Customer Reviews

Gangsters Guns & Floozies Crime Collection: T-Men

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is not meant to be a review of this film, it's a classic film noir, we all know that. What I am concerned with is the transfer quality, which is rather so-so.

The picture is a little shifty, slightly jumpy. It doesn't seem to be the entire picture that moves at times, or at least it manages to shift slightly in different directions; up, down, left, right. In short, imagine watching a movie projected into a waterbed, thats the best comparison I can think of.

For anyone who loves film noir, you want you're darkest shadows completely black; there are times, mostly toward the beginning of the film when the darkest areas of the screen here are more dark grey. There's an unmoving grey tint over the black, its a little like looking at something black with a grey mesh like a screen door between you and it.

The audio is generally good, some buzzing in a few areas.

I am not one who typically worries about the best quality, which is part of the reason I am struggling to explain the shortcomings of this transfer with examples that hopefully people can relate to. But, in short, for such a great film I guess I expected a little better transfer.

Starting with what must have been a standard postwar script praising the feds (this time, the treasury department), the team of director Anthony Mann and director of photography John Alton turned this into one of the most memorable and seminal films of the noir cycle. The budget was shoestring but their love for their craft must have been extraordinary, because shot after shot triumphs as a little cinematographic wonder -- an object lesson in how to let pictures talk. As T-Men Dennis O'Keefe and Alfred Ryder plunge deeper into the counterfeiters' world, the action becomes increasingly edgy and violent, belying the syrupy patriotic music that puts us to sleep every time we flash back to Washington, D.C. As good as Mann's (and Alton's) other films can be, T-Men shows off their talents to exhilarating advantage. This is a must-see -- even a must-buy -- for anybody interested in this unparalleled and unforgettable decade of film history.

VCI Entertainment, a small video company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is releasing DVDs of "RAW DEAL" and "T MEN," two forgotten noir B movie classics directed by Anthony Mann.

Allegedly taken from a closed Treasury Department file (the "Shanghia Paper" case), "T Men" (1947) is a clever crime drama that's shot in a documentary style for added realsim. The meticulously detailed set-up is kind of slow going, but the payoff is gangbusters (literally). Dennis O'Keefe and Alfred Ryder are Treasury agents who go undercover, disguised as mobsters, to infiltrate a ring of Detroit based liquor cutters known to be using bogus revenue stamps. The gang's savage leader has already killed a fellow T Man. For the agents, there is almost a perverse emphasis on how they must shut down all normal human feelings to successfully accomplish their missions -- even to the point of standing by while a fellow agent is executed in cold blood. There's no question about the dark noir terrain in this terrific little thriller that is all the more effective thanks to John Alton's brilliant, precise, geometrically composed cinematography.

A surprisingly gripping film with a stunning climax. Definitely worth considering if you're looking for those forgotten noir gems.

If and when you see this film, ignore the tiresome, moronic narration at the beginning and end that was obviously tacked on by the studio, and enjoy the middle 96% of this tough, well-made, B-movie classic. Before he found fame as a director of westerns, Anthony Mann directed shoestring-budget B-crime thrillers, of which T-Men is the best (better than Raw Deal, much better than Railroaded.) The pseudo-documentary approach combines with John Alton's brilliant underlit noirish cinematography to create a potent brew; engaging, almost mesmerizing. You hate to see the story come to an end. A B-movie masterpiece, one of the great ones of the forties.

What starts out as another Hollywood movie promoting the FBI and other government law enforcement agencies quickly becomes a hard-hitting film noir that exposes the underbelly of an undercover government agent. Dennis O'Keefe and Alfred Ryder must become as bad as the villians they are after in order to infiltrate a ruthless gang of counterfeiters. Watch for Charles McGraw in one of his most sadistic roles as Moxey - the thug who loves to inflict pain. A little known classic by Anthony Mann (who directed all of those great 1950's Jimmy Stewart westerns).

The collaboration of Mann and Alton created some of the most interesting films in the Film Noir genre. Sadly, these great films from extinct minor studios survive in poor condition.
This Sony T-Men DVD was mastered from a worn copy of the original film. Like its companion film "Raw Deal", this film was "enhanced" to make it more appealing to a wider audience. Alton's great high-contrast photography has been brightened-up in a way where it loses much of the romanticism and drama present in the original untouched film. This process is far worse on "Raw Deal" which looses all its great contrast and dark shadows. T-Men still retains much of its original mystery and darkness.
I prefer the old King Video issues of these films. The film images were unenhanced with a softer focus but the chiaroscuro shadows and film noir dramatic lighting are all there. These DVDs also had a short documentary on each disc discussing Mann, Alton's photography, and film noir.
You can see an unrestored version of Alton's photography in the cheap Alpha Video version of "The Big Combo".
I think Dennis O'Keefe is quite good in this film; I'm surprised that he wasn't in more movies of this era.
These Sony Wonder discs are OK if you can't find the older versions. The digital enhancement gives a crisper image at least.

Thanks VCI for doing justice to this movie. The quality is great. Sharp, crisp images and great hiss-free sound.

