Under the Gun (1951)

Director:

Ted Tetzlaff

Writers:

Daniel B. Ullman (story)
George Zuckerman (writer)

Release Date:

1951 (Chile)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Crime

Tagline:

Story of a prison farm that gave a convict a gun...and gave him a pardon if he used it!

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Bribery | Chain Gang | Crooked Lawyer | Murder | Perjury

Cast

Richard Conte	...	Bert Galvin
Audrey Totter	...	Ruth Williams
Sam Jaffe	...	Samuel Gower
John McIntire	...	Sheriff Bill Langley
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Milo Bragg
Gregg Martell	...	Nero, Burly Henchman
Phillip Pine	...	Gandy
Donald Randolph	...	Arthur Sherbourne, district attorney
Royal Dano	...	Sam Nugent, trustee-gunner
Richard Taber	...	Five Shot

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Clay County, Florida, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

The surprising Ted Tetzlaff directs Conte, Totter in offbeat prison-farm noir

Those persistent rumors about Ida Lupino's being bald as a bean may have been fueled in part by Under The Gun, in which Audrey Totter appears to be wearing Lupino's old hair. Totter's a diva in a `Miama' nightclub in whom mobster Richard Conte takes both a professional and personal interest. En route by car back to New York, Conte takes care of some unfinished business by murdering a man but is arrested and stands trial. Despite herself, Totter finds she cannot commit perjury (`You just weren't worth the lies,' she later tells Conte). So he pulls a 20-year sentence at a prison farm in the deep South, where the concept of parole is unknown.

And the most interesting and accomplished part of Under The Gun - most of the movie, in fact - takes place at the prison farm. Conte thinks he can escape by bribing a hated `trusty' (Royal Dano), an inmate who earns special privileges by standing watch with a shotgun when the men go on work details. But Conte's buddy in the next bunk (Sam Jaffe) explains the finer points of the penal code in Dixie: If a trusty kills a prisoner trying to escape, he earns early release.

Conte, however, is as Machiavellian as he is ruthless. He coaxes a simple-minded inmate to make a break for it; Dano kills the gullible fool and secures release. Trigger-happy Conte becomes the next trusty, itching for his bid for freedom. Impatient, he makes Jaffe a grisly offer: If he tries to escape under Conte's gun, Conte will make a payoff to Jaffe's wife and children....

Ted Tetzlaff, the director, handles the ironies and ambiguities in the plot adroitly. A former cinematographer, he worked in and around the noir cycle, sometimes routinely (as in A Dangerous Profession and Gambling House), but in a couple of tries quite amazingly: Riffraff and The Window. Under The Gun lies somewhere in the middle, hobbled by a lame ending. But at least Totter, as the target for Conte's revenge, shows up again for the close. Even as a brunette, she's always worth watching.