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Desperate

Play trailer Poster for Desperate 1947 1h 13m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Gangster Radak (Raymond Burr) and his cronies try to coerce truck driver Steve (Steve Brodie) into shipping stolen goods, but Steve manages to tip off the police and foil the crooks. Radak evades capture, but his brother ends up gunning down a policeman and going to jail. Radak and his men attempt to pressure Steve into taking the fall for the killing, using the well-being of the trucker's wife, Anne (Audrey Long), as leverage. But Anne and Steve manage to skip town, and the chase is on.
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Desperate

Critics Reviews

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Geoffrey O'Brien The New York Review of Books 08/13/2018
B-movie as country-and-western ballad, seventy-three minutes of total involvement followed by oblivion: except for one's lingering uneasiness about unlit corners and warehouses near the river. Go to Full Review Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid 07/16/2010
[Has] Mann's sense of coiled violence, just waiting to unload. Go to Full Review Kelly Vance East Bay Express 05/05/2010
The story is standard urban crime stuff, but the director throws in a treasure trove of flourishes. Go to Full Review Michael E. Grost Classic Film and Television 08/09/2007
Nicely done crime thriller, with some great visual set pieces. Go to Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 01/01/2000
B-
Anthony Mann is a master at directing these cheapie films and making them look stylish. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alain E @AlainE Nov 11 One expects after the characterization of B movie to see ridiculous acting or plot, but actually the movie provides pretty solid entertainment. For the ending we could have a gloomy outcome or a satisfactory conclusion. Either choice would have been valid. The cinematography and music was also pretty successful. See more Bob W 11/08/2023 The femme fatale in this movie lured and trapped a man by using home-cooked deserts. This short film could be a study in noir cinematography. The angles, the lighting, the shapes and shadows...  Raymond Burr's best. Oddly unbelievable character behaviors prevent this from being rated higher. See more Dallas H 08/12/2023 I enjoy watching classic black-and-white film noir. RKO Radio Pictures made this movie as a B-picture and has Raymond Burr playing the villain role, which I find pretty entertaining. See more Dar W 07/30/2023 Great noir. Ray Burr was THE best bad guy in noir. See more 08/03/2022 Why he the victim didn't just go straight to the police is not well explained. If only he'd listened to his lovely wife. Acting is well done however with Raymond Burr a 1st class thug. See more 11/05/2019 One of Anthony Mann's more stylish film noir entries. Raymond Burr's screen presence as a villain is always amazing. Add to that some long shadows and swinging overhead lamps and you can add anything else you like. Not as hard-hitting as "Raw Deal" but it's in the same ballpark. See more Read all reviews
Desperate

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Anthony Mann

Director

Steve Brodie

Steve Randall

Audrey Long

Mrs. Anne Randall

Raymond Burr

Walt Radak

Douglas V. Fowley

Pete Lavitch

William Challee

Reynolds

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Desperate

Desperate (1947) Desperate (1947) Desperate (1947) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Gangster Radak (Raymond Burr) and his cronies try to coerce truck driver Steve (Steve Brodie) into shipping stolen goods, but Steve manages to tip off the police and foil the crooks. Radak evades capture, but his brother ends up gunning down a policeman and going to jail. Radak and his men attempt to pressure Steve into taking the fall for the killing, using the well-being of the trucker's wife, Anne (Audrey Long), as leverage. But Anne and Steve manage to skip town, and the chase is on.
Director
Anthony Mann
Producer
Michael Kraike
Screenwriter
Harry Essex
Production Co
RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 13m
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