The story of Abandoned is ripped from the headlines circa 1949. It’s about a baby selling ring in post-war Los Angeles. When I write about film noir, I pronounce it with a hard G like old school Angelinos. I learned that from my LA relatives back in the day. Not sure what day it was….
As always, I use the actor’s name in lieu of the character name. It’s easier to remember that way. Why make things hard on yourself? It’s just Chinatown, Jake.
TV’s Gale Storm plays a woman in search of her missing sister who turns out to be pregnant and one of the “clients” of the adoption ring. The head of the ring is played by veteran character actress Marjorie Rambeau. She has a colorful group of henchmen and hangers on including film noir regulars Raymond Burr and Mike Mazurki. The gang eventually turns on Burr who tried to have it both ways:
Sorry for the digitally watermarked picture. It was the only one I could find of Mazurki choking Burr. Mazurki is best known for his bravura performances in Murder My Sweet and Night and the City. He invariably played a villain or dumb jock. Mazurki was even on Perry Mason, the show not the cat:
If you feared I had abandoned Abandoned, fear not. Let’s get back to it.
One of my film noir faves, Dennis O’Keefe, plays a smart ass reporter who helps Gale Storm bust the racket and find her sister. Oops, I just gave away more of the plot than usual, so today’s edition *could* be called pulp spoilers. Woe is me.
Abandoned is a low budget movie that punches above its weight. In fact, it packs a considerable wallop thanks to director Joe Newman, cinematographer William Daniels, and the zippy-n-witty script by Irwin Gielgud and William Bowers. Bowers was known for writing snappy patter and his fingerprints are all over O’Keefe’s character. I wonder if they dusted Dennis for prints.
William Bowers went on to play the chief committee counsel in Godfather II. He’s the guy in the middle below:
There’s something about Abandoned that brings on my digressive side. What can ya do?
Grading Time: I give Abandoned 3 stars and an Adrastos Grade of B. It’s a solid and well-acted thriller.
It’s poster time. We begin with side-by-side half sheets:
I’m feeling quadrophenic right now. FYI, I’m pro-mod but not anti-rocker. That has nothing to do with quad posters but everything to do with The Who.
I almost posted 5:15 but decided to go to the lobby as usual.
I think the first dancing box is a rocker. The candy box is clearly a mod.
Time to stop being a card and post the Abandoned lobby card collection:
The trailer is nowhere to be found on the YouTube but the movie itself is. I’ll just link to it because videos like that have a way of vanishing like a stolen baby.
The last word goes to Eddie Muller with his Noir Alley intro and outro for this week’s featured feature film.
