Themes: Haunted By the Past, Amateur Sleuths, Femmes Fatales
Main Cast: James Bell, Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott, Morris Carnovsky, William Prince, Charles Cane, George Chandler, Wallace Ford, Marvin Miller
Release Year: 1947
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
In Dead Reckoning, Rip Murdock (Humphrey Bogart) recites the film's plotline to a priest in the confessional. Murdock and Johnny Drake (William Prince) are Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, en route to Washington by train. Drake hops off and disappears, leading Murdock on a hectic manhunt. Upon meeting Drake's former girlfriend Coral Chandler (Lizabeth Scott), Murdock is thrown into a maelstrom of intrigue involving a crooked gambler (Morris Carnovsky) and a complex blackmailing scheme. The upshot of this is that Murdock finds himself the prime suspect in a murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Dead Reckoning finds film noir favorite Humphrey Bogart in unusual territory -- he's no detective, just a guy who wants to discover the truth about his strange missing buddy. As a result, he's not as in control as usual, and has to struggle a little harder in a setting that is not so familiar to him. That setting turns out to be rather more brutal than might be expected, and there's an air of senseless brutality that hangs over the whole film. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the almost random nature of the film plays up its existential leanings. Fortunately, director John Cromwell doesn't let these leanings become overpowering, and overlays them with plenty of solid action, confusing plot twists and shady characters spouting the kind of classic hardboiled dialogue that is the hallmark of noir. As for Bogart, the character may be in strange circumstances, but he's no stranger to the actor. He plays the role with effortless skill, adding just enough depth in unexpected places to keep the audience on its toes. Lizabeth Scott does the best that she can, but she's hampered by the obvious insistence that she be a Lauren Bacall stand-in -- a misguided notion anyway, as Bacall's femmes generally stopped short of being as fatale as Coral Chandler. If Scott falls a little short of the mark required here, the cracked, throaty voice and penetrating beauty do count for a lot. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Stephen Goosson - Art Director, Rudolph Sternad - Art Director, Jean Louis - Costume Designer, Seymour Friedman - First Assistant Director, John Cromwell - Director, Gene Havlick - Editor, Marlin Skiles - Composer (Music Score), Morris W. Stoloff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Clay Campbell - Makeup, Leo Tover - Cinematographer, Sidney Biddell - Producer, Louis Diage - Set Designer, Jack A. Goodrich - Sound/Sound Designer, Steve Fisher - Screenwriter, Oliver H.P. Garrett - Screenwriter, Alan Rivkin - Screenwriter, Gerald Drayson Adams - Short Story Author
Just after World War II, paratroopers Captain Murdock (Humphrey Bogart) and Sergeant Johnny Drake (William Prince) are mysteriously ordered to travel to Washington, DC. When Drake learns that he is to be awarded the Medal of Honor (and Murdock the Distinguished Service Cross), he disappears before newspaper photographers can take his picture. Murdock follows the clues and tracks his friend to Gulf City, where he learns Drake is dead – burned to death in a car accident.
Murdock finds out that Drake joined the Army under an assumed name to avoid a murder charge. He was accused of killing a rich old man named Chandler because he was in love with his beautiful young wife Coral (Lizabeth Scott). Murdock goes to a nightclub to question Louis Ord (George Chandler), a witness in the murder trial. Ord reveals that Drake had given him a letter for Murdock. Murdock also meets Coral and Martinelli (Morris Carnovsky), the club owner, there. Murdock's drink is drugged. When he wakes up the next morning, he finds Ord's dead body planted in his hotel room. He manages to dispose of the corpse before police Lieutenant Kincaid (Charles Cane), responding to an anonymous tip, shows up to question him.
Murdock teams up with Coral. Suspecting that Martinelli had Ord killed in order to get the letter, Murdock breaks into his office, only to find the safe already open. Just before he is knocked unconscious by an unseen assailant, he smells jasmine, the same aroma as Coral's perfume. When Murdock awakens, Martinelli has him roughed up by his thug, Krause (Marvin Miller), to try to find out what is in the coded letter. However, Murdock manages to trick his captors and escape.
Now suspicious of Coral, Murdock goes to her apartment to confront her. She claims to be innocent, but finally admits that she shot her husband in self defense. She gave the murder weapon to Martinelli to dispose of, but he has been blackmailing her ever since. In love with her himself, Murdock agrees to leave town with her, but decides to retrieve the incriminating weapon first, despite Coral's fears. He threatens Martinelli with a gun, eliciting some startling revelations. The club owner reveals that Coral is his wife. He killed Chandler and framed Drake so that Coral could inherit the estate before the bigamy could be discovered. Murdock gets what he came for and forces Martinelli to precede him out of the building. As he opens the door, Martinelli is shot and killed.
Murdock jumps into the waiting car and drives off with Coral. As they are speeding away, he accuses her of having just tried to kill him. When she shoots him, the car crashes. He survives, but she suffers fatal injuries. In the hospital, Murdock comforts her in her final moments.
The New York Times gave the film a mixed review, praising Bogart as "beyond criticism in a role such as 'Dead Reckoning' affords him", with "some of the best all-around dialogue he has had in a long time."[1] However, it was less kind to his co-star, Scott, "whose face is expressionless and whose movements are awkward and deliberate."[1] Though the plot was considered to be "rambling" and Bogart's character's actions not particularly plausible at times, "the suspense is skillfully drawn out."[1]
