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 ...
drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
film directed by
Hugo Haas
Hugo Haas (19 February 1901 – 1 December 1968) was a Czech film actor, director and writer. He appeared in more than 60 films from 1926 to 1962 and directed 20 films from 1933 to 1962.
Life and career
Haas was born in Brno, Austria-Hung ...
John Agar
John George Agar Jr. (January 31, 1921 – April 7, 2002) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for starring alongside John Wayne in the films ''Sands of Iwo Jima'', '' Fort Apache'', and '' She Wore a Yellow Ribbon''. In h ...
.
Plot
In an unnamed country, Joe Cardos, a double murderer awaiting hanging in an isolation cell the next morning, is allowed by law to have one last request before his execution. He tells the warden that despite his earlier wishes to be left alone, he now wants to spend his final night having fun in the company of a woman and, to provide the music for his party, two musicians. Despite his misgivings, the humane warden is sympathetic to the inmate, who is an angry disturbed man who has refused any contact with his stepsister or the prison padre. After a fruitless search for volunteers at the local brothel, the police find Dora Garben, a destitute and depressed woman who has attempted suicide at the beginning of the film. After some hostile interactions, Dora breaks down Joe's anger and they realise they have much in common. Joe discloses to Dora her his dream in which the rope breaks as the trapdoor opens and the death bells ring. Apparently by law, this would mean the hanged man would be freed. The couple become closer and, in spite of their unusual circumstances, fall in love. In the absence of the musicians, Joe asks one of the warders to borrow his American radio, and the couple dance. Just before the time of the hanging, Joe persuades the prison chaplain to marry them. The warden's wife and the man's stepsister attend as witnesses. Joe reconciles with his stepsister at last. He is led down a corridor to the gallows. Dora and the stepsister go into the prison chapel and, as the death bells toll, they pray for Joe's dream miracle to come true.
John Agar
John George Agar Jr. (January 31, 1921 – April 7, 2002) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for starring alongside John Wayne in the films ''Sands of Iwo Jima'', '' Fort Apache'', and '' She Wore a Yellow Ribbon''. In h ...
as Joe Cardos
*
Frank DeKova
Frank de Kova (March 17, 1910 – October 15, 1981) was an American character actor in films, stage, and TV.
Biography
De Kova was born in New York City. He was a teacher at a school in New York before joining a Shakespeare repertory group. He ...
as Priest
* Dallas Boyd as Warden
* Steffi Sidney as Clara
*
Mel Welles
Ira W. Meltcher (February 17, 1924 – August 19, 2005), known by the stage name Mel Welles, was an American actor, voice artist and film director. He was best known to for his work with filmmaker Roger Corman, most notably as hapless flower shop ...
as First Guard
*
Harry Guardino
Harold Vincent Guardino (December 23, 1925 – July 17, 1995) was an American actor whose career ran from the early 1950s to the early 1990s.
Biography
Guardino was born on December 23, 1925 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and raised ...
as Detective
*
Mona Knox
Mona O. Knox (May 1, 1929 – June 11, 2008) was an American model and film actress.Drew p.18
Personal life
On August 6, 1960, Knox married obstetrician Leslie Spicer in Encino. They had a son and were divorced on December 14, 1961.
Parti ...
as Escort Girl
*
Arlene Harris
Arlene Harris (July 7, 1896 – June 12, 1976) was a Canadian-born American radio, film, and television actress. (Another source gives her date of birth as July 7, 1898.) She was best known for her role as "the human chatterbox" on Al Pearce's ...
as Proprietress
* Kay Riehl as Warden's Wife
*
Jan Englund
Jan Lowell ( Englund; August 23, 1927 – January 16, 2018) was an American screenwriter and actress known for her work on exploitation films from the 1950s through the 1970s. She often worked alongside her husband, writer-actor Mark Lowell.
Aft ...
as Girl
* Pat Goldin as Dancing Comedian
Production
The film is inspired by novella ''Tonka of the Gallows'' by
Egon Erwin Kisch
Egon Erwin Kisch (29 April 1885 – 31 March 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian and Czechoslovak writer and journalist, who wrote in German. He styled himself ''Der Rasende Reporter'' (The Racing Reporter) for his countless travels to the far corners ...
, which was previously adapted into film as ''
Tonka of the Gallows
''Tonka of the Gallows'' (Czech: ''Tonka Šibenice'', French: ''Tonischka'', German: ''Die Galgentoni'') is a 1930 Czech drama film directed by Karl Anton and starring Ita Rina, Vera Baranovskaya and Josef Rovenský.
It is an adaptation of the ...
'' (1936). This was the second film to co-star Moore and Agar, who had appeared together in 1954's ''
Bait
Bait may refer to:
General
* Bait (luring substance), bait as a luring substance
** Fishing bait, bait used for fishing
Film
* ''Bait'' (1950 film), a British crime film by Frank Richardson
* ''Bait'' (1954 film), an American noir film by Hugo ...
'', which was also directed by
Hugo Haas
Hugo Haas (19 February 1901 – 1 December 1968) was a Czech film actor, director and writer. He appeared in more than 60 films from 1926 to 1962 and directed 20 films from 1933 to 1962.
Life and career
Haas was born in Brno, Austria-Hung ...
. Agar was a Universal contract player at the time of this film, and Moore was on loan from
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
.
See also
*
List of American films of 1955
A list of American films released in 1955.
The United Artists film '' Marty'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture for 1955.
A–B
C–D
E–H
I–L
M–N
O–R
S–T
U–Z
Documentaries
Serials
See also
* 1955 in the U ...