This film sucked me in. I thought everything noirly realistic, such as dialogue and settings. There are twists and turns that really kept me interested.

You even get extras. A short documentary and some trailers.

"T-Men" represented the first of the great film noir trilogy combining the unique talents of director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton. Their efforts revealed that in the film noir genre with its emphasis on gritty realism, with authentic street locations often in the darkness of late evening, that it was possible to achieve films of high quality at a low cost. The Mann-Alton trilogy was the product of Eagle-Lion Studios, one of the smallest in Hollywood, but known for top suspense dramas producing optimum bang for dollars
invested.

The other two films in the trilogy that followed "T-Men", which debuted in 1947, were released one year later. "He Walked by Night" was, like "T-Men" a noir docudrama while "Raw Deal" was a thriller about a prison escapee's adventures.

Starring in both "T-Men" and "Raw Deal" was Dennis O'Keefe. The tall, athletically constructed actor's forte was the ability to combine ruggedness with a street-smart demeanor that enabled him to reveal smoothness when the occasion warranted it. This blend made him a natural for the lead role of a United States Treasury Agent posing as a criminal syndicate tough guy.

Reed Hadley narrates the hard-hitting semi-documentary set on the streets of Los Angeles. Much of the action occurs in Ocean Park in seedy hotels and mob hangouts. The film is based on the actual Shanghai Paper Case that occurred shortly after World War Two with the film being made soon after its solution. Adventure script specialist John C. Higgins kept the action moving at a brisk clip, as did director Mann, while Alton's brooding photography invigorated some of the city's seamiest spots with chilling drama in generating perpetual viewer curiosity.

The Washington office was able to piece together a sketch of a conduit passing counterfeit checks in Los Angeles. O'Keefe and partner Alfred Ryder are dispatched to Los Angeles to track the wanted individual down and ultimately blend into the organization before assisting the Treasury Department in shutting down the enterprise. To provide pedigree they assume bogus identities and masquerade as former mob operatives in Detroit, where so much of the counterfeit money has been sent.

When O'Keefe arrives in Los Angeles he capitalizes on the two clues pertaining to the mystery counterfeit conduit of digesting Chinese herbs and taking frequent steam baths by tracking him down. O'Keefe notes that he lost eight pounds in the process after taking steam baths in so many Los Angeles spots.

Veteran character actor Wallace Ford delivers one of his finest efforts as the counterfeit mob legman known appropriately as Schemer, who has settled in Los Angeles after a previous underworld stint in Detroit. At that point he sends for partner Ryder and they use Schemer's contacts to become members of the mob. In the process they encounter the mob's brutally sadistic enforcer Charles McGraw, whose manner is reminiscent of Neville Brand in "D.O.A.".

One of the film's most fascinating scenes emerges when Agent Ryder's wife June Lockhart is vacationing in Los Angeles and the girlfriend with whom she is traveling approaches Ryder when she sees him with Wallace Ford. Since his mob identity is that of a single man he seeks to bluff his way through the potentially fatal encounter when Lockhart, realizing the circumstances, tells her friend that she is crazy and that her husband is "taller and better looking" than Ryder.

This is a perfect choice for the film noir beginner. I love old film noir and gangster movies, but a lot of the time the convoluted plot filled with double crosses, backstabbing and quick dealings confuses me to the point I barely know what's going on. But not here! T-MEN is filmed in a pseudo-documentary style complete with a narrator to help me from getting left behind.

The story concerning two Treasury Department agents who go deep undercover to infiltrate a counterfeiting ring is surprisingly grim and violent, but what really made an impression on me was the camerawork - extreme close-ups, camera on the floor looking up, the abundance of mysterious shadows and dark corners. You could watch this film in mute and still enjoy it.

Here's a few other little known gangster/ noir classics that are worth checking out: ARMORED CAR ROBBERY, ACT OF VIOLENCE, PRIVATE HELL 36, DETOUR and THE HITCH-HIKER.

D: Anthony Mann (WINCHESTER `73, HE WALKED BY NIGHT)
W: John C. Higgins (RAW DEAL, HE WALKED BY NIGHT)

Dennis O'Brien - Dennis O'Keefe (I AM A FUGITIVE OF A CHAIN GANG, SCARFACE)
Tony Genaro - Alfred Ryder (TRUE GRIT, WINGED VICTORY)
The Schemer - Wallace Ford (HARVEY, SHADOW OF A DOUBT)
Moxie - Charles McGraw (BRUTE FORCE, THE KILLERS)
Brownie - Jack Overman (BRUTE FORCE, FORCE OF EVIL)

Anthony Mann with no budget and not much of a script creates a terrific little thriller. There are simply classic sequences thanks to some brilliant cinematography.

The film is very episodic and does not realy hang together, but some of the shots are superb. The opening murder of an informant has one of the bext scenes where a murderer literally is absorbed by the darkness. The execution in the steam room is filled with horror. Anthony Mann showed all his potential as a director with this little B film. It is throughly recommended.