Southside 1-1000

Southside 1-1000

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Boris Ingster
Produced by
  • Frank King
  • Maurice King
Screenplay by Boris Ingster
Leo Townsend
Story by
  • Bert C. Brown
  • Milton M. Raison
Starring
Narrated by Gerald Mohr
Music by Paul Sawtell
Cinematography Russell Harlan
Edited by Christian Nyby
Production
company
Distributed by Allied Artists Pictures
Release dates
  • November 12, 1950 (United States)
Running time
73 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Southside 1-1000 is a 1950 semidocumentary-style film noir directed by Boris Ingster and featuring Don DeFore, Andrea King, George Tobias and Gerald Mohr as the off-screen narrator.[1]

Plot

Based on a true story, the US secret service goes after a gang of counterfeiters, whose engraver (Morris Ankrum) has secretly constructed his plates while in prison. A federal agent (Don DeFore) poses as the counterfeiters' contact man in order to purchase enough bills to incriminate the gang.

Cast

Production

The final fight-to-the-death scene was filmed aboard Los Angeles' "Angels Flight", a cable-car service hanging 40 feet above the ground.[2]

Reception

Film critic Craig Butler of Allmovie wrote, "Southside 1-1000 is a good pseudo-noir film told in pseudodocumentary fashion, but it also must register as a bit of a disappointment. It's functional and all the parts fit together smoothly, making it run like a fairly well-oiled machine -- but it lacks real spark. Given director Boris Ingster's impressive work on the seminal Stranger on the Third Floor, one expects something a bit more unusual or off the beaten path -- or at least distinctive. Instead, Southside looks like it could have been the work of any competent director."[3] The New York Times wrote, "In the cinema's library of routine gangster fiction, Southside 1-1000 merits a comfortable middle-class rating being neither especially exciting nor particularly dull."[4] Michael Barrett of PopMatters rated it 4/10 stars and called it "an unnecessary and forgettable entry in the genre".[2]

References

  1. Southside 1-1000 at the American Film Institute Catalog.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Barrett, Michael (October 12, 2012). "'Southside 1-1000' (1950)". PopMatters. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  3. Butler, Craig. Allmovie by Rovi, film/DVD review, no date. Accessed: August 19, 2013.
  4. "T-Men on Screen at the Palace". The New York Times. November 3, 1950. Retrieved February 20, 2015.

External links