Black Tuesday *** (1954, Edward G Robinson, Peter Graves, Jean Parker) – Classic Movie Review 11,373

‘The most ruthless Edward G Robinson of all time’ stars in the tense 1954 film noir crime thriller Black Tuesday.

Director Hugo Fregonese’s 1954 American film noir crime thriller Black Tuesday stars Edward G Robinson and Peter Graves as Death Row prisoners who escape from jail with hostages, helped away from the cops by gangster’s moll (Jean Parker).

Vincent Canelli (Robinson) wants to pick up Graves’s loot, but they get pinned down by the cops in a warehouse attic. Canelli (Robinson) has taken along five hostages, including a priest, and he threatens to kill them if he is not let free.

Black Tuesday is an old-style prison breakout movie with a smart noir look thanks to the cinematography by Stanley Cortez, a good quota of shootouts and action thanks to the source story by Dorothy Yost, and tasty hardboiled dialogue thanks to the screenplay by Sydney Boehm. All that, plus sharp performances by a good cast and tense direction by Fregonese make this familiarly themed crime melodrama very watchable.

Robinson, going through his old 1930s tough-guy act one more time, must have thought he was back on the old Warner Bros lot in the golden years, and he is very impressive as the ruthless, violent gangster Vincent Canelli.

Also in the cast are Milburn Stone, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, James Bell, Vic Perrin [Victor Perrin], Hal Baylor, Harry Bartell, Simon Scott, Russell Johnson, Frank Ferguson, Sylvia Findley, Phil Pine, and William Schallert.

Black Tuesday is directed by Hugo Fregonese, runs 80 minutes, is made by Leonard Goldstein Productions, released by United Artists, is written by Sydney Boehm, based on a story by Dorothy Yost, is shot in black and white by Stanley Cortez, is produced by Leonard Goldstein and Robert Goldstein, and is scored by Paul Dunlap.

It was released in the US on 31 December 1954 (New York City).

The cast are Edward G Robinson as Canelli, Jean Parker as Hatti, Peter Graves as Manning, Milburn Stone as Father Slocum, Warren Stevens as Joey Stewart, Sylvia Findley as Ellen Norris, Jack Kelly as Carson, James Bell as John Norris, Vic Perrin as Dr Hart, Russell Johnson as Howard Sloane, Frank Ferguson as Police Inspector Hailey, Hal Baylor, Harry Bartell, Simon Scott, Phil Pine, and William Schallert.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,373

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