The Racket (1951 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Mitchum as Police Captain Thomas McQuigg in The Racket

The Racket
Directed by	John Cromwell
Produced by	Edmund Grainger
Written by	Bartlett Cormack (play) William Wister Haines
Starring	Robert Mitchum Lizabeth Scott Robert Ryan
Cinematography	George E. Diskant
Editing by	Sherman Todd
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)	12 December 1951
Running time	88 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Racket (1951) is a remake of the 1928 film of the same name. This film noir-style black-and-white film was directed by John Cromwell with uncredited directing help from Nicholas Ray and Mel Ferrer. The police crime drama is based on a popular Bartlett Cormack play. (Edward G. Robinson played the racketeer in the original Broadway production.)

[edit] Plot

The plot of the film is very close to the original play and 1928 movie. Racketeer and mobster Nick Scanlon (Ryan) has managed to get several government and law-enforcement higher-ups on the take but he can't touch the incorruptible police captain McQueeg (Mitchum), who refuses all attempts at bribery. The city’s prosecuting attorney, Welch (Collins), and the police inspector, Turck (Conrad), are crooked and make McQueeg's job as an honest officer nearly impossible. McQueeg persuades a woman (a sexy nightclub singer played by Scott) to testify against Scanlong which makes her marked for death from the mob. McQueeg not only wants to nail Scanlon, but also stop all the mob corruption in the city - without getting himself or his witness killed.