Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

Dave Burke (Ed Begley) has a plan. The disgraced former New York City cop, disillusioned with the system, has been dreaming of the perfect bank heist. He's been keeping an eye on a small town bank and Burke knows exactly when to strike. He enlists two friends to help him pull off the heist. First there's Earle Slater (Robert Ryan), an ex-con who is trying to make things right with his live-in girlfriend Lorry (Shelley Winters). Unable to support her financially, he takes Burke up on his offer to make a quick $50k with the robbery. Then there's Johnny Ingram (Harry Belafonte), a jazz singer who is deep in debt with his local bookies. He's separated from his wife Ruth (Kim Hamilton) and their daughter Eadie and knows he won't be able to come back to old life unless he gets himself out of this mess. But Burke has two problems. Slater is a terrible racist and unwilling to work with Johnny. And Burke has to seek out the head bookie and his team of thugs to put the pressure on Ingram. Burke's plan is solid but can Slater and Ingram stop butting heads long enough to execute the robbery?

Directed by Robert Wise, Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) is a film noir with a social agenda. The story of racial tension in 1950s America is effectively told through the lens of a bank heist drama.

***SPOILER STARTS***

The final scene of Odds Against Tomorrow delivers a poignant message: in the end we're all the same. After botching the bank heist because Slater (Robert Ryan) wouldn't trust Ingram (Harry Belafonte) with a key, they chase each other to fuel storage center. They meet their demise when a shoot out causes a massive explosion. The police discover their charred remains and any identifier of race or status is completely gone.

***SPOILER ENDS***

Shot on location in Manhattan and upstate New York, the film is gritty and real. Harry Belafonte, who was at the height of his music career, has the lead role and top billing. The movie was produced by his company HarBel Productions, Inc. and released through United Artists. It was remarkable for its time for having an African-American lead actor in a film noir. HarBel Productions was in negotiations with Richard Widmark for the role of Slater but eventually the part went to Robert Ryan. Widmark and Ryan were both perfect for the role so it was no loss either way. Ryan, who was a champion for civil rights, was at first hesitant to play Slater. According to Ryan biographer J.R. Jones, he said "a great many people realize that the characters they see on the screen are fictional or created but there is a substantial group that does not make that distinction." Recognizing the quality of the script and the significance of the movie, Ryan eventually agreed.

Ryan who played an anti-semitic character in Crossfire (1947) is reunited with his co-star in that film Gloria Grahame. Grahame has a small role in Odds Against Tomorrow as the next-door neighbor turned temptress Helen. Her part doesn't quite make sense for the movie except to inject the film with a bit of sex. Grahame and Ryan have a steamy scene when Helen's attempts to flirt with Slater get her more than she bargained for. In one racy shot, Ryan rips open Grahame's robe. According to the AFI,

"Gloria Grahame threatened a $100,000 lawsuit against United Artists, demanding they refrain from using certain photos of her in publicity for the film on the grounds that they were candid and taken without her knowledge. The photographs were taken by co-star Robert Ryan. The outcome of Grahame's demand has not been determined." 

I'd be remiss not to point out some of the fine performances in this film. Beyond Belafonte and Ryan, Ed Begley is adept at playing a character that is equal parts dark and sympathetic. I wanted more from Shelley Winters who is always a delight to watch on screen. I felt like her part was lacking. I was particularly fascinated with Richard Bright's Coco, one of Bacco's bookie thugs who antagonizes Johnny Ingram. There is a sadistic homoerotic tension between the two characters. His character reminded me a bit of Neville Brand's part in D.O.A. (1950). Robert Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson have bit parts as employees of the underground jazz club.

Odds Against Tomorrow was based on William P. McGivern's novel by the same name. It was adapted to screen by screenwriter Abraham Polonsky and Nelson Gidding. Polonsky, an unabashed Marxist and former member of the Communist Party, was blacklisted in 1951. He was named by actor Sterling Hayden and when brought to the HUAC  Polonsky refused to testify. For Odds Against Tomorrow, he used the name of left-wing African-American author John O. Killens as a front. It wasn't until 1996 that the WGA finally gave Polonsky credit for his work on this film. Before being blacklisted, Polonsky had written and directed Force of Evil (1948).

