Illegal Entry ** (1949, Howard Duff, George Brent, Marta Toren, Tom Tully, Paul Stewart, Gar Moore) – Classic Movie Review 11,420

Illegal Entry (1949) is supposedly based on a real-life US Immigration Service case and is a bit of an advert for the bureau.

Director Frederick de Cordova’s 1949 Universal Pictures American black and white film noir crime thriller Illegal Entry stars Howard Duff, George Brent, Marta Toren, Tom Tully, Paul Stewart and Gar Moore.

Duff  stars as war veteran Bert Powers, who is signed up as an undercover agent by the US Government to block illegal entry to the United States through Mexico and to stop an illicit Mexican border immigrant smuggling operation. Anna O’Neill (Toren), who is in the criminals’ hands, helps him shop the gang.

Illegal Entry is supposedly based on a real-life Immigration Service bureau file. It has no special aspirations above the ordinary, maybe, but the noirish crime atmosphere, sturdy direction and the stalwart B-movie-style acting give it a lift.

The film is introduced by Attorney General Tom Clark and Watson B Miller, commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service under US President Harry S Truman in an attempt to explain the film’s treatment of the themes of illegal entry and unlawful residence in the US.

Swedish star Märta Torén appeared in 11 American films, including Casbah (1948), Rogues’ Regiment (1948), Illegal Entry (1949), Sword in the Desert (1949), One Way Street (1950), Spy Hunt [Panther’s Moon] (1950), Deported (1950), Mystery Submarine (1950), Sirocco (1951), Assignment – Paris (1952), and The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (1952), but died from a cerebral haemorrhage, aged only 31, on 19 February 1957.

Also in the cast are Joseph Vitale, Richard Rober, Clifton Young, David Clarke, Robert Osterloh, Anthony Caruso, Kenneth Tobey, Eric Feldary, James Nolan, Edward Clark, Ray Flynn, Lester Sharp, Donna Martell, Walden Boyle, Lionel Dante, Jack Ingram, Pierce Lyden, Sid Marion, Al Murphy and Rosa Turich.

Illegal Entry is directed by Frederick de Cordova, runs 84 minutes, is made and released by Universal Pictures, is written by Joel Malone and Art Cohn (adaptation), based on a story by Ben Bengal, Dan Tyler Moore, Herbert Kline, is shot in black and white by William H Daniels, is produced by Jules Schermer, is scored by Milton Schwarzwald, Hans J Salter, Daniele Amfitheatrof and Frank Skinner, and designed by Bernard Herzbrun.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,420

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