IMDb > The Underworld Story (1950)

The Underworld Story (1950) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   57 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 17% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Craig Rice (story)
Cy Endfield (adaptation)
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Underworld Story on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
26 July 1950 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
Mike Reese, yellow journalist and antihero, prints a story that leads to a gang killing, and is blacklisted... more | add synopsis
User Comments:
Good Role for Duryea more (5 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Dan Duryea ... Mike Reese
Herbert Marshall ... E.J. Stanton
Gale Storm ... Catherine 'Cathy' Harris
Howard Da Silva ... Carl Durham
Michael O'Shea ... District Attorney Ralph Munsey
Mary Anderson ... Molly Rankin
Gar Moore ... Clark Stanton
Melville Cooper ... Maj. Redford
Frieda Inescort ... Mrs. Eldridge
Art Baker ... Lt. Tilton, state trooper
Harry Shannon ... George 'Parky' Parker
Alan Hale Jr. ... Shaeffer, Durham Warehouse Thug
Stephen Dunne ... Editor Chuck Lee
Roland Winters ... Stanley Becker, lawyer
Sue England ... Helen, fund worker
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Whipped (trailer title)
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Runtime:
91 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
USA:Approved (PCA #14279) | Sweden:15

Fun Stuff

Quotes:
Catherine Harris: Did you ever rob graves, Mr. Reese?
Mike Reese: No future in it.
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FAQ

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful.
Good Role for Duryea, 30 November 1999
8/10
Author: Eric Chapman (caspar_h@yahoo.com) from Pittsburgh, PA

What makes this little crime movie as effective as it is, has something to do with the casting of unconventional Dan Duryea in the lead as the unscrupulous reporter. He's a lot like Willem Dafoe with the way he talks out of the bottom of his mouth - like a ventriloquist's dummy - and I mean that in a good way. Had they cast a more conventional leading man in the part like a Jimmy Stewart, for example, I don't think it would've worked as well, because Duryea really does come across as quite a heel, a low-life. It just isn't clear to the viewer if he should root for him or not, so that when he does undergo a change in character, it comes as a surprise rather than a foregone conclusion.

The movie also provides Howard Da Silva with one of his last roles before he was to be blacklisted for over 10 years. Always good at playing thugs, he's quite colorful and does a lot of scenery chewing as a powerful crime figure.

The script is intelligent and gritty, and the photography is appropriately stark and oppressive.

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