LeonLouisRicci As Left-Leaning as Hollywood Could get at the Time, it is Clifford Odets' Bouncy, Philosophical Dialog that Peppers this Picture with almost Every Line from Every Character Poetic Street Stuff that Keeps this Interesting among the many Characters and Intricate Plot.From a Novel by Cornell Woolrich (aka William Irish) the Pulpish Writer had much Success in the Middle-Brow World of Heavily Written Murder Mysteries, Hollywood took Notice and made His Novels into many Movies.This Film-Noir has all the Ingredients that make for a Recipe of Off Center Entertainment. It's Screenplay reminds of a Stage Play and is excessively Talky, but always Interesting. Susan Hayward gets most of the Acting Praise, but She is hardly much Better than the Stellar Cast of Paul Lukas and a host of Others.There are Amnesia, Blackmail, Murder, Red Herrings Galore, Deep Cynicism, and Shadowy Photography from Nicholas Muscara. It's a Web of Nighttime doings in the Big Apple. The Ending Reveals are Abrupt, Stunning, and Reflective.Overall, a Must See for Fans of Film-Noir, Susan Hayward, Clifford Odets and General Murder-Mystery Aficionados. A Superb and Dark Display of Regular People Caught Up in the Pain of Life. "Die and there is no trouble. Live and You struggle.", is only One of the Many Quotables.

AaronCapenBanner Bill Williams plays Alex Winkley, a sailor on leave who awakens from a drunken blackout to find a large sum of money on his person, which he believes belongs to a young woman named Edna(played by Lola Lane) whom he had helped the night before. Sadly, he finds her dead, and is unsure if he's guilty or not, but is helped by a dance hall girl(played by Susan Hayward) and a friendly taxi driver(played by Paul Lukas) to solve the mystery, which has many suspects, and he only has four more hours until he has to report back to his ship, or be AWOL. OK film noir has likable performances which compensate for the complicated mystery which ends up having a semi-surprising resolution.

dougdoepke A sailor gets mixed up in a woman's murder and has only a few hours to clear himself with the help of a bar girl and a cabbie.In short, the movie's a mess. The narrative simply makes little sense, relying on gaps in logic and transitions, plus an assortment of characters drifting in and out without reason. And though the principal cast does their best with poor material, their characters are more like one-dimensional types than real people (June-- the cynical cookie; Alex— the all-American innocent; Gus— the European philosopher). Following the narrative, however, is like watching pieces move on a chessboard, but without the squares. The movie suggests that screenwriter Odets clearly has a greater talent for dialog rather than for structure, but that problem may originate with novelist Woolrich who specialized in surreal nightmares. Nonetheless, this is not even a compelling nightmare.The movie is almost redeemed, however, by RKO's great visual team of Silvera, D'Agostino, and photographer Musuraca. They at least lend the limp proceedings a noirish sheen that keeps the eye interested even when the narrative falters. All in all, the 80-minutes amounts to a waste of talent, especially Hayward who fortunately went on to many bigger and better things.

kidboots Cornell Woolrich's "Deadline at Dawn" first saw the light of day as "Of Time and Murder" in a 1941 edition of Detective Fiction Weekly but cried out for an expansion treatment. In 1943 as "The Clock on the Paramount" it was re-submitted and published under the psuedonym of William Irish. Aside from Woolrich, the movie also bought in Clifford Odet's who wrote the screenplay and I, also, love the quirky and philosopical dialogue the characters utter. The film also captures the desperation and sometimes hopelessness of New York night people. None more so than June ("call me June, it rhymes with moon"). Susan Hayward's character was called "Bricky" in the original story, a more fitting name considering Susan Hayward's red hair!!June, a taxi dancer, has a dream to go home to her hometown of Norfolk, Virginia - she feels the city is keeping her a prisoner and she isn't strong enough to break it's grip. When she finds out that Alex (Bill Williams), a young sailor who she meets on the dance floor is going to meet his ship in Norfolk, she feels a special bond with him. In the book - in a Woolrich coincidence, they find they both come from the same town and both of them make a pact that, together, they should be strong enough to break the city's bonds. They give each other till dawn to solve the murder and then they can catch the train for a new life. The movie, with a wartime setting, doesn't have time for deeper feelings - Alex's train leaves at 6 a.m. and after that - who knows!! but June still has to help Alex clear himself of murder. Before he meets up with June, through a series of circumstances he awakes to find he has $1400 in his pocket. When he returns with June to Edna's (Lola Lane) apartment they find she has been murdered.The first scene is chilling, a woman appears to be dead, a fly crawls over her face, but then her eyes flicker - she is only asleep. It is Edna and she has just had a visit from her ex- husband (Marvin Miller), a blind pianist, who is angry because she hasn't got the $1400 she promised him. As well as being a prostitute, she has also a lucrative blackmailing business and as the night wears on many people pop up who may have a motive for murder!!This is a superlative film with marvelously created atmosphere of dark alleys, cheap apartments and lonely diners. Paul Lucas, who won an Oscar the year before for his performance in "Watch on the Rhine", has a role that really took him out of his comfort zone as Gus, a deep thinking cab driver. He picks up Alex who is chasing a nervous man who is running away from the apartment block but when they find the man, he is frantically looking for a vet!!! Gus forces Alex to confide in him. With only a couple of sets the claustrophobic action is mainly confined to the dead woman's apartment. Other people wander into the film, Edna's gangster brother (Joseph Calleia), a young couple who are having problems with the wife not telling her husband where she has gone on that particular night.Susan Hayward, spirited and vulnerable but looking like a million at the same time had just returned to the movies after giving birth to twins!!!