Incident (1948) User Reviews

Watch out for those "Incidents"

[mackjay2 · 7/10 · 7 September 2020]

This is one of the better B-level crime movies from the late 40s. It won't stack up to Crime Wave, The Narrow Margin or Armored Car Robbery, but it has enough intrigue and atmosphere to keep things interesting. At the start we hear a voice-over talking about "incidents" in our lives and how a seemingly minor one can make a huge difference. When Joe (very good Warren Douglas) turns down a ride, misses his bus and decides to walk he falls victim to a criminal plan that turns his life upside down. That's mostly because Joe insists on investigating the situation himself, getting into more hot water along the way. But he also, by chance, meets a woman who might take things in a better direction. This would qualify as Film Noir: dark city streets, a sense of fate stalking Joe, tough-talking gangsters and a tough-talking gangster's girlfriend (there's even a cat-fight). The only small drawback is Joyce Compton as the wife of Joe's friend: a real motor-mouth and very annoying. The movie is fun to watch, with some pretty good action and decent dialog.

Good Little B Noir Offers Nice Role For Jane Frazee

[lchadbou-326-26592 · 6/10 · 13 August 2015]

Jane Frazee was one of those pleasant but minor actresses you would run across in B movies from the 1940s. In Incident she has one of her best roles as an undercover insurance agent trying to track down an inside job where crooks have been stealing valuable mink coats from a store. She has been hanging out in the neighborhood in question when she runs across a stockbroker, played by Warren Douglas, who has been victimized one night walking home from dinner with two friends. This noir plot is one of those things about how if one had only done one little thing differently, a number of other consequences that followed wouldn't have happened. Here Douglas, after being mistaken for a gangster who has supposedly ratted on his fellows to the cops,doesn't give up but keeps returning to the neighborhood to get involved further. Meanwhile Frazee puts herself at risk by moving into the same apartment building where the thief lives, flirting with him, and going out to a club with him for dinner. The actor who plays this crook (Slats) named Robert Osterloh looks somewhat by the way like Dennis Hopper. In one enjoyable scene Frazee gets in a tussle in the ladies room with the thief's girlfriend, with the result that the badge identifying her as an agent falls out and she gets in further trouble. This minor crime entry is competently directed by silent veteran William Beaudine, who was famous for not spending too much time on his takes. There is a nice opening, with narration, where we see theater marquees by night, showing the current releases Red River and Johnny Belinda.

Always accept a lift home if offered

[AAdaSC · 6/10 · 21 February 2018]

Warren Douglass (Joe) leaves for home after spending the night with friends Harry Lauter (Bill) and Joyce Compton (Joan). He refuses a lift home and decides to make his own way. Uh-oh, he's made the wrong decision and from this we get the incident. Basically, he gets beaten up in a case of mistaken identity. He wants to know more about why this happened and has a name - Slats - to go by. So, he revisits the scene and starts to make his own enquiries. Cue a meeting with Jane Frazee (Marion).

The story is quite packed. By that I mean pay attention or you might lose your way. Still, it's an entertaining short story with Frazee on good form in the lead female role. Compton is really irritating in this film. I fell asleep briefly on a few occasions as I'd eaten a huge pasta meal but the film is still an ok overall experience. Nothing too special. I'll pay attention all the way through next time I see it.

Road map required to decipher the plot.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 11 December 2018]

This is another film noir, along the lines of "Somewhere in the Night", where a man undergoes threats to his life because he's confused for somebody else. In the case of stockbroker Warren Douglas, the man he's confused for is a gangster whom rival gangsters want taken out. Because of his beating, he is arrested for alleged drunk and disorderly behavior, and joins forces with insurance claims investigator Jane Frazee who goes undercover among the rival gang to get the scoop. This tough lady even gets into a winning catfight with tough moll Lynn Millan until risk of her identity being revealed gets her into further trouble.

This is a fast moving low budget "film noir lite" directed by "one take" William Beaudine who had directed several similar crime dramas with noir aspects including "Fashion Model", "Black Market Babies" and "Don't Gamble With Strangers". It has several cliched characteristics of low budget crime dramas including character names like "Slats", "Bugs", "Nuckles" and "Nails" which sound closer to Dick Tracy villains rather than noir characters. While the story focuses on Douglas (who does get some good lines, such as basically declaring "here we go again" every time he is forced to get into a gangster's car), Frazee comes off best with her tough but honest investigator. Harry Lauter and Joyce Compton provide some nice comic relief as Douglas's pal and his dizzy wife, but basically they are a distraction from the main plot which stops dead cold when they appear on screen.

at last this rare crime movie ...

[happytrigger-64-390517 · 5/10 · 18 September 2015]

... and not really a film noir to me. There are lacking the main elements of my favorite genre : a dark destiny in a dark city shot with dark photo with dark bad violent guys. Nothing of this in Incident, invisible for decades. You even have some comic scenes.

Remember it is a Monogram picture directed by the fast William Beaudine. The photo and the city is at the opposite of film noir, the cast is nothing explosive and the bad guys are really ordinary : no thrill at any moment. I really wouldn't call Incident a film noir, it was shot in 1948 and a lot of true masterpieces of film noir were behind.

Warren Douglas, who plays the lead, has a much more interesting career as a screen writer : "Loophole" (with Charles Mc Graw), "Finger Man" (with incredible Timothy Carey), the violent noir melodrama "The Cruel Tower" (again with Charles Mc Graw completely insane, sexy Mari Blanchard and handsome John Ericson) and more. Especially for the underrated Mark Stevens as a director : "Cry Vengeance" and "Jack Slade". Without forgetting "The Return of Jack Slade" directed by Harold Schuster with again Mari Blanchard and John Ericson.