Deadline at Dawn

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Deadline at Dawn
Deadline at Dawn movie poster
Directed by	Harold Clurman
Produced by	Adrian Scott
Written by	Clifford Odets (screenplay) Cornell Woolrich (novel)
Starring	Susan Hayward Paul Lukas Bill Williams
Cinematography	Nicholas Musuraca
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Release date(s)	April 3, 1946 (U.S. release)
Running time	83 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Deadline at Dawn is a 1946 film noir, the only film directed by stage director Harold Clurman. It was written by Clifford Odets and based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich (as William Irish). The RKO Radio Picture was shot in black and white. This film was the only cinematic collaboration between Clurman and his former Group Theatre associate, screenwriter Odets. The director of photography was RKO regular Nicholas Musuraca. The musical score was by German refugee composer Hanns Eisler.

[edit] Plot

Alex Winkley (Bill Williams), a young Navy sailor, wakes up from a night of drinking in New York City and finds he has a wad of cash. His memory is hazy but he knows he got it from a woman he visited earlier in the evening. With the help of a dance hall girl (Hayward), he attempts to return the money only to find out the woman he stole the cash from is dead. The sailor isn't sure if he's the killer or not. The pair, along with a philosophical cabbie (Paul Lukas), stay up all night attempting to solve the murder mystery before the sailor has to catch a bus to the naval base in Norfolk, Virginia in the morning. Their deadline is at dawn.

During the film there are many false leads and red herrings, because the dead woman had many enemies. The woman's brother, a gangster played by Joseph Calleia, adds a touch of menace.

The dialogue contains Odets' trademark New York wisecracks. For example, while dancing at club early in the movie, the Hayward character says, "this is like a post office, filled with second class matter."