Decoy (1946 Film)
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''Decoy'' is a 1946 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 ...
starring Jean Gillie,
Edward Norris Septimus Edward Norris (March 10, 1911 – December 18, 2002) was an American film actor. Early years Norris was born in 1911, the son of a prominent Philadelphia gynecologist, who was described in a newspaper article as "a famous surgeon and ...
, Robert Armstrong, Herbert Rudley, and
Sheldon Leonard Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle-class ...
. Directed by
Jack Bernhard Jack Bernhard (November 28, 1914 – March 30, 1997) was an American film and television director. His films include '' Decoy'' (1946), '' Blonde Ice'' (1948), '' Unknown Island'' (1948) and '' The Second Face'' (1950). Personal life Bernhard was ...
, it was produced by him and Bernard Brandt as a Jack Bernhard Production, with a screenplay by Nedrick Young based on an original story by Stanley Rubin. Jean Gillie, the wife of Jack Bernhard at the time, played the ''
femme fatale A ( , ; ), sometimes called a maneater, Mata Hari, or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and Seduction, seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype ...
'' central to the picture's story.


Plot

A man, who is later revealed to be Dr. Lloyd Craig, hitchhikes from a gas station in rural California to a San Francisco apartment, where he exchanges gunfire with a young woman. Police Detective Joe Portugal arrives on the scene, finding the man dead and the woman mortally wounded. Detective Portugal interrogates the woman, and she recounts recent events. The woman is revealed to be Margot Shelby, the lover of Frankie Olins, a man sentenced to death in the
gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Donatie ...
for murder. The murder was committed while robbing $400,000 from an armored car. The money was never recovered, and it's believed Frankie hid the fortune in a safe place. Margot no longer loves Frankie, and she concocts a plan with a new lover, Jim Vincent, to discover the location of Frankie's money. Initially, the pair attempt to appeal Frankie's conviction. When that plan fails, it seems Frankie's execution is inevitable. Margot's plan is to allow Frankie to be executed by lethal
hydrogen cyanide Hydrogen cyanide (formerly known as prussic acid) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula, formula HCN and structural formula . It is a highly toxic and flammable liquid that boiling, boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is ...
gas, and then revive him with a chemical known as
methylene blue Methylthioninium chloride, commonly called methylene blue, is a salt used as a dye and as a medication. As a medication, it is mainly used to treat methemoglobinemia. It has previously been used for treating cyanide poisoning and urinary trac ...
. Margot explains that it is a chemical she "read about long ago". She seduces the prison physician Dr. Lloyd Craig into helping implement this plan. Frankie is executed, and his body is removed from the prison without an autopsy. Margot's hired thugs murder the hearse driver to maintain secrecy and to have a body to use as a decoy for cremation, and the body of Olins is delivered to Dr. Craig's office. Dr. Craig administers methylene blue to Frankie's dead body via a breathing mask, and Frankie is returned to life. Frankie is briefly disoriented when he is restored to life, but is convinced to reveal the location of his stolen money with a hand-drawn map. After doing this, he is shot to death by Jim Vincent. Margot, Jim, and Dr. Craig drive together to recover Frankie's money. En route, Margot murders Jim by running him over after he changes the car's tire. Once Margot and Dr. Craig reach the loot's burial location, she forces the doctor to dig at gunpoint. He retrieves a wooden strongbox. Margot gleefully takes the strongbox and shoots Dr. Craig twice while laughing hysterically. The film returns to the present, with Dr. Craig's motivation for shooting Margot revealed. As the dying Margot finishes her tale to detective Portugal she implores him to open the strongbox so she can touch the money. Drawing her last breaths, she purrs to "Jo-Jo" to come down to her level for once and kiss her. As he leans forward, she pulls back and laughs haughtily in his face, humiliating him in front of the gathering of police and medics, then dies. Portugal opens the box, only to find it filled with scrap paper and a single envelope. In the envelope is a one dollar bill and a note addressed to "you who double crossed me".


