NO QUESTIONS ASKED (1951)

 

By Gary Deane

“They turn a spotlight on you when they keep narrowing the circle closing in for the kill…You wonder how it happened and where it really began…”

Though there are plenty of weightier classic film noirs, few have the irresistible, jacked-up urgency of No Questions Asked. It’s the kind of noir most seem to favor – atmospheric, glamorous, hard-boiled, straightforward. As IMDb pundit Jay MacIntyre says of the picture, “...it’s a pulp novel come to life”. 

No Questions Asked began with a screenplay by Sidney Sheldon, who later turned to fiction writing and for television (I Dream of Jeannie, The Pattie Duke Show, Hart to Hart). Dubbed the “Prince of Potboilers” by the LA Times, Sheldon ranks among the best-selling authors of all time. As he said of his novels, "I try to write my books so the reader can't put them down.” And No Questions Asked is equally the kind of film noir you can’t put down. 

The movie opens with its protagonist/ narrator, Steve Keiver (Barry Sullivan) on the run from the cops. We soon find out why. Keiver's an attorney for an insurance firm. One day his boss suggests the company might be willing to make cash settlements on stolen goods with “no questions asked”, rather than paying out the claims. Keiver, agreeing, tests the waters by following up on a robbery, tracking down the thieves, and working out a deal. For his efforts, he gets a ‘commission’ of two thousand dollars, all of which he needs. His high-toned girlfriend, Ellen Sayburn (Arlene Dahl) has made it plain she wants a lot more than what's been on offer. He pleads with her to be patient. She fires back, “You can’t deposit patience in a bank”. With his windfall, Keiver goes out and buys Ellen a diamond ring. When he goes to her apartment, he finds her gone. He’s told by a neighbor that Ellen's been away on a ski trip and, oh, by the way,  got married while she was at it. 

Keiver is furious but realizes he now wants her more than ever. Desperate, he decides to broker his own deals with the gangs. But as the number of robberies and heists increases, the police begin to suspect that Keiver is part of the problem, not the solution. The cop-in-charge of the investigation, Matt Duggan (George Murphy) confronts him outright, “Legally, you’re still within your rights. Morally, you stink”. Others think so, too, and friends and business associates begin to shun him. When the law starts to come down hard on the gangs, he's warned off by one of the thieves, “The word’s out. You’re poison”.

Keiver's world is falling apart, though a couple of pals stick by him,  one an occasional girlfriend, Joan Brenson, played by Jean Hagen. As she did in The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Hagen ends up in love with a guy who couldn't care less. When Keiver asks her why she even bothers, she says, “Maybe I’m sticking around for you because you’re a haunted guy. Maybe I’m just waiting for the ghost to come back.” Unfortunately, Ellen does just that, telling him “Steve, there’s never been anyone but you”. Foolishly, he believes her, and shortly after, finds himself framed for murder. 

No Questions Asked was the ideal vehicle for Barry Sullivan. Handsome and imposing, the actor seldom looked comfortable in his own skin, which made him well-suited to film noir. Sullivan excelled at playing characters who were doomed to be doomed, as he was in  Suspense (1946), Framed (1947), Cause for Alarm (1951), and  The Gangster (1947), the most agonizingly fraught film noir not made in France. In No Questions Asked,  he's a man so blind to his obsession that his fate seems decided from the opening frame.

But then, we were meant to be blinded by Arlene Dahl, whose daunting beauty, like that of so many actresses of the classic period – from Hedy Lamarr to Grace Kelly – borders on the impossible. Her role as a duplicitous femme fatale does, however,  give her the space to be more than just gorgeous window dressing. In all, Dahl did very well by her appearances in some notable film noirs, including Scene of the Crime (1949), Reign of Terror (1949), and Slightly Scarlet (1956), followed by two well-fitting British titles, Wicked as They Come (1956) and She Played with Fire (1957). 

Jean Hagen, though she features large in No Questions Asked, had bigger hopes for her career by this time. After starring in a trio of darker crime titles, including Side Street (1949) and The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Hagen was looking to be more than just the lovelorn ‘good girl’ who gets pushed around or pistol-whipped.  John Huston, who’d cast her in The Asphalt Jungle, said of her, "She has a wistful, down-to-earth quality that’s so rare in movies. A born actress.” Later, Hagen stepped out in the musical, Singin’ in the Rain (1952), for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. However, she was fated to be remembered for her signature appearances in film noir. 

