The Racket (1951 film)
| The Racket | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by |
John Cromwell Uncredited: Nicholas Ray Tay Garnett Sherman Todd Mel Ferrer |
| Produced by | Edmund Grainger |
| Screenplay by |
William Wister Haines W.R. Burnett |
| Based on | the play by Bartlett Cormack |
| Starring |
Robert Mitchum Lizabeth Scott Robert Ryan |
| Music by | Paul Sawtell |
| Cinematography | George E. Diskant |
| Edited by | Sherman Todd |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.75 million (US rentals) |
The Racket is a 1951 black-and-white film noir drama directed by John Cromwell with uncredited directing help from Nicholas Ray, Tay Garnett, Sherman Todd and Mel Ferrer. The production features Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, William Conrad and Ray Collins.
The film, a remake of the 1928 film The Racket, is based on the Bartlett Cormack play. (Edward G. Robinson played the racketeer in the original Broadway production.)
The plot is very close to the original play and 1928 movie. Racketeer and mobster Nick Scanlon (Ryan) has managed to buy several of the local government and law-enforcement officials of a large midwestern American city. However, he can't seem to touch the incorruptible police captain Tom McQuigg (Mitchum), who refuses all attempts at bribery. The city’s prosecuting attorney, Welch (Collins), and a police detective, Turk (Conrad), are crooked and make McQuigg's job as an honest officer nearly impossible.
McQuigg persuades a sexy nightclub singer (Scott) to testify against Scanlon, which makes her marked for death from the mob. McQuigg not only wants to nail Scanlon, but also stop all the mob corruption in the city – without getting himself or his witness killed. A bomb explodes near McQuigg's home, frightening his wife, Mary.
Honest cop Bob Johnson is helpful to McQuigg, as is reporter Dave Ames, who has a romantic interest in Irene. At the police precinct one night, Scanlon walks in alone demanding to see Irene and kills Johnson in cold blood. After a car chase, Scanlon is taken into custody. McQuigg ignores the gangster's lawyer, ripping up his writ of habeas corpus. McQuigg has the gun that killed Johnson, which has Scanlon's fingerprints on it.
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