Call Northside 777 (1948)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Jerome Cady (screenplay) and
Jay Dratler (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 February 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | History | Mystery

Tagline:

Reporter Uncovers New Clues In Wiecek Case

Plot:

Chicago reporter P.J. McNeal re-opens a ten year old murder case.

Plot Keywords:

Newspaper | Reporter | Innocence | Prison | Reward

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

James Stewart	...	P.J. 'Jim' McNeal
Richard Conte	...	Frank W. Wiecek
Lee J. Cobb	...	Brian Kelly
Helen Walker	...	Laura McNeal
Betty Garde	...	Wanda Skutnik
Kasia Orzazewski	...	Tillie Wiecek
Joanne De Bergh	...	Helen Wiecek (as Joanne de Bergh)
Howard Smith	...	K.L. Palmer
Moroni Olsen	...	Parole Board Chairman
John McIntire	...	Sam Faxon
Paul Harvey	...	Martin J. Burns

Also Known As:

Calling Northside 777

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Polish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Norway:A (1948) | UK:U | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #12397) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Thelma Ritter's role as the police captain's secretary was mostly deleted from the released print, but she can still briefly be seen and heard in one scene in which she tells James Stewart the captain will see him in his office.

Goofs:

Continuity: Various characters refer to the murdered police officer as John W. Bundy, but the police record of the case shows his name as W.W. Bundy.

Quotes:

P.J. McNeal: You look nice. Will you marry me?
Laura McNeal: I did.
P.J. McNeal: Oh yeah, yeah, that's right... Thanks.
Laura McNeal: You're welcome.

Movie Connections:

Edited from In Old Chicago (1937)

A Decent, But Bland Noir

This was pretty good in that it was an involving story, based on a true-life incident. Jimmy Stewart provides his usual solid acting performance, but so does everyone. The rest of the cast includes stalwarts Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Helen Walker and Betty Grable.

It's the old story of an innocent man going to jail for a murder he didn't commit (redundant, I know) and then some digging out the facts to free the man. In this case, it's a newspaper reporter, "P.J. McNeal" (Stewart) .

Here, the poor man "Frank Wiecek" (Conti) was in jail for 11 years. The story shows all the pitfalls and failures that went into the reporter's investigation. Hey, these sort of things don't come as easy as on an hour TV program. In fact, in this film it looked like it was a hopeless case for much of the time.

The bad news is that the movie just wasn't good enough to add to my film noir collection. It's really not that much of noir anyway. The cinematography isn't much, no beautiful or at least floozy "dames," no funny lines, no fascinating characters, cool music or scenery. In other words, it's okay but too bland for a "keeper."