Fans of French cinema need to watch Odds Against Tomorrow particularly for the impact it had on director Jean-Pierre Melville. He was heavily influenced by Wise's film, watched it over 80 times and kept his own 35mm copy. Throughout his career, Melville would make references to Odds Against Tomorrow in his own movies.

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Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) is available on Blu-Ray from Olive Films. Many thanks to Olive Films for sending me a copy to review.

Must See Sci-Fi by Sloan De Forest

Must See Sci-Fi
50 Movies That are Out of This World
by Sloan De Forest
Foreword by Roger Corman
TCM/Running Press
Paperback ISBN: 9780762491520
May 2018

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"The most memorable science-fiction movies are ones that defy our expectations." - Sloan De Forest

Science-fiction has always been a genre I've steered clear of. Having seen a smattering of films here and there, I came to the conclusion that this genre was not for me. When I went to the TCM Classic Film Festival back in April, the newest book published by the TCM and Running Press imprint, Must See Sci-Fi was in my welcome bag. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Should I keep it? Should I hand it off to someone else? Fast forward a couple months later and my husband and I are at the beach. I brought a stack of classic film books with me, including this one, to film my Summer Reading video. My husband immediately picked up Must See Sci-Fi, commented several times about how good the book was but grumbled about how it was missing one of his favorite Sci-Fi movies Dune. I decided to give it a whirl and the end result surprised me.

Whatever Sloan De Forest is selling I am buying. With this one book, she made me a bonafide Sci-Fi convert. What exactly have I been missing all these years? De Forest adeptly makes it clear. With each of the 50 films highlighted, she elevates them with her deep research and thoughtful insights while also knocking down any misconceptions or trepidations I had of watching these movies. This is more than a collection of movies with a little bit of trivia and some fun stills to look at. De Forest explores how each of these entries into the sci-fi genre questions and comments on society of the era by looking into an alternate future. De Forest also makes connections between early science fiction movies and newer ones tracing the influence they had decades later. She also explores the filmmaking process, what brought the different filmmakers to each project and the impact the film had on the industry and its audiences.

Alphaville (1965)

Things to Come (1936)

The Invisible Man (1933)

Arranged in chronological order, the book starts with A Trip to the Moon (1902) and ends with Arrival (2016). Classic film fans will want to read about early sci-fi films including Metropolis (1927), Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man (1933), Things to Come (1936), It Came From Outer Space (1953), Them! (1954), Godzilla (1954), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Blob (1958), The Time Machine (1960), Alphaville (1965),  Barbarella (1968), Planet of the Apes (1968), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and many more. Each film gets its own five page section with poster art, film stills, behind-the-scene photos as well as De Forest's take on the film's significance and how it came to be made (and in some cases remade). Each section also includes three 'Far-Out Facts", one description of a "Mind-Blowing Moment" and two related recommendations listed under 'Keep Watching". There are some spoilers but not too many. When I sensed one coming on, I skipped over a few sentences with a mental note to return once I had seen the movie.

Now to put on my book publishing geek hat on. Running Press is publishing the books in the TCM Must See series in sturdy paperbacks with french flaps. These are much easier to hold than the Into the Dark film noir book which was bigger and published in a paper-over-board hardcover. The Sci-Fi book is in full-color and I loved the design and choice of font. Overall the format lent itself to a very enjoyable reading experience.

Must See Sci-Fi is one of the best film books I've read in a long time. Sloan De Forest is a marvelous writer and thoroughly convincing in her enthusiasm for the genre. While I had seen some of the films featured in the book, I hadn't seen the majority of them. I come away from this book with an open mind and a nice list of new-to-me films to discover.

