The Bribe
| The Bribe | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Robert Z. Leonard |
| Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
| Screenplay by | Marguerite Roberts |
| Based on | the short story "The Bribe" by Frederick Nebel |
| Starring |
Robert Taylor Ava Gardner Charles Laughton |
| Music by | Miklós Rózsa |
| Cinematography | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| Edited by | Gene Ruggiero |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,984,000 |
| Box office | $2,510,000 |
The Bribe is a 1949 American crime film noir directed by Robert Z. Leonard and written by Marguerite Roberts, based on a story written by Frederick Nebel. The drama features Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton, and Vincent Price.
Federal agent Rigby (Robert Taylor) travels to Los Trancos on the island of Carlota (somewhere off the coast of Central America) to break up a war-surplus aircraft engine racket and finds himself tempted by corruption, namely Elizabeth Hintten (Ava Gardner), a café singer married to Tug Hintten (John Hodiak), a drunken ex-pilot.
Carwood (Vincent Price) is the brains of the outfit, aided and abetted by J.J. Bealer (Charles Laughton) and Hintten.
According to MGM records the movie earned $1,559,000 in the US and Canada and $951,000 overseas, resulting in a loss to the studio of $322,000.
Film critic Bosley Crowther lambasted the drama in his film review, writing, "If you plan to put down your money to see the Capitol's The Bribe, we suggest that you be prepared to write off this extravagance as a folly and nothing more. For The Bribe' is the sort of temptation which Hollywood put in the way of gullible moviegoers about twenty years ago. It's a piece of pure romantic fiction, as lurid as it is absurd. And if it didn't have several big 'names' in it, it would be low-man on a 'grind house' triple-bill...The only hint which the director, Robert Z. Leonard, gives that he may have meant it all as pure nonsense comes at the very end, when he blows up the place with pyrotechnics. That's the one appropriate move in the whole show."
Time Out film guide included the following in their review: "Price and Laughton make a formidable pair of heavies in this otherwise feeble thriller shot on a cheaply rigged-up corner of the MGM backlot. Taylor isn't up to moral dilemma as a US government agent sent to crack illicit aircraft engine trading in the Caribbean, yet tempted by a lucrative cash offer and the irresistible charm of café chanteuse Gardner."
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Wikipedia