Few, on the other hand, might know anything of Harold Kress,  at least as a director.  That's because Kress was first and foremost an editor who worked on nearly eighty features, including two dozen box-office hits, ranging from Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) and Silk Stockings (1957) to The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974). A two-time Academy Award winner and four-time nominee, Kress was a filmmaker who early on in his career brought a wonderfully unexpected precision and vigor to the handful of modest titles he did direct, one of them being No Questions Asked. 

Helping out was composer and musical director, Leith Stevens, whose lengthy credits include a lineup of solid lesser noirs: Private Hell 36 (1954), Cell 2455 Death Row (1955), Inside Detroit (1956), Miami Expose (1956), Rumble on the Docks (1956), The Garment Jungle (1957), The Line-Up (1958), and Screaming Mimi (1958). Stevens was renown for his deft, melodic touch. His light-handed but evocative score for No Questions Asked is as much, and never more than's needed. The same can be said of the film,

Gary Deane

 Gary Deane

HOLLYWOOD ACTORS IN CLASSIC BRITISH FILM NOIR

Name Film Title Year A Addams, Dawn  The £20,000 Kiss 1963 B Basehart, Richard The Good Die Young 1954 Basehart, Richard The Intimate Stranger AKA  Finger of Guilt 1956 Basehart, Richard The Stranger's Hand 1954 Baxter, Anne Chase a Crooked Shadow 1958 Bendix, William Johnny Nobody 1961 Boyd, Stephen  The Third Secret 1964 Brady, Scott  3 Steps to the Gallows AKA White Fire 1953 Brent, George The Last Page AKA Man Bait 1952 Bridges, Lloyd  The Limping Man 1953 Bridges, Lloyd  Third Party Risk AKA The Deadly Game 1955 Brooke, Hilary  The House Across the Lake AKA Heat Wave 1954 C Cabot, Bruce  Traitor Spy AKA The Torso Trunk Mystery 1939 Cagney, James  Shake Hands with the Devil 1959 Calleia, Joseph The Noose AKA The Silk Noose 1948 Carey, Macdonald  The Damned AKA These Are the Damned 1962 Carroll, Leo G.  So Evil My Love  1948 Castle, Mary  3 Steps to the Gallows AKA White Fire 1953 Clark, Dane Five Days AKA Paid to Kill 1954 Clark, Dane The Gambler and the Lady 1952 Clark, Dane Murder by Proxy AKA Blackout 1955 Cochrane, Steve The Weapon 1956 Colleano, Bonar Escape by Night 1954 Colleano, Bonar Give Us This Day AKA Christ in Concrete 1949 Colleano, Bonar Good-Time Girl 1948 Colleano, Bonar Joe MacBeth 1955 Colleano, Bonar Pool of London 1951 Constantine, Eddie Passport to Shame AKA Room 43 1959 Conte, Richard The Little Red Monkey AKA The Case of the Little Red Monkey 1955 Cotten, Joseph The Third Man  1949 D Dahl, Arlene Fortune is a Woman AKA She Played With Fire 1957 Dahl, Arlene Wicked as They Come AKA Portrait in Smoke 1956 Davis, Bette Another Man's Poison 1951 Derek, John The Flesh is Weak 1957 Dietrich, Marlene Stage Fright 1950 Dillman, Brad Circle of Deception 1960 Domergue, Faith Solo Incident AKA Spin a Dark Web 1956 Douglas, Paul Joe MacBeth 1955 Duryea, Dan Do You Know This Voice? 1964 Duryea, Dan Thirty-Six Hours AKA Terror Street 1954 Dvorak, Ann Escape to Danger 1943 Dvorak, Ann Squadron Leader X 1942 E F Fitzgerald, Geraldine The Late Edwina Black AKA Obsessed 1951 Fitzgerald, Geraldine So Evil My Love  1948 Foster, Dianne The Lost Hours AKA The Big Frame 1952 Foster, Dianne The Quiet Woman 1951 G Gabor, Zsa Zsa The Man Who Wouldn't Talk  1958 Goddard, Paulette The Stranger Came Home AKA The Unholy Four 1954 Grahame, Gloria The Good Die Young 1954 Gray, Collen I'll Get Your For This AKA Lucky Nick Cain 1951 Greco, Juliette Whirlpool 1959 H Henreid, Paul Matrap AKA Man in Hiding 1953 Henreid, Paul Stolen Face 1952 Homeier, Skip No Road Back 1957 Homolka, Oscar The Key AKA Stella 1958 Homolka, Oscar The Shop at Sly Corner AKA The Code of Scotland Yard 1947 I J Johnson, Van Beyond This Place AKA Web of