Riffraff (1947 film)

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Riffraff
Movie poster for Riffraff
Directed by	Ted Tetzlaff
Produced by	Nat Holt Jack J. Gross executive producer
Written by	Martin Rackin
Starring	Pat O'Brien Anne Jeffreys Walter Slezak Percy Kilbride Jerome Cowan George Givot Jason Robards Sr. Marc Krah
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Release date(s)	September 15, 1947
Running time	80 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Riffraff is a 1947 black-and-white international espionage film shot in the film noir style. The film, considered to be a minor noir entry more in the adventure genre, was directed by Ted Tetzlaff, who also directed The Window (1949) and worked as a cinematographer for over 100 films, including another successful suspense film, Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946). Riffraff is notable for its cinematography by George Diskant, especially the stormy opening sequence. Music composed by Roy Webb and Joan Whitney.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A passenger goes missing during a storm from an airplane bound for Panama, and Charles Hasso (Marc Krah) is questioned by the Panamanian secret police. It becomes clear that Hasso killed the missing man, in reality a Peruvian agent, for a valuable map. Fearing for his life, Hasso hires private investigator Dan Hammer (Pat O'Brien). Hammer is also on the payroll of oil executive Walter Gredson (Jerome Cowan), to find Hasso and the map, which shows rich oil deposits in Peru. Thug Eric Molinar (Walter Slezak), pretending to be a tourist, is also after the map and kills Hasso in his hotel room, where Hamme finds him strangled in the bathtub. Hammer now must avoid Molinar and his men, and watch his back with nightclub singer Maxine Manning (Anne Jeffreys), who may or may not be on his side.