Cast

* Jean Gillie as Margot Shelby * Robert Armstrong as Frank Olins * Herbert Rudley as Dr. Craig *
Edward Norris Septimus Edward Norris (March 10, 1911 – December 18, 2002) was an American film actor. Early years Norris was born in 1911, the son of a prominent Philadelphia gynecologist, who was described in a newspaper article as "a famous surgeon and ...
as Jim Vincent *
Sheldon Leonard Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle-class ...
as Sgt. Portugal *
Philip Van Zandt Philip Van Zandt (October 4, 1904 – February 15, 1958), sometimes billed as Phil Van Zandt, was a Dutch-American actor of stage, film, and television. He made nearly 250 film and television appearances between 1939 and 1958. Life and career ...
as Tommy (credited as Phil Van Zandt) *
Marjorie Woodworth Marjorie Woodworth (June 5, 1919 – August 23, 2000) was an American actress. Early life Born in Inglewood, California, she was a drum majorette at the University of Southern California. Career Woodworth appeared in the films '' Dance, Gi ...
as Dr. Craig's nurse * Carole Donne as Waitress * John Shay as Al *
Bert Roach Egbert Roach (August 21, 1891 – February 16, 1971) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 320 films between 1914 and 1951. He was born in Washington, D.C., and died in Los Angeles, California, age 79. Selected filmography * ...
as Bartender * Rosemary Bertrand as Ruth


Reception

New York's PM was positive upon the picture's release: "One thing a good B picture knows—and Decoy is a good B—is how to tell its story....Tell it straight, fast, and simple....Make the motives plain, the characterizations clear....Decoy, and Jean Gillie and Marjorie Woodworth, stick to the rules. Miss Gillie's wicked, Miss Woodward's Florence Nightingale, but their costumes define them alike. Otherwise Miss Gillie, who's after the four hundred grand her first bank robber-killer's meanly stashed away, zings through plenty of direct action tactics, with accompanying double-crosses, before she gets its, and the proper Johnston office wages. It takes her 70 minutes to collect them, but that's only because she's deservedly shot at the beginning of the picture, which then explains why. Well, if ever a girl had it coming to her, that Miss Gillie is the one." The contemporary ''
Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
'' thought the story "clumsily told, and unrelieved by humor. A quirk ending does not suffice for killing most of the suspense by having the story told in flashback. Herbert Rudley is the most believable of the cast, as the physician whose ideals crash." Film critic Glenn Erickson liked the film, writing in 2007, "After 1978 ''Decoy'' rarely or never appeared on television or in museum screenings. In 2000 the
American Cinematheque The American Cinematheque is an independent, non-profit cultural organization in Los Angeles, California, United States that represents the public presentation of the moving image in all its forms. It presents festivals and retrospectives that ...
showed it with the writer of its original story, Stanley Rubin, in attendance. The movie brought the house down with its odd mix of melodrama, hardboiled gimmicks and unrestrained sadism. I thought then that, as far as violence goes, ''Decoy'' was to 1946 what ''
Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...
'' is to 1994." Film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a mixed review in 2019, writing, "Jack Bernhard directs a darkly atmospheric but disjointed film noir that is rife with plot inconsistencies. The film's main virtue is the sinister performance by British newcomer Jean Gillie as Margot Shelby, who is the nonredeemable femme fatale with a history of using men and even resorting to violence to achieve her ends. Gillie is one of the more cruel femme fatales in film noir lore." Shown on the
Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...
show 'Noir Alley' with
Eddie Muller Eddie Muller (born October 15, 1958) is an American author and the founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation. He is known for his books about the ''film noir'' genre, and is the host of ''Noir Alley'' on Turner Classic Movies. He is also ...
on December 3, 2022.


References


External links

* * * * * * {{YouTube, 1jor5CBkkas, ''Decoy'' analysis by Glenn Erickson, Stanley Rubin,
Dick Cavett Richard Alva Cavett (; born November 19, 1936) is an American television personality and former talk show host. He appeared regularly on nationally broadcast television in the United States from the 1960s through the 2000s. In later years, Cave ...
, and
Molly Haskell Molly Clark Haskell (born September 29, 1939)Aitken, Ian, ed. (2006)''Encyclopedia of Documentary Film, Volume 2'' New York: Routledge. p. 541. . is an American film critic and author. She contributed to '' The Village Voice''—first as a ...
1946 films 1946 crime drama films American crime drama films American black-and-white films Film noir Monogram Pictures films Films directed by Jack Bernhard 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language crime drama films