I Walk Alone (1948)

Frankie Madison leaves prison expecting a share from his ex-partner. But Prohibition bootlegging didn't prepare Frankie for Big Business.

Director:

Byron Haskin

Writers:

Charles Schnee (screenplay), Robert Smith (adaptation),

Stars:

Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Burt Lancaster	...	Frankie Madison
Lizabeth Scott	...	Kay Lawrence
Kirk Douglas	...	Noll 'Dink' Turner
Wendell Corey	...	Dave
Kristine Miller	...	Mrs. Richardson
George Rigaud	...	Maurice
Marc Lawrence	...	Nick Palestro
Mike Mazurki	...	Dan
Mickey Knox	...	Skinner
Roger Neury	...	Felix
The Regency Three	...	Musical Trio

Storyline

Frankie Madison returns to New York after 14 years in prison. Noll Turner, Frankie's former partner in bootlegging, is now a wealthy nightclub manager, and Frankie is expecting him to honor a verbal '50:50' agreement they made when he was caught and Noll got away. Fat chance! Can Frankie, who knows only the strong-arm methods of Prohibition, win out against Big Business? It'll be tough...even with the unlikely alliance of torch singer Kay (Noll's ex-girlfriend).

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Plot Keywords:

based on play

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Taglines:

Two things I can handle baby... guns and dames!

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Genres:

Film-Noir | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

L'homme aux abois

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Wallis Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First of seven films that Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster made together.

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Goofs

(at around 1 min) Dave has explained how the club is organized financially. Frankie turns, walks away in confusion, then turns back to Dave facing downstage right. Then there is a jump cut and Frankie is suddenly turned 90 degrees facing downstage left.

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Quotes

Nick Palestro: For a buck, you'd double-cross your own mother.
Skinner: Why not? She'd do the same to me.

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Connections

Remade as Cumartesi senin pazar benim (1965)

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Soundtracks

"Isn't It Romantic?"
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Played by trio

User Reviews

Clever Screenplay for Three Stars

I just saw this film two nights ago at the San Francisco Film Noir Festival. This was a beautiful movie filled with subtle shades of noir. The underrated Lizbeth Scott has the best performance in this rarely seen drama. There's great snappy dialog. Kirk Douglas is the perfect villain of this clever movie. It is so easy to see his son Michael's face on him. Burt was fun to watch as usual in giving his best to this intriguing screenplay. What was interesting to see unfold (in this almost 60 year old film) was how challenging the crime corporations are in pinpointing the vastness of what exactly they own. How they get around the skimming of the profits. As well as stating that they only "get" a minimal amount of the percentages ~ by the books. There was a lot of thought that went into this film and the three stars gave it their best. Pure quality.