711 Ocean Drive (1950)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Joseph M. Newman

Writers:

Richard English (writer) and
Francis Swann (writer)

Release Date:

1 July 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Drama

Tagline:

Expose of the $8,000,000,000 gambling syndicate and its hoodlum empire!

Plot:

A telephone repairman in Los Angeles uses his knowledge of electronics to help a bookie set up a betting operation...

Plot Keywords:

Telephone Repairman | Gangster | Criminal Syndicate | Gambling | Address As Title

Cast

Edmond O'Brien	...	Mal Granger
Joanne Dru	...	Gail Mason
Otto Kruger	...	Carl Stephans
Barry Kelley	...	Vince Walters (as Barry Kelly)
Dorothy Patrick	...	Trudy Maxwell
Don Porter	...	Larry Mason (as Donald Porter)
Howard St. John	...	Lieutenant Pete Wright
Robert Osterloh	...	Gizzi
Sammy White	...	Chippie Evans

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #14447) | West Germany:16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Hoover Dam, Arizona-Nevada Border, USA

Company:

Frank Seltzer Productions

Trivia:

"Boulder Dam" is actually Hoover Dam. Congress authorized the Boulder Canyon Dam Project in 1931 and, it being traditional to name big federal dam projects after the sitting President, named it Hoover Dam. Franklin Roosevelt defeated Hoover in 1932 but could not officially change the name set by Congress. Harold Ickes (FDR's Interior Secretary) however issued a memo directing that his employees "...will refer to the dam as 'Boulder Dam' in this pamphlet as well as in correspondence and other references...." In 1947, after Roosevelt and Ickes had died, Congress passed a resolution to "restore" the name of Hoover Dam. But until that time, all official, tourist and other promotional materials called it "Boulder Dam." The public's recognition with the old name was still apparent in the movie (released in 1950) through the script and the highway signage seen enroute.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mal and Chippie first enter the loan company (the front for Walters' bookmaking organization), the signs on the windows both say "Libert Finance" -- both "Libert"s clearly have a last letter -- a "Y" -- painted over. Eight minutes later in the film, when L.A.'s new "Gangster Squad" is going over a file about the company, both signs in a photo say "Libertt Finance" (with a "T" replacing the blacked out "Y" seen earlier).

Quotes:

Mal Granger: Time wounds all heels.

Still entertaining, warts and all!

711 Ocean Drive was indeed preachy, as attested to and confirmed by the blurbs at both beginning and end. Still, I found the film interesting and entertaining (although D.O.A. remains my all-time favorite O'Brien, and one of my top favorites, overall). The character of Mal Granger really presented a sharp and unexpected contrast to that of Frank Bigelow in D.O.A. The real surprise in this film came early on when the personality of Granger, itself, did a 180-degree turnaround, from the benign, carefree and kindly telephone repairman (who insisted his co-worker accept a few bucks that he was in need of), to the ruthless, unscrupulous, and murderous "operator" for whom even a little power is seen to surely corrupt. Although the early-on character of Granger is seen for only the first 15 or 20 minutes of the film, the contrast remained with me throughout. An excellent characterization by O'Brien, as usual.