gavin6942 After borrowing $20 from his employer's cash register, an auto mechanic is plunged into a series of increasingly disastrous circumstances which rapidly spiral out of his control.Directed by Irving Pichel shortly before he was blacklisted for suspected Communist activities, the film has been described as "film noir in a teacup... a pretty nifty little picture" in which Rooney "cast himself against his Andy Hardy goody goody image." Rooney stills comes across as a mostly harmless, innocent man in this film, but it may be a bit shadier than people had seen before.Rooney co-financed "Quicksand" with Peter Lorre, but their shares of the profits were reportedly left unpaid by a third partner. Most of the film was shot on location in Santa Monica, California, with exterior scenes at the old Santa Monica Pier. Jazz cornetist Red Nichols with His Five Pennies group are seen and heard in a nightclub scene.Peter Lorre's fellow actors in "Quicksand" were impressed with his performances on the set. Commenting on the film in a later interview, Jeanne Cagney observed the following about Lorre: "He did it with all his might. Even though the picture was not a top drawer film he still approached it as if it were the 'A' picture of all 'A' pictures." Indeed, with all due respect to Rooney, Lorre is the real star and the reason this film remains worth seeing today (2017).

Byron Holmes I'm not sure why MST3K never caught this on the radar; it's the type of movie that would be vastly improved by a riff.Everything that was wrong with the Hays Code is shown here: a forgettable plot, pointless exposition, a slight embezzlement unrealistically leading to attempted murder, protagonists with the personality of concrete, and mediocre writing.For what it's worth, though, Mickey Rooney does at least TRY in this movie, even though it doesn't save the film.Bottom line, get some of your friends together and tear this film apart; you'll have more fun that way.

edwagreen Something very different for Mickey Rooney in this 1950 film. For just like in quicksand, once you enter, you go deeper and deeper. The surprise here was the ending since you would think it was all downhill for Rooney.Jeanne Cagney is the femme fatale here. She is quite a temptress who further drags Rooney down to near-murder. In the same year that she had a brief part in the Oscar winning "All About Eve," as Anne Baxter's pursuer from Erasmus Hall High School, Barbara Bates has a pretty meaty part here as the decent girl caught up in Rooney's downhill slide.The film is a perfect example of how doing one thing wrong just seems to spiral out of control.

Cristi_Ciopron Not only is the delightful blonde Jeanne my favorite from the Cagney family, but QUICKSAND registers as an admirably made thriller, and your surprise at discovering this movie's awesome quality will be simultaneous with the one given by an exquisite cast—Rooney, Mrs. Cagney and Lorre who gives here one of his most accomplished roles. And one characteristic of this flick is that, by its gusto and atmosphere, it makes Lorre's performance look neat and appropriate. Built like a folk tale, QUICKSAND has the symbolic topography required. Part of the disconcerting atmosphere are also the scenes with short actors—e.g., those where Lorre, Rooney and Mrs. Cagney are together in the frame. In fact, she looked taller than Rooney.Jeanne Cagney plays a mean woman, and Rooney is shown as symbolically disputed by two opposed women; in fact, almost everything seems, in this folk tale, naively symbolical. The events are symbolical; the topography, as noted, the surroundings, the sets, the hall of games, the net of streets where people get lost, are seen, find each other. And the tale is handled with a secret joy, a secret enjoyment.Rooney's performance is particularly good, served by his air of a naughty adolescent. It also gives the movie that suggestion of marveled realism. Like in the folk—tales, the impression is that of plausible facts given as a morality.Lorre's role doesn't suggest the cliché, nor a stock character, but an energetic brio in making a meaningful character from just a few traits; and from here it is that Lorre can show what a master he was.Peculiar, I would add, to this extremely peculiar noir movie is its freshness and its sense of excitement; as a noir, it looks masterful. I could add only a handful of _noirs this good.QUICKSAND is characterized by freshness, brio, genuine excitement, neatness in execution and admirable clarity, a marvelous handling of a simple tale, and an almost unmatched atmosphere, a peculiar sense of the atmosphere, which boosts the choice cast's performances. It nicely sums some of the traits that are defining for the American cinema. Eddie Muller, a terrific noir connoisseur, is a bit wrong not including QUICKSAND in his list of the 25 best _noirs.A word about Jeanne Cagney—this blonde, a bit meaty, streetwise, ironic, had the artistic brio of her family; she was given such popular roles as a woman of energy and strength. And if her career was somewhat discreet, it was also fairly mentionable. She was 31 yrs in QUICKSAND. From 20 yrs to 46 she has been in the movies, gracing them with her maybe unglamorous but electrifying appeal and genuine beauty. QUICKSAND is perhaps her most noted movie and role.A lot of plain rubbish is hailed nowadays as noir classics; QUICKSAND deserves, by its admirable qualities of style, directing, atmosphere, pace, cast, performances, charm, sense of storytelling, a place in any top 10. And Jeanne Cagney was hot.