Tonight's Movie: Below the Deadline (1946) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

BELOW THE DEADLINE (1946) is a "B" crime film available on DVD from the Warner Archive.

This is a quick little 65-minute movie from Monogram Pictures. Is it very good? No. Did I enjoy it? Yes.

Warren Douglas plays Joe Hilton, a World War II vet whose brother Jeff (George Meeker) is murdered just as Joe is leaving the service.

Jeff was running a gambling establishment not necessarily completely on the up-and-up, and he made the wrong people angry. In short order Joe decides to take over the business; despite his impressive war record, it looks like Joe may be heading down the path to criminality.

Lynn Turner (Ramsay Ames), who works as a gambling hostess, has the potential to get Joe in trouble with the law because she's been hiding that she's underage. Joe falls for Lynn, but she breaks off dating him when she realizes he's determined to keep doing business with bad people. Joe's veteran friend Sam (Bruce Edwards) also doesn't have any luck convincing Joe to reform.

Joe's conscience keeps gnawing at him, though...

This is a fun little movie, written by Forrest Judd and Harvey Gates from a story by Ivan Tors. Warren Douglas tends to be a fairly wooden actor, but in this case it works for the character, an angry man who speaks in staccato dialogue. And some of the dialogue is pretty good, such as when one of Jeff's employees tells Joe "Sit down, you're nervous," and Joe brushes him off, saying "You'll have to get used to it."

Joe's transition from honorable veteran to shady businessman is encapsulated when he trades in his uniform for his late brother's pinstripe suit. He wastes zero time letting bad guys know who's in charge, pummeling people without much provocation.

Though not a particularly good actor, Douglas was also a prolific screenwriter, with his credits including films I've enjoyed such as the THE CRUEL TOWER (1956) and DRAGOON WELLS MASSACRE (1957).

I think the only thing I'd seen Ramsay Ames in before this movie was ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES (1944), in which she had a small role. She's a key reason I found BELOW THE DEADLINE worthwhile; I thought she was both attractive and personable and would like to see more of her movies. I was interested to read that she was long married to MAN OF LA MANCHA playwright Dale Wasserman.

BELOW THE DEADLINE was directed by William Beaudine. The supporting cast includes Jan Wiley, Paul Maxey, Philip Van Zandt, and John Harmon.

The movie was shot in black and white by Harry Neumann. It was interesting to note that the camera operator was William Clothier, who I wrote about in last night's post on BIG JAKE (1971). He worked on many John Wayne movies.

Another familiar name in the credits was producer Lindsley Parsons, who wrote early John Wayne films including THE MAN FROM UTAH (1934), which I recently saw.

The Warner Archive's manufactured-on-demand BELOW THE DEADLINE DVD, first made available in 2014, has a good print and sound. There are no extras.

BELOW THE DEADLINE may not be every viewer's cup of tea, but "B" movie aficionados will probably find it worth a look. I enjoyed it and would watch it again.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive DVDs may be ordered from the Warner Archive Collection Amazon Store or from any online retailers where DVDs are sold.

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