T-Men (1947)

Two US Treasury agents hunt a successful counterfeiting ring.

Director:

Anthony Mann

Writers:

John C. Higgins, Virginia Kellogg (story)

Stars:

Dennis O'Keefe, Mary Meade, Alfred Ryder

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Dennis O'Brien aka Vannie Harrigan
Mary Meade	...	Evangeline
Alfred Ryder	...	Tony Genaro aka Tony Galvani
Wallace Ford	...	The Schemer (as Wally Ford)
June Lockhart	...	Mary Genaro
Charles McGraw	...	Moxie

Storyline

United States Treasury agents O'Brien and Genaro infiltrate a counterfeiting ring which has some dangerously good paper. This is supposedly based on several actual Treasury cases.

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Plot Keywords:

counterfeiting | treasury agent | police | con artist | voice over narration | 

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Taglines:

Tough... Tense... Terrific... True!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Crime

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

15 December 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

T-Man

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Edward Small Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ship in the final sequence is referred to as the Higgins. John C. Higgins is the film's screenwriter.

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Goofs

Although the ship in the final sequence is described in dialog as the Higgins, the name visible on the ship's bow is the San Anselmo.

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Quotes

Dennis O'Brien: Did you ever spend ten nights in a Turkish bath looking for a man? Don't.

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Connections

Featured in A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995)

User Reviews

The Work of the Treasury Men

The oldest federal law enforcement outfit going are the Treasury Men, those intrepid folks who see that no one avoids paying the federal duties on various items or counterfeits our money. That was the subject that Director Anthony Mann decided to tackle in the documentary style made famous over at 20th Century Fox in such films as Boomerang, The Street With No Name, and The House on 92nd Street.

Over at Fox it was done for effect. But as good as T-Men is and it is a crackling good film, let's not forget the reason for John Alton's camera work with lights and shadows is because he and Mann were working on a B picture. These guys got creative because they had to. Later on Anthony Mann in the Fifties got some real good size budgets to work with in those technicolor westerns he did with James Stewart. You'd hardly know it was the same director.

T-Men involves treasury agents Dennis O'Keefe and Alfred Ryder going undercover to get a very slick group of counterfeiters. The murder of an informer brings the Treasury Department to the decision to use undercover men. They meet all kinds of criminal types of both sexes and in good noir style the tension mounts before they too become informed on.

Our good guys blend well into the criminal world in their performances. But the outstanding acting in T-Men is done by hit man Charles McGraw and Wallace Ford who is aptly nicknamed Schemer in this film.

This is definitely a film for fans of the noir genre.