Deadline at Dawn (1946)

★ 6.2 1h 23m IMDb

A young Navy sailor has one night to find out why a woman was killed and he ended up with a bag of money after a drinking blackout.

Deadline at Dawn

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Cast

Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward as June Goffe Died 1975 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA Susan Hayward (June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American actress. After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the lead...
Paul Lukas
Paul Lukas as Gus Hoffman Died 1971 · Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary] Paul Lukas (originally named Pál Lukács) was a Hungarian born stage, screen, radio, and television actor, in Hollywood from 1927..
Bill Williams
Bill Williams as Alex Winkler Died 1992 · Brooklyn, New York, USA William Herman Katt (born Herman August Wilhelm Katt; May 15, 1915 – September 21, 1992), known as Bill Williams, was an American television and film actor. He is best known for his starring role in t...
Joseph Calleia
Joseph Calleia as Val Bartelli Died 1975 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Joseph Calleia (August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975), was a Maltese born American singer, composer, and actor, both on Broadway and in film. Calleia played opposi...
Osa Massen
Osa Massen as Helen Robinson Died 2006 · Copenhagen, Denmark Osa Massen (January 13, 1914 - January 2, 2006) was a Danish actress who went on to become a successful movie actress in Hollywood. She became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1941..
Lola Lane
Lola Lane as Edna Bartelli Died 1981 · Macy, Indiana, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Lane Sisters were a family of American singers and actresses. The sisters were Leota Lane (October 25, 1903 – July 25, 1963), Lola Lane (May 21, 1906 – June...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 7/10 Feb 16, 2020
People with wax heads should keep out of the sun!

Deadline at Dawn is directed by Harold Clurman and adapted to screenplay by Clifford Odets from the novel written by Cornell Woolrich. It stars Susan Hayward, Paul Lukas, Bill Williams, Joseph Calleia, Osa Masson and Lola Lane. Music is by Hans Eisler and cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca.

Sailor Alex Winkley (Williams) wakes up with hangover amnesia to find he has a wad of cash on his person that he didn't have before his drunken exploits. Enlisting the help of dancer June Goth (Hayward), he retraces his steps to the home of the nightclub hostess who had befriended him the night before. Finding the woman dead, Alex doesn't know if he murdered and robbed her? So with the clock ticking, Alex and his friend have to find out what happened...

"She's a blitzkrieg with hair on her head"

Amnesia formed the backbone of many a good film noir picture, here we have a familiar theme brought about by a simple social occurrence, that of a drunken night. This sets us up for a mystery to be solved as our protagonists trawl through a backlot produced night time New York that's awash with a whole array of damaged or menacing characters.

The dialogue is often sharp, where we get plenty of choice one liners and superb philosophical musings from Lukas' taxi driver who has joined the fight to prove Alex's innocence (in fact all the cabbies in this are real cool). This was Clurman's only big screen directing assignment, and in truth it's just a passable job and he's saved by strong turns from Hayward and Lukas. However, there's a nifty noir world painted and the pic constantly holds interest value. 7/10

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