IMDb > The Racket (1951)

The Racket (1951) More at IMDbPro »

Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   726 votes
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Director:
John Cromwell
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Writers:
William Wister Haines (screenplay) and
W.R. Burnett (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Racket on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
12 December 1951 (USA) more
Genre:
Crime | Film-Noir | Drama more
Tagline:
YOU'LL LEARN WHO PAYS OFF WHO -- AND WHY! (original print ad - all caps) more
Plot:
The big national crime syndicate has moved into town, partnering up with local crime boss Nick Scanlon... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
Just Who Was The Old Man? more (26 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Robert Mitchum ... Captain Thomas McQuigg
Lizabeth Scott ... Irene Hayes

Robert Ryan ... Nick Scanlon
William Talman ... Officer Bob Johnson
Ray Collins ... Dist. Atty. Mortimer X. Welsh
Joyce Mackenzie ... Mary McQuigg (as Joyce MacKenzie)
Robert Hutton ... Dave Ames ('City Press' cub reporter)
Virginia Huston ... Lucy Johnson

William Conrad ... Det. Sgt. Turk
Walter Sande ... Precinct Sgt. Jim Delaney
Les Tremayne ... Harry Craig (Crime Commission chief investigator)
Don Porter ... R.G. Connolly (ward boss)
Walter Baldwin ... Booking Sgt. Sullivan
Brett King ... Joe Scanlon
Richard Karlan ... Breeze Enright (round-faced Scanlon henchman)
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
88 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
USA:Approved (PCA #15253) | Finland:K-16 | Spain:13 | West Germany:16 | Sweden:15
Company:
RKO Radio Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The only film that Robert Mitchum appeared in which was a remake of a silent film. more
Goofs:
Continuity: Nick Scanlon's car is a 1949 Chrysler Crown Imperial limo. In the crash scene, an older 1942 model was used. The '49 side trim has been added, but the different front end reveals the switch. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Foul Play (1978) more
Soundtrack:
A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening more

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User Comments

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful.
Just Who Was The Old Man?, 1 September 2006
7/10
Author: (bsmith5552@rogers.com) from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

"The Racket" was another of Howard Hughes projects dealing with a State's Crime Commission investigation of organized crime.

The "new" syndicate, which frowns on physical violence, has moved into town and is working with old style gangster Nick Scanlon (Robert Ryan). The Commision has brought back Captain McQuigg (Robert Mitchum) from an obscure post to head up the fight against Scanlon. McQuigg and Scanlon it seems, have a history and make this confrontation "personnal".

Scanlon prefers the old way of eliminating his problems. The new syndicate headed by someone called "The Old Man" (whom we never see or have identified) frowns on violence. Front man Connolly (Don Porter) makes this clear to Scanlon. Scanlon of course stays his course.

The film leads to the inevitable confrontation between McQuigg and Scanlon.

Drifting through the story are "Tommy" girl Irene Hayes (Lizabeth Scott) as a gold digging singer who tries to snare Scanlon's brother Joe (Brett King). "Tommy" by the way refers to the term "tom boy" and you can read into that what you may. Robert Hutton plays a cub reporter smitten with the aforementioned Irene. William Tallman is Officer Bob Johnson an ambitious beat cop, Ray Collins a corrupt District Attorney, William Conrad as DA Sgt. Turk and Walter Sande as Sgt. Delaney.

Ryan as always walks away with the picture playing the brutal gangster. Mitchum who was really to young at 34 to be a police captain walks through his role. Scott as the "femme fatale" of the piece is also good. Of the supporting cast, Tallman and Collins, who would appear together in the "Perry Mason" TV series, stand out. Conrad, who had played Matt Dillon in Radio's "Gunsmoke" and appear in the 70s TV series "Cannon" is also effective as the sleazy detective.

As he had on many other occasions Howard Hughes took control of the film after the initial shoot directed by John Cromwell. He added scenes re-shot others and re cut the film. Many of the new scenes were directed by Nicholas Ray.

Other familiar faces in the rather large cast are Joyce McKenzie and Virginia Houston as two distraught police wives and Les Tremayne, Milburn Stone, Herb Vigran, Harry Lauter and Howard Petrie in a variety of bits.

A remake of Hughes' 1928 film of the same name.

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