Riffraff (1947 film)
| Riff-Raff | |
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Movie poster
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| Directed by | Ted Tetzlaff |
| Produced by | Nat Holt |
| Written by | Martin Rackin |
| Starring |
Pat O'Brien Anne Jeffreys Walter Slezak |
| Music by | Roy Webb |
| Cinematography | George E. Diskant |
| Edited by | Philip Martin |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Language | English |
Riff-Raff is a 1947 black-and-white film starring Pat O'Brien, Anne Jeffreys and Walter Slezak. Considered a minor film noir entry more in the adventure genre, it was directed by Ted Tetzlaff, who also directed The Window (1949) and worked as a cinematographer for over 100 films, including another successful suspense film, Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946). The music was composed by Roy Webb and Joan Whitney.
A cargo plane leaves Peru, bound for Panama with two passengers during a storm. When one of the two pilots goes to check on an opened door, Charles Hasso (Marc Krah) claims he tried but failed to prevent the other passenger from jumping to his death. Upon landing, Hasso is questioned by Major Rues (George Givot) of the Panamanian secret police, but is released as there were no witnesses. Hasso takes with him the deceased's briefcase, in which he finds a map.
Hasso hires private investigator Dan Hammer (Pat O'Brien) to be his bodyguard for a couple of days. While Hammer is changing, Hasso secretly pins the map to Hammer's bulletin board.
Hammer receives an urgent summons from oil executive Walter Gredson (Jerome Cowan), so he arranges to meet Hasso later at his hotel room. Gredson hires Hammer to find Hasso and the map, which shows the locations of unregistered oil wells in Peru that his company has bought.
Later, in a nightclub, Hammer is attracted to singer Maxine Manning (Anne Jeffreys). He invites her to come by his office after work, unaware that she is spying on him for her boyfriend, Gredson. Tourist Eric Molinar (Walter Slezak) tries to hire him as a guide, but Hammer turns him down.
When Hammer goes to see Hasso, he finds Hasso's body in the overflowing hotel room bathtub. As the search for the map continues, Maxine starts falling for Hammer and switches sides. Meanwhile, Molinar reveals that he is also after the map. He has his two thugs try to beat its location out of the detective, but Hammer has no idea where it is.
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Wikipedia