The Narrow Margin (1952)

The milieus, landscapes and aesthetics of film-noir were often related to big cities and cold streets. In The Narrow Margin directed by Richard Fleischer the story is taken to train and the narrow halls of it, which perfectly furthers the compact feeling of the film. The film is very well directed and the exquisite cinematography of it reminded me of the classic The Lady Vanishes (1938) by Alfred Hitchcock, which also takes place in a train. This brief 75-minute long ride offers some really sharp noir-dialog and exciting twists till the last minute. When a mob boss dies, a police officer gets a job to escort the boss' wife from Chicago to LA to a trial. The task gets a little harder when a suspicious group of crooks join the train and are willing to do anything with regards to prevent the arrival of the woman to the trial.

Los Angeles and New York were often the big cities of film-noir, but even if big cities had a lot to do with the aesthetics of film-noir it doesn't mean that anyone didn't have the guts to try something else. Many tried to transfer the pattern of film-noir to new milieus. Nicholas Ray tried a snowy small town village in On Dangerous Ground (1953) and Ida Lupino brought film-noir to the seats of a car and deserts of Mexico in The Hitch-Hicker (1953) just to mention a few. The claustrophobic space Richard Fleischer chose in The Narrow Margin works brilliantly and the thrilling scenes are directed with care.

Many have realized what a great place a train is for excitement, murder and paranoia. As mentioned before Alfred Hitchcock made The Lady Vanishes, but he also used train as a place of suspense in Shadow of a Doubt (1943), North by Northwest (1959) and Strangers on a Train (1951). Of course when talking about trains and cinema one cannot forget the Buster Keaton masterpiece The General (1926). Train means both getting away and letting go, which is highlighted in the masterful melodrama Brief Encounter (1945) by David Lean where the motive is taken of a superior level when trains and railways turn into symbolism. The narrow margin of a train is of course quite metaphorical to the story in The Narrow Margin, but also in all the thrillers mentioned by Alfred Hitchcock. In The Narrow Margin the police officer faces challenges so tough that he is not sure can he make it through. His margin is getting more narrow and narrow, inch by inch.

The name of Richard Fleischer might not ring a bell for all of the readers so I think it's quite alright to reminds you for some of his works. He started as a b-class director but with the help of The Narrow Margin he rose to the A-class and the film even got an Oscar nomination for best writing. Before it he had already made a few film-noir such as Bodyguard (1948) and Armored Car Robbery (1950), which unfortunately are part of his 'b-class era'. But on the other hand they're still quite interesting and excellent in their on league. Nowdays Fleischer is probably more known for directing the two fantasy action movies Red Sonja (1985) and Conan The Destroyer (1984).

The Narrow Margin has its unintentional humor and clumsiness but overall it stands out as a fine piece of film-noir. It offers some excellent dialog and twists that will keep the interest of the audience till the last minute. I think the power of The Narrow Margin is in its story charged with compact emotion, the lack of film-noir clichés, the cinematography and the construction of state in the narrow halls of the train.

Fmovies: The Narrow Margin (1952)

A compact, beautiful, thrilling little B-movie. Everyone involved is relatively unknown. The director, Richard Fleischer, is less famous than some of his films, however, including the cult favorite, "Soylent Green" and the courtroom drama with an ending where Orson Welles bursts on the scene, "Compulsion." So this early one is clearly Fleischer's baby, and he gets clear, believable performances from a small ensemble cast.

Yes, it's a kind of ensemble film, where half a dozen people hold their own. Central is Charles McGraw as a detective guarding a witness en route from Chicago to L.A. McGraw has the benefit of being just a plain old detective, not an actor filled with character and presence, and he's great. The witness is played by Marie Windsor, and she's cutting and commanding, a terrific female lead that should have had a bigger career. The two or three bad guys are not quite caricatures, and the other cast--seemingly innocent passengers--are spot on perfect, too.

All of this might be enough, but the cinematography is so virtuosic, without showing off, it lifts the whole experience higher. George Diskant never became one of Hollywood's big names, but he had just shot two legendary films for Nicholas Ray, and was clearly poetic and tactile with his camera and lights. You sometimes won't even notice--as when the detective and the blonde walk on the platform at a station stop, the camera following them and pivoting and keeping the moving, turning couple in perfect focus. Other times the shots are just sensational, as with the fistfight in the tight confines of a cabin. The railroad car scenes are shot with palpable claustrophobia, things getting in the way in the foreground, people having to nudge and move around each other.

There are almost two parts to the movie. The first is a more classic night in the city with a noir feel, and this is the most gorgeous and vivid. You get sucked into the problem, and are surprised right away by a couple of twists. Eventually the main characters end up on the train, and another kind of movie, a cat and mouse, mixed-up identity kind of scenario, takes over. Equally interesting, and with more twists than you would think plausible.

But they are plausible. and Fleischer pulls of a real gem.

This was the "original" and, like its re-make "Narrow Margin" (the "The" is missing), it is excellent. This is one of those rare cases in which the old and the new versions both are top-notch.

In fact, it's interesting to compare the two versions. In this film, there is a very unique twist as the end concerning the woman being brought to Los Angeles. It was clever.

That woman in this 1952 version also is played by perhaps the First Lady Of Noir, Marie Windsor. She had the best lines in the film and is outstanding at playing the tough-talking moll of this genre. (See Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing" to fully appreciate more of Windsor's work.)

The film noir tough-guy male equivalent of her also stars in this film: Charles McGraw. Few guys ever looked and sounded better in noirs than McGraw. He and Windor were born to play in 'B' crime movies!

The short length of this film makes it a good one to watch anytime although, to be frank, if I could only own one of the two "Narrow Margin" films, I'd have to take the latter-day version with Gene Hackman and Anne Archer, but it would a tough decision. Both have a lot to offer.

The Narrow Margin fmovies. This is a fast paced and edgy film noir which could be used as a perfect example of the style. Crisp dialogue, hard characters and sarcastic humor blend perfectly to create a wonderful movie that is over before you know it. This film is really a lost treasure.

Fast, smart and tough. A real treat. Masterfully paced and scripted. Wow. Holds up very very well. This movie sucks you in from the opening credits and never lets go. It's also a bit of a mind game, with an interesting moral dilemma at its center and a beautiful plot twist towards the end. Nobody tells a hysterical dame to "shut up" quite like Charles McGraw and few femme fatales can blow cigarette smoke quite like Marie Windsor (who looks astonishingly like the present day actress Illeana Douglas). The two of them have great smoldering chemistry together. Richard Fleischer's direction is nearly flawless. A joy to watch. Can't wait to see it again. There's a lot going on in this one. By no means, a routine thriller.

The Narrow Margin is excellent. It's too bad more of our new directors have forgotten how to make a great film with a minimal budget, using instead inventive camera angles, good characters and dialog, and some surprises along the way. I really loved Marie Windsor as the mobster's wife who's going to LA to sing to the Grand Jury. She's one of the toughest broads I've ever seen! Charles McGraw does his standard tough cop role and turns in a performance that sets the standard by which all others are judged.

This is the original, and beats the heck out of the re-make.....