Federal Man

Federal Man (1950)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

After another agent is gunned down, narcotics Agent Phil Sherrin (William Henry) leads the investigation, which takes him from big cities down to small Mexican towns. He and his men are not only trying to find the drug dealers but also put an end to their violence. This film turned out to be a pretty rare one when it recently got its debut on Turner Classic Movies but I have to wonder why they'd put a thing like this on during prime time. This is certainly a "C" movie that features some well known "B" actors in a rather bland and predictable little drama that really doesn't have too much going for it outside of the nice cast. The biggest problem with the film is that it tries to be a lot smarter than it actually is. This is the type of film that tries to act like it knows a lot of behind the scenes stuff when everything we're watching is pretty laid back, boring and really just comes off as being unoriginal. The movie runs a short 67-minutes but the film seems twice as long due to the slow pacing and the fact that it seems the story never really knows where it wants to go. The cast is full of veterans with many who appeared in over one hundred films. Some might remember lead actor Henry from small parts in films like THE THIN MAN and TARZAN ESCAPES. He doesn't really put too much energy into his role nor does Lyle Talbot in his few scenes. Vet Robert Shayne and newcomer Joe Turkel also appear in the film. Movita, best known for playing a love interest in 1935's MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY and being Marlon Brando's future wife, appears as a Spanish dancer. Fans of "C" movies might be tempted to check this out like I was but there really wasn't anything here that grabbed my attention. The opening sequence is meant to be full of suspense but it falls flat on its face as does everything that follows.

Indie producer Jack Schwarz produced about thirty flicks in the 1940s and 1950s. This one, Federal Man, also known as "Narcotics Agent", was dry as a piece of toast, with no buttah. As of today, two people have rated this one a perfect "10", but jeez, it plods along like a bad episode of Dragnet, using an omniscient narrator that even SOUNDS like the same one from the Dragnet TV series. The original "Dragnet" film was made in 1947, and has been remade as films and TV series numerous times. I would recommend skipping Federal Man and do something else with that 67 minutes. The only real exciting thing here is the peppy music. Narcotics agents Sherrin & Stuart (William Henry and Robert Shayne) follow Brandon (George Eldridge) and his cronies Sneeze and Rocky for suspected drug trafficking. They even put surveillance equipment in places one doesn't normally expect.... They work on both sides of the U.S. Mexican border,and of course there is the required gun shootout as they move in. The only big name here is Lyle Talbot, as Agent Johnson. He had worked with many of the biggies from the early days of the talkies, but also appeared in the early Batman and Superman works. Directed by Robert Tansey, who would only direct a couple more after this one, dying the next year.

This cheap little indie touches the semi-documentary bases at a time when Hollywood was boosting the image of federal agencies in general. After all, the Cold War was heating up; at the same time organized crime was growing, so who better than the FBI, DEA, Treasury Men, et al. as heroes for a new kind of documentary style. Many classics emerged from this period: T-Men (1947), Naked City (1948), Border Incident (1949). The better ones blended elements of noir with documentary naturalism to produce unusual effects.

This 1950 production echoes many clichés of the period (murdered agent, cutting edge technology, a Mr. Big et al.). But it's clearly a shoestring affair despite good intentions. At the same time, the lighting looks more like unpaid utility bill than noirish light and shadow. Nonetheless, the parking lot location shots provide good glimpse of Detroit's assembly line product, circa 1950. The screenplay manages some tension, but that final shootout looks poorly staged, as if no one fears getting hit. Strictly a low-grade effort at cashing in on a popular trend.

This obviously cheaply made near-procedural of federal agents trying to track down and quell the drug traffic in Los Angeles works because its peculiar combination of low lighting and good talent -- quite apparently picked up on the cheap -- combine to yield an occasionally documentary look. The cast is composed of names that rarely rose higher than secondary leads. The cinematographer spent his career starting with movies like HARLEM RIDES THE RANGE, ended it with MA BARKER'S KILLER BROOD and seems to have kept mostly at that level in between. Its director spent his career making B westerns you never heard of and the scriptwriters came out of Gower Gulch and if one ended up writing for HAWAII 5-0 well, it was a good gig.

In short, this movie sounds like something that no one should have ever heard of, yet the details combine in a compelling way. Are they incapable of emoting or underacting? Whatever it is, the result is what counts.