Main Cast: Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Howard Da Silva, James Mitchell, Arnold Moss
Release Year: 1949
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
As far removed from a "typical" MGM picture as it was possible to get back in 1949, Border Incident is a gritty, realistic crime melodrama. The story concerns the efforts by both the Mexican and American governments to stop the smuggling of Mexican migrant workers across the border. Representing Mexico is special agent Pablo Rodriguez (Ricardo Montalban), while Jack Bearnes (George Murphy) works on behalf of the US. Screenwriter John C. Higgins and producer/director Anthony Mann refuse to pull any punches, as witness the surprising mid-film murder of one of the major characters. Highlights include a harrowing episode involving a plowing machine and a climactic shootout in a quicksand swamp. The uniformly well-chosen supporting cast includes Howard da Silva, Arnold Moss, Alfonso Bedoya and Charles McGraw, "film noir" veterans all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Hans Peters - Art Director, Anthony Mann - Director, Conrad A. Nervig - Editor, Andre Previn - Composer (Music Score), Andre Previn - Musical Direction/Supervision, Jack Dawn - Makeup, John Alton - Cinematographer, Nicholas Nayfack - Producer, Ralph S. Hurst - Set Designer, Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer, Douglas Shearer - Sound/Sound Designer, George Zuckerman - Screen Story, John C. Higgins - Screenwriter
"Here is the All-American Canal. It runs through the desert for miles along the California-Mexico border... Farming in Imperial Valley... [requires] a vast army of farm workers... and this army of farm workers comes from our neighbor to the south, from Mexico. ... It is this problem of human suffering and injustice about which you should know. The following composite case is based upon factual information supplied by the Immigration and Naturalization Service..."
The story concerns two agents, one Mexican (PJF) and one American, who are tasked to stop the smuggling of Mexican migrant workers across the border to California. The two agents go undercover, one as a poor migrant.
Some memorable scenes in the dark, gritty film include a harrowing episode involving a mechanized harrow and a climactic shootout in a quicksand swamp.
"... the workers, now safe and secure, [are] living under the protection of two great republics, and the bounty of God Almighty."
Roger Westcombe writing compares the film to classic film westerns: "Yet far from a typical Western's sense of freedom, Border Incident shares with (director Mann's previous effort) T-Men that film's inky, submerged visual quality. These are 'wide' but not 'open' spaces, as Alton's beautifully registered grey-toned but grim visuals make the distant horizons as closed as the American border. The constant presence of vulnerable, innocent peasants adds a piquancy to Border Incident, raising the stakes from the destiny of a mere two police agents to that of an entire underclass."[2]
^Westcombe, Roger. Big House Film, review. Last accessed: December 25, 2007.
Additional references
Harry Tomicek: Das grosse Schwarz. Border Incident, von Anthony Mann, Kamera: John Alton (1949). In: Christian Cargnelli, Michael Omasta .(eds.): Schatten. Exil. Europäische Emigranten im Film noir. PVS, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-901196-26-9
