Written by James M. Tate / 2/13/2024 / No comments / action , brian donlevy , bruce bennett , fifties , film noir or melodrama , howard duff , lawrence tierney , peggy dow , thriller
HOWARD DUFF, PEGGY DOW & LAWRENCE TIERNEY IN 'SHAKEDOWN'
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| Title: THE SHADOW OF THE CAT Year: 1961 Rating: ** |
In the 1930's James Cagney programmer PICTURE SNATCHER, he plays a photographer who will stop at nothing (even taking contrived shortcuts) to get a sensational photo... meanwhile romancing the newspaper boss's secretary and dealing with the mob.... who he used to work for but in the case of a more upfront and seemingly sophisticated Howard Duff in SHAKEDOWN, it's a blackmail photo of deadly criminal Lawrence Tierney that lands him in hot water...
Although he did get that gorgeous secretary Peggy Dow with no effort, who basically landed him the job through Bruce Bennett, running the paper and not trusting Duff's Jack Early no matter how exciting the photos are... from a man almost drowning in a car to Brian Donlevy's ex-mobster getting blown up in one...
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| Lawrence Tierney and Howard Duff in SHAKEDOWN |
The noir ambiguity is really a cautionary tale on being too sneaky and suspiciously selfish to get ahead, and Duff's character is as stupid and reckless as he's assertive and intrepid, eventually and inevitably falling for Donlevy's French wife, the otherwise comparably bad dame... although she does nothing deliberately fatale-like except turning down his constant offers despite him having the far prettier Peggy Dow already in the bag...
This intrusive romantic triangle gets in the way of the first act's exciting action, and at the same time puts the vicious Tierney on the peripheral sidelines: a shame because Duff seemed beyond game for risk-taking before morphing into yet another smitten noirish sap to a (in this case widowed) woman not worth his time, or the audience's.
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN with Bruce Bennett |
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Brian Donlevy in SHAKEDOWN with Anne Vernon |
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| Howard Duff in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Brian Donlevy and Howard Duff in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Howard Duff in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Rock Hudson in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Anne Vernon in SHAKEDOWN with Lawrence Tierney |
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| Anne Vernon in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Anne Vernon in SHAKEDOWN with Howard Duff |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Lawrence Tierney in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Credits for SHAKEDOWN |
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| Credits for SHAKEDOWN |
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| Bruce Bennett and Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Bruce Bennett and Peggy Dow in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Howard Duff in SHAKEDOWN |
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| Howard Duff in SHAKEDOWN |
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