Evidence 1959 Jurgens, Curt Psyche 59 1963 K Keel, Howard Floods of Fear 1958 Keel, Howard The Small Voice 1948 Kennedy, Arthur Impulse 1955 L La Rue, Jack Murder in Soho AKA Murder in the Night 1939 La Rue, Jack No Orchids for Miss Blandish 1948 Landis, Carole The Noose AKA The Silk Noose 1948 Lawrence, Marc Kill Her Gently 1957 Lorre, Peter Double Confession 1950 Lugosi, Bela The Dark Eyes of London AKA The Human Monster 1939 M Mansfield, Jane  The Challenge AKA It Takes A Thief 1960 Marshall, Herbert The Weapon 1956 Marshall, Herbert Wicked as They Come AKA Portrait in Smoke 1956 Mature, Victor The Long Haul  1957 Maxwell, Lois Kill Me Tomorrow 1957 Maxwell, Lois Mantrap AKA Man in Hiding 1953 Maxwell, Lois Women of Twilight AKA Twilight Women 1953 McCrea, Joel Rough Shoot AKA Shoot First 1953 Meredith, Burgess Mine Own Executioner 1947 Merrill, Gary Another Man's Poison 1951 Michaels, Beverly Women Without Men AKA Blonde Bait 1956 Miles, Vera Beyond This Place AKA Web of Evidence 1959 Milland, Ray Circle of Danger 1951 Milland, Ray So Evil My Love  1948 Montgomery. Douglass Forbidden 1949 Morse, Barry Daughter of Darkness  1948 Morse, Barry No Trace  1950 Murphy, Mary The intimate Stranger AKA The Finger of Guilt 1956 Murray, Don Shake Hands With the Devil 1959 N Nader, George Nowhere to Go 1958 Neal, Patricia Psyche 59 1963 Nelson, Gene Dial 999 AKA The Way Out 1955 Nicol, Alex Face the Music AKA The Black Glove 1960 Nicol, Alex The House Across the Lake AKA Heat Wave 1954 Nolan, Lloyd The Girl Hunters 1963 O O'Brien, Edmund 1984 1956 O'Brien, Pat Kill Me Tomorrow 1957 O'Donnell, Cathy Eight O'Clock Walk 1954 O'Keefe, Dennis Lady of Vengeance 1957 P Parker, Suzi Circle of Deception 1960 Parks, Larry Tiger by the Tail AKA Cross-Up 1955 Patterson, Lee The Flying Scot AKA Mailbag Robbery 1957 Patterson, Lee The Passing Stranger 1954 Patterson, Lee Soho Incident AKA Spin a Dark Web 1956 Patterson, Lee Deadly Record 1956 Payton, Barbara The Flanagan Boy AKA Bad Blonde 1953 Pidgeon, Walter Calling Bulldog Drummond 1951 Preston, Robert Cloudburst 1951 Q R Rains, Claude The Man Who Watched Trains Go By  AKA The Paris Express 1952 Raft, George Escape Route AKA I'll Get You 1952 Raft, George I'll Get You for This AKA Lucky Nick Cain 1951 Ray, Aldo Johnny Nobody 1961 Rennie, Michael Tower of Terror  1941 Rennie, Michael Uneasy Terms 1948 Rogers, Ginger Beautiful Stranger AKA Twist of Fate 1954 Roman, Ruth Joe MacBeth 1955 Romero, Caesar Street of Shadows AKA Shadow Man 1953 S Sanders, George Cairo 1963 Scott, Lizbeth Stolen Face 1952 Scott, Lizbeth The Weapon 1956 Scott, Zachary Wings of Danger AKA Dead on Course 1952 Smith, Alexis The Sleeping Tiger 1954 Spillane, Mickey The Girl Hunters 1963 Stanley, Kim Séance on a Wet Afternoon 1964 Steiger, Rod Across the Bridge 1957 Sterling, Jan 1984 1956 Stevens, Mark The Lost hours AKA The Big Frame 1952 Sylvester, William Blind Date AKA Chance Meeting 1959 Sylvester, William Give Us This Day AKA Christ in Concrete 1949 Sylvester, William Incident at Midnight 1963 Sylvester, William Offbeat AKA The incident Inside 1961 Sylvester, William The Stranger Came Home AKA The Unholy Four 1954 Sylvester, William Whirlpool 1959 Sylvester, William The Yellow Balloon 1953 Sylvester, William Portrait of Alison AKA Postmark for Danger 1955 T Tierney, Gene Night and the City 1950 Tierney, Gene Personal Affair 1953 Toren, Marta The Man Who Watched Trains Go By  AKA The Paris Express 1952 U V van Eyck, Peter The Snorkel 1958 Veidt, Conrad Contraband AKA Blackout 1940 W Wanamaker, Sam  The Criminal AKA The Concrete Jungle 1960 Wanamaker, Sam  Give Us This Day AKA Christ in Concrete 1949 Wanamaker, Sam  Mr. Denning Drives North 1951 Welles, Orson The Third Man 1949 Widmark, Richard Night and the City 1950 Wynter, Dana Shake Hands with the Devil 1959 X Y Z COMPILED BY  GARY DEANE

