Pushover (film)

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Pushover
VHS cover
Directed by	Richard Quine
Produced by	Jules Schermer
Written by	Bill S. Ballinger (novel) Thomas Walsh (novel) Roy Huggins
Starring	Fred MacMurray Philip Carey Kim Novak
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	July 30, 1954 U.S. release
Running time	88 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Pushover is a 1954 film notable for being the first film to feature Kim Novak in a starring role. The RKO picture, considered film noir, also stars Fred MacMurray as a good cop gone bad.

1 Plot
2 Reaction
3 Featured cast
4 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

An honest cop is tasked to track down over 200-thousand dollars in the hands of a gangster after a bank robbery. The cop puts 24-hour surveillance on Lona McLane - a girlfriend of one of the robbers. The cop quickly falls in love with Lona, who, when she finds out he's a policeman, tries to persuade him to kill Wheeler so the two can take off with the cash. He initially resists, but eventually agrees to kill Wheeler. But after the killing he finds that he also has to kill his detective partner too, in order to cover his tracks. Almost all the action takes place, at night, in the U-shaped apartment building where Lona lives.

[edit] Reaction

Reviews for the film are mixed. Most critics find the film's plot similar to other film noir, but Kim Novak is usually singled out as a rising photogenic star in most reviews. "An aging cop (Fred MacMurray) falls in love with a bank robber's girlfriend (Kim Novak in her first major role, and if you're as much of a pushover for her early work as I am, you can't afford to miss this)." -Chicago Reader [1]