''No Questions Asked'' is a 1951 American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

directed by

Harold F. Kress Harold Frank Kress (June 26, 1913 – September 18, 1999) was an American film editor with more than fifty feature film credits; he also directed several feature films in the early 1950s. He won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for '' How ...

and starring

Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to: *Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor *Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia *Barry Sullivan (lawyer), Chicago lawyer and ...

Arlene Dahl Arlene Carol Dahl (August 11, 1925 – November 29, 2021) was an American actress active in films from the late 1940s. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Classical Hollywood cinema era. She was also an author and entrepreneur. Sh ...

George Murphy George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American dancer, actor, and politician. Murphy was a song-and-dance leading man in many big-budget Hollywood musicals from 1930 to 1952. He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild fro ...

and

Jean Hagen Jean Hagen (born Jean Shirley Verhagen; August 3, 1923 – August 29, 1977) was an American actress best known for her role as Lina Lamont in ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting ...

. Sidney Sheldon, the screenwriter, would go on to become one of the top-10 best selling fiction writers of all time.

Plot

Ellen (Sayburn) Jessman returns from a skiing vacation and Steve Keiver is at the airport to pick her up in his pal Harry's taxi. Keiver wants to marry Ellen, but as an insurance company's investigator, he doesn't make much money and knows that concerns her. Keiver's boss, Manston, can't give him a raise, but mentions in passing how the recovery of some stolen furs would be worth $10,000, the company being off the hook for the insurance. Keiver bravely but recklessly approaches known mobsters, explaining the proposal. After being roughed up, he eventually cuts a deal and gets a $2,500 bonus from his boss. But when he brings Ellen a diamond ring, he learns she's left town, having married a wealthy man while on vacation. A bitter Keiver decides to keep making deals with criminals for returned stolen merchandise, no questions asked. He makes a lot of money and begins dating colleague Joan Brenson, who has always been attracted to him. But he carries a torch for Ellen, and when she's back in town, Keiver tries to win her back, now that he's rich. The police resent Keiver's activities. What he is doing is legal, but barely. Inspector Duggan puts his man O'Bannion on the case. Ellen and Joan end up together in a large women's lounge at intermission of a Broadway show. Two women rob all the ladies there of their jewelry and flee. Outside the theater, they remove their wigs and reveal themselves to be men. Joan, broken-hearted that Keiver has gone back to Ellen, brings him a message from Harry where he can retrieve the stolen gems. Franko, a mobster who swims in a pool for exercise, has them, but Keiver is double-crossed. Knocked out, the jewels taken from him, Keiver suspects either Joan or Harry of betraying him, but it turns out it was Ellen. She's got the jewels and is after the money herself, along with husband Gordon, but is shocked when Franko decides to torture her to find out where they are hidden. Franko then murders both Ellen and Gordon and ends up underwater with Keiver in a fight to the death. A stronger swimmer, Franko wins, but when he surfaces, Duggan and other armed cops are waiting for him. Keiver is pulled from the pool and survives. Joan is still in love with him.

Cast

as Steve Keiver *

as Ellen Sayburn Jessman *

as Police Insp. Matt Duggan *

as Joan Brenson *

Richard Anderson Richard Norman Anderson (August 8, 1926 – August 31, 2017) was an American film and television actor. Among his best-known roles was his portrayal of Oscar Goldman, the boss of Steve Austin (Lee Majors) and Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) in b ...

as Detective Walter O'Bannion *

Moroni Olsen Moroni Olsen (June 27, 1889November 22, 1954) was an American actor. Life and career Olsen was born in Ogden, Utah to Latter-day Saint parents Edward Arenholt Olsen and Martha ( Hoverholst) Olsen, who named him after the Moroni found in the ...

as Henry Manston *

Danny Dayton Danny Dayton (born Daniel David Segall, November 20, 1923 – February 6, 1999) was an American actor and television director. Beginning in the 1950s, he played many roles in film and on TV. He had a recurring role as Hank Pivnik on ''All i ...

