THE RACKET: Saved By The Olives

THE RACKET (Blu-ray)

1951 / 89 min

Warner Archive Collection

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😽

Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan are a couple o’ film noir olives. 

There was a time when I decided to make martinis my drink of choice, probably because people in the movies looked cool drinking them. Then I actually tried one and…eh. As mixed drinks go, I suppose they do the job if you wanna cop a buzz, but I didn’t think there was anything all that special about it, save for the two plump olives marinating on a toothpick. Those were delicious, and I’m pretty sure I looked cool stirring my drink with ‘em.

If it was the olives I loved, I’d be better off sticking with a Bloody Mary, where a couple o’ fat Manzanillas make an already tasty beverage absolutely perfect. It’s the same with the two Roberts when it comes to film noir. Take 1947’s Crossfire, for example (which actually had three Roberts). Already a solid film, the presence of Mitchum, Ryan (and Young!) made it really crackle.

If Crossfire is a film noir Bloody Mary, then 1951’s The Racket is an example of a martini. It’s certainly watchable, but for the most part, it’s a standard-issue story of a big city police captain taking-on corruption and organized crime. For fans of the genre, there aren’t a hell of a lot of surprises, though John Cromwell’s meat-and-potatoes direction keeps the story moving fairly efficiently. But by throwing in a couple o’ Roberts, The Racket is suddenly a little more memorable.

"Eew...this one's mushy."

If there was such a thing as the Film Noir Hall of Fame, Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan would be among the first inducted. They bring their indomitable badassery to characters that would have been forgettable otherwise. As the incorruptible Captain McQuigg, Mitchum is enjoyably stoic and unflappable. Ryan’s even more fun as Nick Scanlon, a hot-headed gangster whose violent methods bely his organization’s efforts to discreetly influence local politics. Ryan has been a bad guy or anti-hero in enough films that he could probably do it in his sleep, but who better to turn your generic antagonist into someone truly intimidating?

This is actually based on a popular Broadway play, so maybe the overall lack of action is indicative of the story’s stage origins. The Racket is ultimately second-tier noir, and its two stars have certainly done better films before and since. But they make it more palatable, much like the olives in my martini.

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AUDIO COMMENTARY - By the one & only Eddie Muller, who’s always worth listening to.

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