Pushover

Continuing the Columbia Noir series on the Criterion Channel is Pushover, a taut film from 1954, directed by Richard Quine. That it starred Fred MacMurray as another dumb sap in thrall to a femme fatale brought it unfavorable comparison to Double Indemnity, but otherwise the films are not similar, and while this is no classic it is a nice exercise in filmmaking, as it takes place mostly on one set.

MacMurray is a cop investigating a bank robbery (the robbery itself takes place over the credits, and is a terrific scene with out dialogue). He does a little undercover work by romancing the robber's moll (Kim Novak, in her film debut). Of course he gets in too deep, and figures he can have her and the loot. As with Double Indemnity, it doesn't go so well.

Much of the action is shot in an apartment building where the cops are staking out Novak, watching her every move, tapping her phone calls. During the climactic scenes, there's lot of maneuvering through the building, up and down the elevator, through the back stairs, on the roof, as MacMurray tries to work out his plan. As with any good noir, things go wrong--a cop that is supposed to be in a car outside has gone into a bar for a drink, and MacMurray is spotted by the "good" girl (Dorothy Malone) coming out of Novak's apartment.

MacMurray is a delight to watch, as he has panic etched on his face throughout. Also in the cast are Phil Carey, as his partner, and E.G. Marshall as their straight arrow superior. Novak, who would go to greater heights in Hitchcock's Vertigo, is sort of a stand-in for Marilyn Monroe here, but then again, any voluptuous blonde from that decade would be compared to her. Her breathy voice and sweaters were what sold her to audiences, but she wasn't a bad actress.