cult film freak: DIRECTOR ANTHONY MANN'S CONTERFEIT MONEY FILM NOIR 'T-MEN'

Written by James M. Tate / 3/08/2024 / No comments / alfred ryder , anthony mann , art smith , charles mcgraw , dennis o'keefe , docudrama , forties , jack overman , jane randolph , june lockhart , wallace ford

DIRECTOR ANTHONY MANN'S CONTERFEIT MONEY FILM NOIR 'T-MEN'

3/08/2024 | No comment

Title: T-MEN Director: Anthony Mann Year: 1947 Rating: ****1/2

Backed by offbeat, surreal music from a dream sequence... only here used for otherwise normal dialogue in a film noir governmental expose that begins as a documentary before escalating into the story of undercover agents Dennis O'Keefe and Alfred Ryder, thrust into a formidably dark underworld of pitiful motel rooms, seedy steam-baths and smoky taverns where a criminal gang deal in counterfeit money...

And they're so paranoid about the duo possibly being T-MEN, the agents are put through the ringer that includes getting beaten up within tense-filled moments where — on the edge of almost being revealed (especially by muggy hit-men Charles McGraw and Jack Overman) — the suspense level reaches a cascade of revolving peaks...

Dennis O'Keefe in T-MEN

Directed by Anthony Mann before epic westerns and dramas, T-MEN is a genuine b-movie filled with so many creative camera angles, there's not a single setup involving two or three actors (while dames are sparse) that's not inventively, strategically shot... while always being perfectly darkly lit..

Visually epitomizing the film noir aesthetic: including exterior shadow-filled alleyways and dilapidated city streets where the characters, whether good or bad, are caught desperately (and hopelessly) in-between.

Dennis O'Keefe and Charles McGraw in T-MEN

Dennis O'Keefe and Charles McGraw in T-MEN with Jack Overman

Alfred Ryder and Dennis O'Keefe in T-MEN

Mary Meade and Dennis O'Keefe in T-MEN

Mary Meade in T-MEN

June Lockhart in T-MEN

Cat People good girl Jane Randolph a bad dame in T-MEN

From Anthony Mann's T-MEN

Dennis O'Keefe in T-MEN with Alfred Ryder

Alfred Ryder and Dennis O'Keefe in T-MEN

Dennis O'Keefe with Alfred Ryder and Wallace Ford in T-MEN

Charles McGraw in T-MEN

Dennis O'Keefe in T-MEN

Dennis O'Keefe in T-MEN with Wallace Ford

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Tags : alfred ryder , anthony mann , art smith , charles mcgraw , dennis o'keefe , docudrama , forties , jack overman , jane randolph , june lockhart , wallace ford

James M. Tate

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