Alias Nick Beal (1949)

Director:

John Farrow

Writers:

Jonathan Latimer (screenplay)
Mildred Lord (original story)

Release Date:

4 March 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

No man ever held more terrible power over women than this tall dark handsome stranger from nowhere!

Plot:

A district attorney rises to political success and the governorship but loses his sense of morality once he starts associating with the shadowy and perhaps diabolical Nick Beal.

Plot Keywords:

District Attorney | Governor | Satan | Blackmail | Corrupt Politician

Cast

Ray Milland	...	Nicholas 'Nick' Beal
Audrey Totter	...	Donna Allen
Thomas Mitchell	...	Joseph Foster
George Macready	...	Rev. Thomas Garfield
Fred Clark	...	Frankie Faulkner
Geraldine Wall	...	Martha Foster
Henry O'Neill	...	Judge Ben Hobbs
Darryl Hickman	...	Larry Price
Nestor Paiva	...	Karl
King Donovan	...	Peter Wolfe
Charles Evans	...	Paul Norton
Ernö Verebes	...	Mr. Cox, the Tailor
Arlene Jenkins	...	Aileen
Pepito Pérez	...	Poster Man
Joey Ray	...	Tommy Ray

Also Known As:

Dark Circle (USA) (working title)
The Contact Man (UK)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by MCA ever since.

Quotes:

Rev. Thomas Garfield: We have an old-fashioned custom here, Mr. Beal. Every afternoon at the end of the day, someone reads the boys a passage from the Bible. And whenever it's possible, we try to have someone different read. It makes them realize that the Bible belongs to us all. Would you like to read?
Nick Beal: Me? What do I know about things like that?
Rev. Thomas Garfield: That doesn't matter. I've marked the passage. It's one of the psalms of David.
Nick Beal: No. It's your book. Read it yourself.
Rev. Thomas Garfield: All right. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place...

Soundtrack:

A Mighty Fortress

ALIAS NICK BEAL (John Farrow, 1949) ****

I had long wanted to check out this modern Americanization of the "Faust" legend and, at the same time, wondered at its apparent neglect over the years. Having done so now, I am honestly baffled by this as the film is superb in every respect – keeping also in mind that there are at least three other classic cinematic versions of its prototype i.e. F.W. Murnau's Silent FAUST (1926; which retains the original setting and period), William Dieterle's THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER aka ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY (1941; superbly rendered in terms of Americana http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033532/usercomments-20) and Rene' Clair's LA BEAUTE' DU DIABLE (1950; with the narrative, of course, re-set to France http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042235/usercomments-4). By the way, I purposely picked my birthday (17th August) to catch up with ALIAS NICK BEAL since I was to watch yet another variation on the theme – HAMMERSMITH IS OUT (1972), starring Richard Burton – anyway, as part of my ongoing tribute to that renowned thespian on the 25th anniversary of his passing! To begin with, the acting is impeccable: Ray Milland, at once charming and sinister in the title role who, not only has the penchant of never being seen entering or exiting a room but just suddenly be there Mrs. Danvers-style, but is also so evil that he threatens to blackmail the Faust character here soon after having opened the road to success for him!; Thomas Mitchell, reliable but at the same time a symbol of integrity, is actually the one to take the spotlight throughout; and Audrey Totter, the tramp with ambitions above her station who eventually reforms thanks to her proverbial heart of gold…but we also get George Macready and Fred Clark effectively cast against type as reverend and racketeer respectively! The eerie supernatural elements, then, are remarkably rendered without the use of special effects (complemented by noir-ish cinematography and an emphatic score). Among the most memorable moments we find Milland afraid of being touched and even more so of the Holy Scriptures (reprised in the film's splendid climax); the uncanny chat between Totter and Mitchell 'rehearsed' verbatim beforehand with Milland (incidentally, the blooming relationship between Mitchell and Totter is subtly mirrored in the scenes depicting Mitchell's growing estrangement from his wife); and Totter's drunken exchange with a bartender before she is picked up by Milland. The political element within the film is more of the idealistic Frank Capra variety (of which Mitchell himself was a stock performer) than the 'mature' level of the contemporaneous ALL THE KING'S MEN (1949) – although, watching this, I was immediately reminded of Raoul Walsh's James Cagney vehicle A LION IS IN THE STREETS (1953) which I only caught last month (in a retrospective of that star's work honoring the 110th anniversary of his birth). In conclusion, I would like to point out that director Farrow was an underrated film-maker from Hollywood's Golden Age and this is undoubtedly his most accomplished effort.

P.S. Watching the not dissimilar THE SOUL OF A MONSTER (1944) – also with Macready – as part of the Halloween challenge, I was inspired to finally complete my review of this film…