Pushover (film)
| Pushover | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Richard Quine |
| Produced by | Jules Schermer |
| Screenplay by | Roy Huggins |
| Based on | the novels The Night Watch and Rafferty by Thomas Walsh Bill S. Ballinger |
| Starring |
Fred MacMurray Philip Carey Kim Novak |
| Music by | Arthur Morton |
| Cinematography | Lester White |
| Edited by | Jerome Thoms |
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Production
company |
Columbia Pictures
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $400,000 |
Pushover is a 1954 American film noir crime film directed by Richard Quine starring Fred MacMurray, Philip Carey and Kim Novak in her first credited role. The motion picture was adapted from two novels, The Night Watch by Thomas Walsh and Rafferty by William S. Ballinger.
Honest cop Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) is tasked to recover $200,000 after a bank robbery. He and other officers maintain a 24-hour surveillance on Lona McLane (Kim Novak), a girlfriend of one of the robbers.
Sheridan quickly falls in love with Lona, who, when she finds out he's a policeman, tries to persuade him to kill Harry Wheeler (Paul Richards) so the two can take off with the cash. He initially resists, but eventually agrees.
After the killing, Sheridan finds that he also has to betray fellow detective Paddy Dolan and deceive partner Rick McAllister and their boss Lieutenant Eckstrom to cover his tracks. Almost all the action takes place at night in the U-shaped apartment building where Lona and a key eyewitness, neighbor Ann Stewart, both live.
The film was known during shooting as The Killer Wore a Badge. MacMurray's fee was $75,000. The outdoor scenes were filmed on the streets of Burbank, California. Prominent, is the old Magnolia Theater, on Magnoila Street. This film has a lot of good classic car shots, for those who enjoy them.
Most critics seemed to find the film's plot similar to other film noir, with some specifically comparing it to Double Indemnity. The New York Times review pointed out, "Fred MacMurray is going through the motions of his 'Double Indemnity' role in a mild facsimile."
However, Kim Novak is usually singled out as a rising photogenic star. Chicago Reader film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, "An aging cop (Fred MacMurray) falls in love with a bank robber's girlfriend (Kim Novak in her first major role, and if you're as much of a pushover for her early work as I am, you can't afford to miss this)."
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Wikipedia