POSTMARK FOR DANGER aka PORTRAIT OF ALISON (1955)

By Gary Deane

For some, there’s the country in which they were born, and then there’s the country in which they wish they’d been born.

British director Guy Green's country of choice was the United States – to the extent that it would not be England, but California, where he'd reside for forty years prior to his death in 2005. However, long before coming to the US, Green had made clear his affinity for both American actors and the more expansive Hollywood film style. 

Green began his film career as a cameraman, then director of cinematography who'd work on such classic British titles as The Way Ahead (1944), The Way to the Stars (1945), Oliver Twist (1948), and The Passionate Friends (1949). In 1947, he received an Academy Award for his filming of David Lean’s Great Expectations made the previous year.

Green's first assignment as a director was River Beat (1954), an involving crime thriller with American actress Phyllis Kirk embroiled in the investigation of a smuggling racket. He followed with several solid British B-noirs, including Tears for Simon (1956), Postmark for Danger (1956), Triple Deception (1958), The Snorkel (1959), S.O.S. Pacific (1960), and The Angry Silence (1961), all featuring US-born or naturalized actors. Among them was Stuart Whitman, who'd win an Academy Award nomination for The Mark (1962).

While still in England, Green helmed several large-scale American productions for MGM, including Light in the Piazza (1962) and Diamond Head (1965).  He then moved to the US to direct his best known film as a director, the interracial love story, A Patch of Blue (1967), which garnered a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Shelley Winters, plus four other nominations.   

More interesting to film noir audiences, however, is Green’s Postmark for Danger (aka Portrait of Alison, its British release title). Based on a novel by Francis Durbridge, creator of the Paul Temple series, Postmark is a tense Hitchcockian tale featuring double-crosses, a mistake in identity, and a comely female in trouble who’s rescued by a reluctant hero. It also comes with a McGuffin.  

Portrait artist Tim Forrester (Robert Beatty) learns from his brother Dave (William Sylvester), a charter pilot, that their younger brother Lewis, along with an American actress, Alison Ford (Terry Moore), has been killed in a car accident in Italy.  Both the Italian police and Scotland Yard, however, believe that Lewis, an investigative journalist, was murdered as a result of a story he was doing about an international diamond smuggling operation.  

The police are interested in a postcard that Lewis may have sent to Tim which might contain clues to the mystery. However, they become more involved when a) Tim's favorite model (Josephine Griffin) turns up dead in his apartment and b) he claims that Alison is alive and that she suspects her father to be part of the smuggling ring. Tim was once sought out by Alison’s father who had commissioned a painting of her. It was completed working from a photo in which she appears to be wearing the same dress as found on the dead model.

With distant echoes of Laura, Postmark for Danger unfurls in a tantalizing mist of eerie and unlikely coincidences, before settling in as a fraught police procedural based on a script by Ken Hughes. Green’s high-impact direction and the emphatic lensing of cinematographer Wilkie Cooper give Postmark for Danger its luminous look and feel, free of the kinds of restraints, both visual and dramatic, that can hobble British B noirs. It's also good to see fist fights that are staged and not choreographed. Postmark for Danger remains one of Guy Green’s most resilient films. 

However, after his moment in the Los Angeles sun with A Patch of Blue, Green went on the squander his reputation with The Magus, one of the most critically vilified films of all time. Green never recovered, becoming involved in other ill-considered projects such as Jacqueline Susann’s Once is Not Enough and a host of so-so made-for-television movies. Nevertheless, in 2004, the director was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth for his lifetime contributions and services to cinema. He would die the following year.