for Decoy on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 September 1946 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
She Treats Men the Way They've Been Treating Women for Years!
Plot:
A fatally shot female gangleader recounts her sordid life of crime to a police officer just before she dies. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
Murderous Exotic Diamond Begs Unearthing more (27 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Jean Gillie ... Margot Shelby (as Miss Jean Gillie)
Edward Norris ... Jim Vincent
Robert Armstrong ... Frank Olins
Herbert Rudley ... Dr. Craig
Sheldon Leonard ... Sergeant Joe Portugal
Marjorie Woodworth ... Nurse
Philip Van Zandt ... Tommy (as Phil Van Zandt)
Carole Donne ... Waitress
John Shay ... Al
Bert Roach ... Bartender
Rosemary Bertrand ... Ruth
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
76 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
USA:Approved (PCA #11768, Adult Audience)
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The following snipe was stapled and pasted on all of the printed material sent to the exhibitors that booked this film: IMPORTANT! The Motion Picture Association's Advisory Council has urgently requested that there be no mention of specific poisons in publicizing "DECOY." Please eliminate all names of poisons (such as cyanide or methylene blue) from the publicity, exploitation and advertising on this picture. more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: Right at the beginning, when Dr Craig's reflection is seen on the mirror, the dark line behind him is a shadow from either the camera or a boom mic, as it moves when the camera pulls away. more
Quotes:
Margot Shelby: Do you remember the first time I came to see you in your office? Your dingy, gloomy office in that dingy dirty street, the rotten smell of the factory chimneys pressing down on the shabby little houses, the slovenly old women, the gray-faced dirty little children starting out with everything against them. I remember that street.
Dr. Craig: Do you love me?
Margot Shelby: Yes, but I can't forget your street. I remember every little thing about it, and if I had never seen it, I still could have described it because that street runs all over the world. I know because that's the street I came from 6000 miles from here in a little English mill town. But it's the same rotten street, the same factories, the same people, and the same little gray-faced children!
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Decoy: A Map to Nowhere (2007) (V) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
12 out of 12 people found the following comment useful.
Murderous Exotic Diamond Begs Unearthing, 20 April 2004
8/10
Author: secragt from United States

A stingingly bizarre noir entry every fan should seek out. Why? First, this ultra-rare crime drama has one of the two or three most ruthless and irredeemable femme fatales in B+W history, Margot Shelby, as blisteringly portrayed by standout brit Jean Gillie. Second, it features one of the strangest hybrid sci-fi/noir premises, introducing an exotic chemical to reincarnate the dead as the conceit to get Margot's man-slaughtering act started. Third, it all actually comes together in this strangely involving prison breakout cum road picture, which takes us all the way from the death chamber to a grove of trees in the woods (another death chamber) and back to where it all began, in a family's quiet suburban house (still another death chamber).

Once you get past the reincarnation, the plot is fairly conventional set pieces which mostly hold up and which benefit from a honey of a twist at the end. Along the way there, we get to see greed, betrayal, spinelessness, insanity, bravery, more betrayal, submission, redemption and more Jean Gillie, whose gin blossom charm and hyena-like guffaw at once blends Richard Widmark's killing debut in KISS OF DEATH with the murderous cackle of SPECTRE in the mirrored killmaze in MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN. Either way, she is death and she is irresistible. As is this movie. Find it and you'll see.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (27 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Decoy (1946)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Why in the world did they stop at an Inn to get a drink??? rleary1
DVD release: July 2007 famalberts
partially censored scene rambert
Jean Gillie gallery famalberts
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
The Last Seduction Wild at Heart The Fugitive The Asphalt Jungle The Black Widow
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
IMDb Film-Noir section IMDb USA section Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.