as Harry Dycker (as Dan Dayton) *

Dick Simmons Richard Simmons (August 19, 1913 – January 11, 2003) was an American actor. Early life Simmons was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and his family later moved across the Mississippi River to Minneapolis. There, he attended West Side High Sc ...

as Gordon N. Jessman *

Howard Petrie Howard Alexander Petrie (November 22, 1906 – March 24, 1968) was an American radio, television, and film actor. Early life Howard Petrie was born in Beverly, Massachusetts on November 22, 1906. When Howard was three years old his family ...

as Franko * William Phipps as Roger * William Reynolds as Floyd (as William Regnolds) *

Mauritz Hugo Mauritz Hugo (January 12, 1909 – June 16, 1974) was a Swedish-born American film and television actor. Selected filmography * ''Wanted by the Police'' (1938) * ''Criminal Investigator'' (1942) *''The Crime Smasher'' (1943) * ''Outlaws of Sta ...

as Marty Callbert *

Mari Blanchard Mari Blanchard (born Mary E. Blanchard, April 13, 1923 – May 10, 1970) was an American film and television actress, known foremost for her roles as a B movie femme fatale in American productions of the 1950s and early 1960s. Early life and c ...

as Natalie * Robert Sheppard as Detective Eddie * Michael Dugan as Detective Howard *

Howland Chamberlain Howland Chamberlin (August 2, 1911 – September 1, 1984) was an American actor. He is sometimes billed as Howard Chamberlin, sometimes replacing the word, land. Chamberlain was born in The Bronx. He moved in the 1930s from New York to Californi ...

as Beebe (as Howland Chamberlin) *

Richard Bartlett Richard H. Bartlett (8 November 1922 – 11 June 1994), also known as Dick Bartlett, was an American film director, director and film producer, producer in film and TV. He also acted and wrote. He is best known for his low budget features in th ...

as Betz *

Robert Osterloh Robert Osterloh (May 31, 1918 – April 16, 2001) was an American actor. His career spanned 20 years, appearing in films such as ''The Dark Past'' (1948), ''The Wild One'' (1953), '' I Bury the Living'' (1958) and ''Young Dillinger'' (1965). Bio ...

as Owney

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $483,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $173,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $377,000.

Critical response

The film staff at ''The New York Times'' gave the film a tepid review: "Barry Sullivan gives the role of the money-hungry lawyer a solid but uninspired reading. Jean Hagen is quite attractive and credible as the girl he finally comes to love, while Arlene Dahl is merely attractive as the double-crossing charmer he yearns for before he sees the light. Standard, come to think of it, is as nice a word as any for ''No Questions Asked''." Critic Craig Butler liked the film and wrote "A tasty little 'B' level noir thriller, ''No Questions Asked'' is the kind of neat little film that, despite its flaws, exerts a hold on the viewer. Sidney Sheldon's screenplay starts out with a slam-bang opening, leading into a flashback that captivates for a good while before losing its way a bit in the middle and then getting back on track in time for a good, solid climax." Dennis Schwartz called the film "An efficiently done film noir about an insurance fraud resulting in a double-cross..." And added, "It was strictly a

B movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

with an ordinary and predictable story, and with below average acting. If you ask no questions about it, it is mildly enjoyable. Otherwise the film never quite faces up to the moral implications of Sullivan and his cabbie friend, as they do business with criminals while thinking they are not doing anything wrong. When Sullivan gets his comeuppance, it's done in a breezy style that is not all that convincing. The screenwriter was Sidney Sheldon, who by the 1970s was to go on to bigger and better things in the mystery genre."Schwartz, Dennis
. ''Ozus' World Movie Reviews'', October 30, 2001. Accessed: July 30, 2013.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:No Questions Asked 1952 films 1952 crime films American crime films American black-and-white films Cross-dressing in American films Film noir Films scored by Leith Stevens Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Harold F. Kress 1950s English-language films 1950s American films