The Underworld Story
| The Underworld Story | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Cy Endfield |
| Produced by | Hal E. Chester |
| Screenplay by | Henry Blankfort Adaptation: Cy Endfield |
| Story by | Craig Rice |
| Starring |
Dan Duryea Herbert Marshall Gale Storm Howard Da Silva Michael O'Shea |
| Music by | David Rose |
| Cinematography | Stanley Cortez |
| Edited by | Richard V. Heermance |
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Production
company |
FilmCraft Productions
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| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Underworld Story is a 1950 American film noir crime film directed by Cy Endfield starring Dan Duryea, Herbert Marshall, Gale Storm, Howard Da Silva and Michael O'Shea. plays the loud-mouthed gangster Carl Durham, one of his last roles before becoming blacklisted.
The newspaperman played by Duryea is similar in tone (a reporter that does anything for publicity for himself regardless of ethics) to Kirk Douglas in Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole (1951). This B-movie was shot in black and white by director Cy Endfield and cinematographer Stanley Cortez.
When newspaper reporter Mike Reese (Duryea) loses his job at a big city paper he finds that no one else will hire him. Reese borrows money from a gangster and buys half the interest in a small-town newspaper, The Lakewood Gazette, in the town of Lakeville. The newspaper is owned by Catherine Harris (Storm), who immediately has differences with Reese on how the paper should operate. Reese, trying to use the paper as a step up, latches onto a murder of a woman who happens to be the daughter-in-law of a newspaper magnate. When a local black woman is suspected, Reese turns the story into a media circus and soon his reporting is back in the spotlight again. The film is notable for the pejorative use of the word "nigger", though this is clearly dubbed, not what was originally filmed.
The film was known as The Whip.
The New York Times film critic, Bosley Crowther, panned the film. He wrote, "It is so poorly made, so haphazard and so full of detectable holes that it carries no impact or conviction, regardless of credibility. Mr. Chester and his associates are free to proclaim, if they wish, that newspaper men are no good. We think the same of his film."
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