Border Crossing (1949)
Directed by Anthony Mann
Starring Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy
95 minutes
It’s been a while since I last watched a black and white film. I had a phase where most movies that I watched were in black and white.
I really enjoy watching movies in black and white even though rumors are, people addicted to these movies have personality problems. Well, it’s a good chance to observe life back in those day. Things to observe are the fashion, the language (idioms, vocabulary), acting style, how the movies are put together, etc. There’s a lot to absorb from these kind of movies and for people that watch them without thinking about these elements, I do feel sorry for them.
The movie I watched last night is called Border Crossing (1949). It’s part of Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 3 released by Warner Bros.
Just before I write more I should mention this film isn’t really “film noir”. I assume any film that uses a lot of shade and shadows that was made in black and white seems to be classified as “film noir” nowadays. No real “femme fatale”. No detective. Using Federal agents undercover as protagonists also doesn’t add to a “film noir” feel. It would be better to classify this film as “crime”.
The film is about a couple of Federal agents. One is Mexican and the other is American. During these times many Mexican people are permitted to work in the States for agricultural work as laborer but there are also many who can’t get work permits. The ones that can’t obtain these work permits go over the border illegally and are exploited (paid poorly, money stolen and sometimes.... murdered). To get to the bottom of all of this, these two Federal agents are assigned to go undercover and expose the “bad-guys”.
The story itself can be corny but dramatic in many scenes.
The opening and ending of the movie uses a “documentary” style voice-over to set up and conclude the story. The voice sounds upbeat... almost as if you’re watching a newsreel in a movie theatre in those days.
I always enjoy the “one-punch-and-he-gets-knocked-out” acting in these old movies.
The desert has to have quicksand... sure, it makes things tense when the good guy falls in but the quicksand look like a small pool full of sand. I can’t remember the last time I watched a modern day movie where people are dumped/fall into quicksand...
The soundtrack adds well to the tension especially at the beginning of the movie. It lessens the tension of the murder of innocent laborers.
Many scenes of the film are filmed at night so the photography is very “black”. One example would be when the “illegals” are told to turn the light off in their sleeping quarters. A conversation with the Mexican agent and a migrant worker continues after the light is turned off and the only thing illuminated are bits of their faces.
There are lots of strong performances here especially when Ricardo Montalban has to convince some tough guys during an interrogation that he’s not a cop/agent. There’s lots of passion in his voice and mannerisms... you can see this later in his career in Star Trek: the Wrath of Khan.
Would I watch this movie again? Perhaps, but not tomorrow. The movie can be quite tense (especially for a movie made in 1949), there’s probably enough action to keep you interested and the actors do an acceptable job with the simple plot.
I’d give this movie 3 stars out of 5.
