Border Incident
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| Border Incident | |
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 Border Incident movie poster featuring Ricardo Montalban |
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| Directed by | Anthony Mann |
| Produced by | Nicholas Nayfack |
| Written by | John C. Higgins George Zuckerman (story) |
| Starring | Ricardo Montalban George Murphy Howard Da Silva |
| Cinematography | John Alton |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) |
| Release date(s) | October 28, 1949 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 94 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Border Incident is a 1949 black-and-white film directed by Anthony Mann. The MGM film, considered film noir, was written by John C. Higgins and George Zuckerman. The film was shot by famed cinematographer John Alton who uses shadows and lighting effects to involve an audience despite the fact that the film was shot on a low budget.
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[edit] Plot
The story concerns two agents, one Mexican and one American, who are tasked to stop the smuggling of Mexican migrant workers across the border to California. The two agents go undercover, one as a poor migrant.
Some memorable scenes in the dark, gritty film include a harrowing episode involving a plowing machine and a climactic shootout in a quicksand swamp.
[edit] Critical reaction
Film reviews of the movie today are mostly positive. Roger Westcombe writing on the web page Big House Film compares the film to classic film westerns: "Yet far from a typical Western’s sense of freedom, Border Incident shares with (director Mann's previous effort) T-Men that film’s inky, submerged visual quality. These are ‘wide’ but not ‘open’ spaces, as Alton’s beautifully registered grey-toned but grim visuals make the distant horizons as closed as the American border. The constant presence of vulnerable, innocent peasants adds a piquancy to Border Incident, raising the stakes from the destiny of a mere two police agents to that of an entire underclass."
[edit] Cast
- Ricardo Montalban as Pablo Rodriguez
- George Murphy as Jack Bearnes
- Howard Da Silva as Owen Parkson
- James Mitchell as Juan Garcia
- Arnold Moss as Zopilote
[edit] References
- Harry Tomicek: Das grosse Schwarz. BORDER INCIDENT von Anthony Mann, Kamera: John Alton (1949). In: Christian Cargnelli, Michael Omasta (eds.): Schatten. Exil. Europäische Emigranten im Film noir. PVS, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-901196-26-9
