''C-Man'' is a 1949 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

directed by Joseph Lerner featuring

Dean Jagger Dean Jagger (November 7, 1903 – February 5, 1991) was an American film, stage, and television actor who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Henry King's '' Twelve O'Clock High'' (1949). Early life Dean Jeffri ...

John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later J ...

, Lottie Elwen and Rene Paul. Gail Kubik based his

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

winning Symphony Concertante on his score for ''C-Man''.

Plot

U.S. Customs Department Agent Cliff Holden's (Dean Jagger) childhood best friend and boss is murdered while chasing down jewel thieves. He's assigned to find the thieves and solve the murder. The plan is for him to fly to Europe, then catch the same return flight suspect Matty Royal (Rene Paul) will be taking.

Cast

as Cliff Holden, alias William Harrah *

as Doc Spencer * Lottie Elwen as Kathe van Bourne * Rene Paul as Matty Royal * Walter Vaughan as Customs Inspector Brandon * Adelaide Klein as Minnie Hoffman *

Edith Atwater Edith Atwater (April 22, 1911 – March 14, 1986) was an American stage, film, and television actress. Career Born in Chicago, Atwater made her Broadway debut in 1933. In 1939, she starred in '' The Man Who Came to Dinner''. Her film career ...

as Lydia Brundage *

Harry Landers Harry Landers (born Harry Sorokin; September 3, 1921 – September 10, 2017) was an American character actor. Early life and career Harry Sorokin was born in New York City in 1921. His education came at Public School No. 202 and Thomas J ...

as Owney Shor * Jean Ellyn as Birdie Alton * Walter Brooke as Joe

Reception

Critical response

The film critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', panned the film when it was first released, writing, "According to yesterday's newcomer at the Rialto, ''C-Man'', the Treasury Department's typical customs agent is a suave, amiable sleuth who takes knives, pistols and slugging in stride and roguishly admits that it's all in a day's work. Well and good, but we'll wager that most C-Men are a lot smarter than Dean Jagger ... Miss Elwen and newcomer Harry Landers, a juvenile

Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death (1947 film ...

, try hard, but most of the actors perk up only at the prospect of another chase. And in view of the material they had to work with, the Treasury Department will probably forgive them." More recently, film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a mixed review. He wrote, "A lively crime fighting programmer featuring a Custom Agent tracking down a jewel thief and a murderer. It was good on the action part, but there was not much brain-work put into the story and no feel for the characters. It was a routine B-film done on a modest budget in a quasi-documentary style and in a flat black-and-white tone, with nothing much to recommend it except for its atmospheric treatment of New York City and by using authentic locations ... The film didn't make much sense, but it was watchable."Schwartz
''Ozus' World Movie Reviews'', January 1, 2002. Accessed: July 20, 2013.

References

External links