Borderline (1950)

Why so much hype?

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Fred MacMurray and Claire Trevor bump into each other while trying to put the darbies on a couple of high-echelon drug dealers in Mexico. They both represent law enforcement, although neither knows the other is a good guy.Every once in a while the dialog in this semi-comic thriller lets slip an interesting exchange. MacMurray to Trevor as she's leaving a hotel room where they are posing as man and wife: "Don't talk to any strangers." Trevor: "I don't know any strangers." Now that's a little clever. The rest of the movie forces you into accepting the proposition that the exchange was one hundred percent accidental. The dialog has few other Easter eggs and the director, William Seiter, passes up even the easiest opportunities for an exercise of wit. To wit: Morris Ankrum is the head of Narcotics in the LAPD.Ankrum and his subordinates, including Trevor, are mulling over a novel idea -- sending Trevor as an agent to Mexico. Trevor is eager for the chance but the others are skeptical -- a dame? Why not, we know the big boss down there likes dames. Ankrum agrees but adds, "He likes cheap trashy types." "Well, SHE could pass," says a cop. Given the playful tone of the story, this is Trevor's opportunity to give the cop the briefest of dirty glances. But no. The script was set up for it but Seiter misses the chance. It's a small thing but it reflect the carelessness with which the whole production was infected.It's almost as if the writer, Devery Freeman, were working with a Hitchcock story in mind, maybe "Saboteur" or "North By Northwest." He may not have cleared the bar but then the director doesn't seem to have realized that there was any bar.As it is, the story has two stars, both on the decline, doing some things in Mexico that are dangerous and interesting, but there's nothing fresh about it. One of the more memorable performances comes from José Torvay as henchman Miguel. He's the guy that tried to bop Humphrey Bogart over the head with a rock towards the end of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre." Buen rendimiento, Amigo.

Customs agents are looking for information about Pete Ritchie.He is involved in smuggling drugs into the US.Police officer Madeleine Haley goes undercover in order to gain Ritchie's confidence, and before long she meets him through one of his associates.Doesn't this sort of sound like another movie made around this time??As she is talking with Ritchie, Johnny Macklin and one of his men burst in, and they provoke a violent confrontation. From then on, Haley is in constant danger as she attempts to figure out everything that is happening in the smuggling operation.OK but the widest lapels on the planet do not a good movie make.

"Borderline" is a 1950 film that's just that - borderline good, borderline noir, borderline funny, borderline - well, just borderline. Though it stars Fred MacMurray, Claire Trevor and Raymond Burr, you'll come away with the impression (possibly true) that once the big stars came home from the war, MacMurray's services were no longer needed and that Trevor, like so many wonderful Hollywood actresses, had passed 30 and was now diving for roles.It's a story about two undercover cops - one Fed, one local - after a major drug dealer (Burr). Neither knows the other's true identity as they fall in love.This is the kind of film RKO could do with one hand tied behind its back - put Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell or Jane Greer in it and you can see it working just fine. Why? The MacMurray role is perfect for Mitchum's tongue-in-cheek, lazy delivery, and Russell, who crackles with him, could give as good as she got. Their presence guarantees you'll have smiles and romance mixed in with your suspense. But here, the chemistry is off. Neither actor is quite right for their role. MacMurray plays it too straight while Trevor is off doing another movie. The film never establishes what it is - drama, comedy, what, so the viewer is constantly off-balance.Disappointing, though Raymond Burr is plenty menacing as the drug dealer.

This is a perfectly adequate movie with perfectly adequate performances and while there's nothing bad about this film, there certainly isn't anything that good that stands out either. This film sort of like a "Film Noir-LITE", in that it has some of the outward signs of a Noir film (such as gangsters, villains and violence) but is far from a good example of the genre (mediocre camera-work and rather listless dialog compared to "true" Noir). And, despite starring Fred MacMurray and Claire Trevor, I really had to struggle to keep watching the film because nothing peaked my interest. Plus, even though the film co-starred Raymond Burr (one of the greatest Noir actors of all-time--especially in RAW DEAL), he wasn't given that much screen time (his removal from the plot was way too easy and anti-climactic) and his usual sadism was absent. In many ways, I consider this film to be like eating meatloaf--it's pretty ordinary, inoffensive and nothing to get excited over. Gimme a "steak" anytime over meatloaf!