If you haven't already, check out my interview with Sloan De Forest about this book and her love of sci-fi.

GIVEAWAY (CONTEST OVER)

Thanks to the good folks at Running Press, I have 5 copies of Must See Sci-Fi up for grabs.


Rules and Regulations: Must be 18+ or over. US Only. You can only enter one time follow one or both prompts. Must follow prompts as indicated below. Incomplete entries will not be acknowledged. Contest ends Thursday August 2nd, 2018 at midnight EST. 5 winners will be chosen the following day and announced below and contacted via e-mail.

To enter: 

• Leave a comment below telling me what your favorite science fiction movie is and why. Make sure you include your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win. (Edited to add: E-mail addresses have been removed from comments below)

• For an additional entry, follow my Instagram @QuelleMovies and leave your username in the comment section below. You can include it in your original entry. Doesn't have to be a separate comment.

Five winners are:

1) Lux
2) Greg
3) The Pop Culturallists
4) Chris
5) Caitlin

This is my second review for the Summer Reading Challenge.

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Interview with Sloan De Forest, author of Must See Sci-Fi

Sloan De Forest. Photo credit: Manoah Bowman

I've had the privilege of interviewing Sloan De Forest, author of Must See Sci-Fi: 50 Movies That are Out of This World (TCM/Running Press). She's an actress, writer and film historian and has written about film for Sony, Time Warner Cable, the Mary Pickford Foundation, and Bright Lights Film Journal. She's contributed essays to the books Natalie Wood: Reflections on a Legendary Life and Grace Kelly: Hollywood Dream Girl.

I'll be posting my review of her book (spoiler alert, it's rocking my world right now) and hosting a giveaway later this week. In the meantime, enjoy the interview:


Raquel Stecher: Tell us about your background as a film historian and your connection to old Hollywood.

Sloan De Forest: I took the circuitous route to become a film historian. I started as an actor and aspiring screenwriter. I did take some acting classes, but I mostly learned to act from watching those timeless performances by the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Carole Lombard, and others. Turner Classic Movies was my college major! So I fell in love with classic film on my own before discovering it’s in my blood – my great-great uncle was Lee De Forest, who invented the sound-on-film process for talking pictures in 1923. He was the first to capture the voices of Elsa Lanchester, Una Merkel, and others on film, and provided a music soundtrack to Pola Negri’s first Hollywood film. That was an exciting connection to discover.

Lee De Forest

Stecher: How did you first fall in love with the science fiction genre?

De Forest: It may have started the summer I turned 11, when I was visiting my grandparents in the country and there was nothing to do but watch old movies on television. I saw The Blob and the 1958 version of The Fly, which had a real impact on me. I also discovered old Twilight Zone episodes that summer. I didn’t consciously realize that I was falling in love with sci-fi, but those images stayed in my mind. Then in the '90s, Mystery Science Theater 3000 was my gateway into Ed Wood, then into Roger Corman, which led me to classics like Forbidden Planet. I think because of their outrageous production design and costumes, Forbidden Planet and Barbarella were the sci-fis that fascinated me as a teenager. Well, those and Plan 9 from Outer Space.

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Stecher: How did you come to work on Must See Sci-Fi?

De Forest: As a first-time author, I was incredibly lucky. Fellow TCM author Manoah Bowman is someone I had met through a mutual friend. He knew I was a writer, editor, and Natalie Wood fan, so he hired me to contribute to his 2016 book Natalie Wood: Reflections on a Legendary Life. From there, I had a foot in the door to write my own TCM book. It just so happened they were looking for someone to write a must-see guide for science fiction, and so it worked out perfectly.

Stecher: How did you curate the list of 50 science fiction movies for the book?

