''Guilty Bystander'' is a 1950 American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by Joseph Lerner, and starring Zachary Scott and

Faye Emerson Faye Margaret Emerson (July 8, 1917 – March 9, 1983) was an American film and stage actress and television interviewer who gained fame as a film actress in the 1940s before transitioning to television in the 1950s and hosting her own talk show ...

. The film was shot on location entirely in New York City. It also marked the last motion picture screen appearances for character actors Mary Boland and J. Edward Bromberg. Until recently, ''Guilty Bystander'' was considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy ...

Plot

Max Thursday is an ex-cop and an alcoholic. The only job he can find is house detective at his pal Smitty's rundown hotel. Ex-wife Georgia comes to him in a panic. Their young son Jeff is missing and so is her brother Fred Mace. She didn't report it, after being warned not to go to the police by Dr. Elder, who is a business acquaintance of Fred's. The drunken Max confronts pistol packing Dr. Elder, looking for answers regarding his missing son, but the doctor knocks him out cold from behind. Max wakes up and is taken to police headquarters for questioning. He soon learns that Dr. Elder has been killed and he becomes the prime suspect. Georgia gives the cops a false alibi for Max, so the police have no cause to hold him, and he's released. Now sober, Max learns that the doctor was involved in a diamond smuggling operation with Varkas, a known criminal. He learns from Varkas' helpful moll, Angel, that the gangster's men are holding Fred hostage. Max is shot in the arm by Varkas' thugs. He goes to Georgia who stitches his wounds. When he recovers, he goes to Varkas' warehouse to look for Mace. He discovers that Varkas and his bodyguards are all dead. Max finally realizes that his old friend Smitty is behind the whole scheme. Fred and little Jeff are rescued. Grateful Georgia embraces her little boy and welcomes Max back into the family.

Cast

* Zachary Scott as Max Thursday *

as Georgia * Mary Boland as Smitty *

Sam Levene Sam Levene (born Scholem Lewin; August 28, 1905 – December 28, 1980) was a Russian Empire-born American Broadway theatre, Broadway, film, radio, and television actor and Television director, director. In a career spanning over five decades, ...

as Captain Tonetti *

J. Edward Bromberg Joseph Edward Bromberg (born Josef Bromberger, December 25, 1903 – December 6, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American character actor in motion picture and stage productions dating mostly from the 1930s and 1940s. Knowledge of his past as a membe ...

as Varkas * Kay Medford as Angel *

Jed Prouty Jed Prouty (born Clarence Gordon Prouty; April 6, 1879 – May 10, 1956) was an American film actor. Biography Born as Clarence Gordon Prouty in Boston, Massachusetts, Prouty was a vaudeville performer before becoming a film actor. Mostly app ...

as Dr. Elder * Harry Landers as Bert * Dennis Patrick as Fred Mace * Ray Julian as Johnny

Reaction

Film critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

, writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', calls ''Guilty Bystanders plot as average but notes "... the slow, sultry, steaming sadism that is usually standard in this type of film is rather effectively accomplished. The photography is full of heavy moods. And some of the melodramatic action, such as a chase in the subway, is good." Film critic Dennis Schwartz panned the film in his review, but praised Zachary Scott's acting chops. He wrote, "Zachary Scott acts his butt off, but can't come close to saving this uninteresting film noir melodrama from how ordinary it is. It's a low-budget film that is saddled with a weak storyline and is poorly photographed. It's about a world of assorted losers: drunks, hypochondriacs, smugglers, and double-crossers ... There's just not much of a story here to sink your teeth into. The film's best asset is Scott acting out the part of a thirsty drunk."Schwartz, Dennis
''Ozus' World Movie Reviews'', film review, October 24, 2001. Accessed: July 13, 2013.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Rotten Tomatoes 1950 films 1950 crime drama films American crime drama films American black-and-white films Film noir Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin Films based on American novels 1950s English-language films 1950s American films