Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

Overrated and overhyped

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

This is 95% of a pretty fascinating film. Basically a heist picture, it's also a message movie: Let's all get along as brother armed robbers under the skin. The lead-up to the crime is full of great, realistic, everyday glimpses into the lives of two losers, played by Robert Ryan and Harry Belafonte. The melodrama is held beautifully in check by director Robert Wise, who gets wonderful performances out of everybody in the supporting cast, especially Ed Begley and Gloria Grahame, the latter of whom was still a complete knockout at age 35. It's the message part that trips up the picture during the last few minutes, as Ryan and Belafonte get to wrangling racially when in more plausible circumstances they'd be running like rabbits in opposite directions.

A meeting of the minds should be used for the good of man, but most times isn't. Such is the case in "Odds Against Tomorrow." Robert Ryan, Harry Belafonte, and Ed Begley are the minds in question. Begley is a retired officer, who was forced into retirement. When he has plans for a quick buck and sweet justice, he gets reinforcements by way of Robert Ryan and Harry Belafonte. But what Ed didn't bank on was Bob's prejudice against blacks. Robert Ryan always seemed to be typecast as the quick-tempered and violent bigot, when friend and actress Ida Lupino knew him as a "sweetheart." In fact, the main reason for watching this heist film is the dynamic performance of Robert Ryan. When they need everything to go exactly right to pull off this bank heist, good old Bob can't seem to keep his cool around Harry, and Harry is just waiting for him to "bring it on." Shelley Winters is effective as Bob's needy wife, and Gloria Grahame is seen briefly but memorably as a neighbor to them. But director Robert Wise takes his time and craftsmanship to execute this delicately tuned film, and, despite the fact I can appreciate a well-made film, the ending really disappoints. Not only in the way that they didn't get what they wanted, but the shootout and the film's inevitable conclusion was a downer, with a thought-provoking twist instead of a full-throttle blazin' time. Granted, any film about people making bad choices will not end well (check the title), but it's up to the makers of the film to make sure you had a good time watching it. Robert Ryan is the center of attention here, but afterwards you're left holding the bag - empty.

brilliant shooting by wise, great low-key winters, truly searing robert ryan who carries the movie, intense offbeat begley, unfortunately bogged down by belafonte- pop singer who is a stick on screen; of course the main point is race relations, and that's the part you wind up feeling as a preachy intrusion that almost cripples a stunning film noir crime drama heist rivaling some of the best like rififi; didn't need the help but john lewis score also tops , though also didn't need the minor showcase of belafonte doing his bit in a nightclub, but his company put up the money so he got some cameos; if you have the time to read up, wise shot standard aspect ratio, used infra-red film in some scenes; interesting that variety had it right, and tactfully, after the opening: " "On one level, Odds against Tomorrow is a taut crime melodrama. On another, it is an allegory about racism, greed and man's propensity for self-destruction. Not altogether successful in the second category, it still succeeds on its first." yup

Continuing to review movies featuring African-Americans in chronological order for Black History Month, we're once again at 1959 when Harry Belafonte uses his clout with his production company to make this very interesting heist drama with Robert Wise directing. He plays Johnny Ingram, a gambler who's been on the outs for months so he reluctantly agrees to deal with Dave Burke (Ed Begley Sr.) to pull a bank robbery along with Earle Slater (Robert Ryan) who is openly bigoted when confronting Ingram. Johnny himself has no use for white folks as is revealed when he argues with ex-wife Ruth (Kim Hamilton) about what kind of world he wants their daughter Edie (Lois Thorne) to grow up in. As for Earle, he has a live-in lover named Lorry (Shelley Winters) and a mother of a child with a no-good husband named Helen (Gloria Grahame) that he fools around with. Johnny himself is seen kissing a woman named Kitty (Carmen De Lavallade) at the club he performs songs at. I'll just stop there and just say what a great find I just discovered when I stumbled into it on YouTube. I mean, Wise makes great use of many scenic shots of either the skies, the various buildings, or the many freeways that get shown here. I also have to compliment the awesome score by John Lewis as performed by the Modern Jazz Quartet. And Belafonte himself provides some good musical numbers like the one he sings with Mae Barnes as Annie on "All Men are Evil" though it's partly unfortunate that it has to be marred a bit by a character-inspired breakdown at the end. All in all though, Odds Against Tomorrow is a very compellingly made drama/suspense thriller. P.S. Among other people of color in supporting roles: Robert Earl Jones (James Earl Jones' father) is a fellow club employee, Diana Sands is the club hostess, Cicely Tyson is a jazz club bartender, and Mel Stewart-the only one of them that I actually recalled watching though I didn't recognize him as the later Henry Jefferson from "All in the Family"-is the Hotel Juno Elevator Operator. He has interesting encounters with both Ryan and Belafonte. And Ms. Grahame is another player from my favorite movie-It's a Wonderful Life. She was flirtatiously sexy there and is even more so here when she reveals her brassiere to Ryan. Grrrrr!