De Forest: With great difficulty! But seriously. There was quite a bit of friendly back-and-forth between me and TCM before settling on a final 50. Ultimately, you’re never going to please everyone with this kind of book, so it’s somewhat subjective. We wanted to include the most memorable, the most groundbreaking, and the most impactful films of the genre and I believe we succeeded. Even if we left out some that are great movies, I tried to include them in the Keep Watching section or at least mention them in the text. So I actually discuss A LOT more than 50 movies.

Stecher: What kind of research did you do for the book?

De Forest: I watched and re-watched all the films, of course, even if I had already seen them many times. Next I read books about the making of the films when I could, and went to the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills, which is a great resource for production files, press books, and clippings. I kept my online research to a minimum because—even though there are some great and highly reputable websites—I tried to avoid repeating all the same old information available on Wikipedia. But with some of these classics like Star Wars for example, repetition is impossible to avoid, because everything there is to know is already common internet knowledge. But I tried to dig deep—in old newspaper archives, for example—and find a few nuggets.

Stecher: Which movies did you leave out that you wish could have made the cut?

De Forest: I wanted to include a couple of my personal favorites, like Galaxy Quest and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. I don’t think Sky Captain is strictly considered science fiction, but I am fascinated by that movie. There’s nothing else like it. As for Galaxy Quest, I’m not sure why it didn’t make the cut, but you can’t have everything! I already negotiated to get Alphaville and Barbarella back on the list after TCM suggested cutting them, so I was happy enough with those two not to push my luck. I also wish I could have written in more detail about Blade Runner 2049, but, tragically, it was released one month after I finished the book.

Stecher: How did early classic movies influence modern day sci-fi movies?

De Forest: Good question. I think there is probably a greater influence there than many people realize, because, when you stop and think about it, science fiction was a literary genre where writers could describe aliens, spaceships, and monsters in great detail without having the burden of showing them. So the first filmmakers to actually depict those unknown entities on film were really pioneers. They were taking an enormous risk, using a great deal of imagination and primitive technology or craftsmanship to show a Martian, for example, on film for the first time. It was brand-new territory they were exploring. Once these images were out there, they became the building blocks of all later sci-fi movies. No matter how original a filmmaker may be nowadays, I think it’s impossible for them not to be influenced by the classics to some degree.

Stecher: Why do you think movie going audiences love science fiction?

De Forest: Like the genres of fantasy and supernatural horror, sci-fi presents us with possibilities that lie beyond our everyday world. But sci-fi is usually more grounded in what might be possible in the future. So I think people respond to the idea that with a science fiction movie—unlike in fantasy or the supernatural—they are seeing incredible images and ideas that actually could become a reality one day. It can be fascinating to explore. Personally, I’m fascinated by watching older sci-fi because you get to see how the filmmakers imagined our world of today, fifty or more years ago. It’s not always the brilliant movies that get it right, either! Logan’s Run, for example, may not have been the greatest movie, but it predicted using technology for pleasure and ease, whereas so many others only envisioned technology that could destroy the planet or send us into space.

Stecher: What would you say to someone who is hesitant about delving into the science fiction genre?

De Forest: I would say that they are likely to be pleasantly surprised. I was someone who enjoyed sci-fi, but did not consider myself a die-hard sci-fi fanatic. Then when I started working on the book, I realized some of my all-time favorite movies are science fiction. Most people have probably already seen a sci-fi movie they love... Star Wars, E.T., Back to the Future, Alien, The Terminator... Those are some of the most popular films ever. If someone is younger and hasn’t seen those titles, I would recommend starting with them because they’re so accessible. And then see where they take you!

Photo via SloanDeForest.com 

Stecher: What do you hope readers will come away with after they read Must See Sci-Fi?

De Forest:  I hope the book inspires them to seek out the films they haven’t seen yet, and to re-watch the ones they saw years ago. Even if they know all the 50 movies by heart, I discuss and recommend many more obscure titles in the book, so there are hundreds of movies mentioned. I also hope the book starts conversations. The overall aim is to get people excited about movies. That’s what it’s all about.


Many thanks to Sloan for taking the time out for this interview!