A Dangerous Profession

I'll admit the first 30 mins were tough-going; Raft's blank-faced, ironing-board-stiff acting had me dream-casting other actors in his place. Then, with the whole blandness of the scenes and the drabness of the sets along with the byzantine storyline and ambivalence of attitude and the femme fatale lite and the grey moral dilemmas aplenty, suddenly I started to really love it - even Raft's flatness fit right in with the dreary decor and one-dimensional bit players - besides the labyrinthine plot, there is the sheer variety of locations and interaction, including some fascinating outdoor shots in the latter half. It would never win awards - but with the qualities mentioned above - the odd great shot and the occasional catchy zinger - this has an exquisite pleasure all its own. I commend this to your good self.

George Raft was a cop. Now he's a bail bondsman, in partnership with Pat O'Brien. A series of disappearing clients has him worried, as does Ella Raines, an old girl friend who reappears in his life.

It's a noirish sort of movie without many of the trappings; the most dramatic bit of lighting occurs in a shot of the firm's secretary taking a call, with the light shining through, the company's logo etched in reverse on the wall above and behind her. Ted Tetzlaff's direction is workmanlike, and as often seems the case, Raft's delivery is fast and guarded, giving the impression, as so many of his later movies do, that he's there for a paycheck, and anxious to get through the shoot as fast as he can. Jim Backus steals the movie as a police detective who seems to have a relationship with Raft.

During the late forties, George Raft made several film noirs for RKO pictures, mostly directed by Edwin Marin: NOCTURNE, INTRIGUE, JOHNNY ANGEL, RACE STREET, but here he works with Ted Tetzlaff, who gave us WHITE TOWER, and several other good films, such as the terrific THE WINDOW, his most notorious movie. So that said, here, George Raft gives us Raft's stuff, but I was more interested by Ella Raines and her wonderful eyes. It is for me only a good atmosphere film, which plot is totally lame and forgettable. Only atmosphere and George Raft - Ella Raines presence justify the watching of this crime noir.

George Raft, Ella Raines, Pat O'Brien, Jim Backus, and Bill Williams star in "A Dangerous Profession," a 1949 film directed by Ted Tetzlaff.

Vince Kane (Raft) is an ex-cop who now works as a bail bondsman with his friend Joe Farley (O'Brien). A detective, Nick Ferrone (Backus) arrests Claude Brackette (Williams) a suspect in a robbery during which a police officer was killed. Kane finds out that Brackette's wife is none other than his old girlfriend, Lucy (Raines).

Lucy wants her husband out on bail. She believes he's innocent. The bail is set at $25,000, and she only has $4,000. Still angry over their breakup, and the fact that he didn't know she was married when they were together, Kane shows her the door. Then a mystery man gives Kane $12,000 toward the bail. Vince puts the company's money over the objection of his partner.

Vince thinks that an associate of Brackette's, a nightclub owner, was the brains behind the robbery. Kane poses as a crook, something that his demeanor lends itself to, and blackmails McKay to see if he can find out if he's guilty.

Fairly routine, with Raft his usual dapper and smooth self. This plot gets a little convoluted, probably due to edits. Not the best, but if you like Raft and the lovely Ella Raines, you'll enjoy it. Bill Williams played Kit Carson on TV and married to Barbara Hale, TV's Della Street on Perry Mason, for 46 years, until his death. He's the father of actor William Katt, and there's quite a resemblance.

"A Dangerous Profession" is a decent enough film...the sort mildly entertaining stuff that George Raft made in the post-war years. It begins with Vince (Raft) working as a bail bondsman along with his partner (Pat O'Brien). Apparently Vince used to be a cop but decided to change careers. Why he wanted a change soon becomes apparently when his old girlfriend, Lucy (Ella Raines) shows up to try to bail her stupid husband out of jail. This IS a surprise...as Vince hasn't heard from her since she disappeared some time ago...nor did he know she was married...and had been when he knew her! Of course it's a surprise but Vince is a dope...so he helps her and her dopier husband. But when the husband soon is murdered, things get really, really confusing. So what's next?

This is a mildly interesting film but it suffers a bit from Raft's relatively dull screen persona as well as his being a bit too trusting to be realistic. The story also becomes a bit confusing and is, if you think about it, a bit like a reworking of "Casablanca"! Odd but worth seeing if you like old film noir movies.