| The Racket | |
|---|---|
Mitchum as Police Captain Thomas McQuigg |
|
| 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) | December 12, 1951 |
| Running time | 88 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Racket is a 1951 remake of the the 1928 film The Racket'. 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.)
The plot of the film is very close to the original play and 1928 movie. Racketeer and mobster Nick Scanlon (Ryan) has managed to buy several of the local government and law-enforcement officials of a large midwestern American city. However, he can't seem to touch the incorruptible police captain Tom McQuigg (Mitchum), who refuses all attempts at bribery. The city’s prosecuting attorney, Welch (Collins), and a police detective, Turk (Conrad), are crooked and make McQuigg's job as an honest officer nearly impossible. McQuigg persuades a sexy nightclub singer (Scott) to testify against Scanlon which makes her marked for death from the mob. McQuigg not only wants to nail Scanlon, but also stop all the mob corruption in the city - without getting himself or his witness killed.