Loophole

Barry Sullivan is the chief teller at a bank branch. Checking his figures at the end of the day, he comes up $50,000 short. He rechecks, and goes home to wife Dorothy Malone and his dog, and tells her what happened. She knows he should have reported the shortage before he went home. He tells his boss the first thing Monday, and the bonding company is told. They send Charles McGraw to investigate, and plays tough, finally dragging Sullivan and Miss Malone to the police station. The cops believe Sullivan, who remembers that the auditors had come by in the morning, and had done something odd, asking to recheck the big bills. They send Sullivan home, and try to figure out who the auditor was. Not McGraw. He believes Sullivan did it, and starts hounding him. Sullivan loses his bond and goes through a series of small jobs, each of which McGraw gets him fired from. When Sullivan gets a job at Richard Reeves' can company, he tells McGraw that as long as Sullivan keeps his nose clean, he'll keep his job until he goes to jail.

McGraw is brilliant as the brutal investigator, convinced he is Inspector Javert and suggesting the cops third-degree Sullivan. Miss Malone is the dutiful wife, a couple of years before she would win an Oscar.Don Beddoe, one of those familiar faces from hundreds of movies, is fine as the actual thief, and peroxided Mary Beth Hughes is fine as the viperish dame who has Beddo on the hook.

It's a fine shaky A production from Allied Artists that makes the most of its cast and script, an exercise in the tawdry underworld that Sullivan and perky Dorothy Malone fall into when suspicion falls on them.

You know in five minutes how this film will end. But it is the journey, not reaching the destination that is the best part of this low-budget film noir piece. Barry Sullivan is miscast as a banker who has a bad day at the office. But Mcgraw is letter perfect in his Edward G imitation of "Double Indemnity". He plays the hard-nosed bond detective to a tee. The females do well in this film, also. I love the bank robber's moll, who was as evil as they get, and the good girl was predictably played well by good girl Dorothy Malone, who always suffered during love scenes (she could never convince the audience she was overtly sexy). She is fine in this role, however. Sullivan, who was famous for uttering one of the most famous lines that ever slipped through the censors in Hollywood with Barbara Stanwyck in "Forty Guns", when he tells Stanwyck that "she better not play with his gun or it might go off in her face". How the hell did that get through? Anyway, the direction is interesting and the production values are wretched, but somehow, the film works anyway. The idea is quite clever at the beginning. A watchable noir.

A bank teller comes up $50,000 short and an investigator is determined to nail him for theft. The film is something of a mixed bag. The cinematography is pedestrian, the narration is hokey, and the ending is too neat to be satisfying. However, a story about someone being wrongfully accused always makes my blood boil in a way that holds my attention. Barry Sullivan is great as usual, but more interesting is Charles McGraw. McGraw usually plays a righteous character, but here he's such a relentless, contemptible bastard that you can't wait to see him get what's coming to him. The film could have paid off a little better in this respect, but it's an engaging performance. Dorothy Malone is unfortunately saddled with a dull good girl role that doesn't exploit her talents, but there is a small but delightful femme fatale part for Mary Beth Hughes. Ultimately the positives outweigh the negatives and it's a fun watch.

This is a pretty interesting tale of an average Joe bank teller who is wrongly accused of masterminding a robbery at his bank. The story moves along, the acting is good, and the direction is adept. The movie really ignites flames when CHARLES MACGRAW, as a vengeful bail bondsman, and MARY BETH HUGHES, as a platinum blond femme fatale, are on screen. They both light up the screen with their world-wary, jaded, magnetism. I wish the film had been about them instead of rather dull BARRY SULLIVAN. And DOROTHY MALONE is wasted as the dutiful, loyal wife. In one particularly cringe-worthy scene, Sullivan's boss, Jim Starling (DAYTON LUMMIS), physically hold up his hand up to shush Malone when she tries to make a suggestion, and barks, "I'll handle this, Ruthie." That about sums up how Malone's character was written. Don Beddoe is great as the mild-mannered bank teller in over his head with Hughes, and Richard Reeves is a scene-stealer as Sullivan's new boss who has no time for MacGraw!

I loved "Loophole", and the film has many things going for it. The story is much like a variation on "Les Misérables" and "The Fugitive" and much of it is because the story seems so real.

When the story begins, Mike Donovan (Barry Sullivan) is a well respected head teller at a bank. However, his reputation is destroyed when a group of bank examiners arrive to check on the bank...a standard procedure. What is NOT standard is that one of these examiners is a phony...a guy using this situation to steal from the bank. And, unfortunately for Mike, the crook steals from his cash box. And, when the bank is $50,000 short, he's in deep trouble with the law.

After investigating, the police find no money nor any proof that Mike stole anything...and they believe he's innocent. However, a security officer from the bank's head office, Gus Slavin (Charles McGraw), has assumed from the start that Mike is a crook...and even after the police release Mike, Guy persecutes him--following him everywhere and getting him fired from many jobs*. After a while, it's obvious the only chance Mike has is to find the real crooks himself.

This films works for two main reasons. First, Donovan is so likable and 'normal' that you really sympathize with the guy. Second, and more important, Gus is just scum....as bad as Javert from "Les Misérables". He's humorless, mean and a punk....and McGraw was wonderful here and in many other films. There just weren't many actors who could pull the role off like he did...plus the writing really helped. Overall, an exceptional crime film...and one that you really must see.

*My assumption is that much of Gus' actions in the film would not be the least bit legal in 2021....especially going to employers and telling them that Mike is a thief and should be fired.