Deadline - U.S.A. (1952)

Thanks for the memories!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Better than average newspaper drama from the Fifties. Seems to be a more or less forgotten Humphrey Bogart film, which is too bad. I couldn't find it on DVD anywhere, and watched it on a tape I made from cable ten or more years ago. The film has three intertwining plot arcs done very skillfully by screenwriter (and director) Richard Brooks. Martin Gabel plays the bad guy, a mobster who is suitably menacing, without overdoing it. Icon Ethel Barrymore puts in a fine turn as the newspaper heiress, and the lovely Kim Hunter shines as Bogey's ex-wife. Bogart is outstanding as the crusading newspaper editor, doing everything possible to save his paper, and bringing low the criminal element. Definitely worth seeing, if you can find it.

Humphrey Bogart tries to avert The Day, the paper he is head of, from being sold. The film brings out the importance of competition within newspapers as The Day tries to expose the gangster Rienzi, nicely portrayed by Martin Gabel. Had the latter's part be enlarged, Bogart could have easily played that part.Why did Ethel Barrymore, who plays Mrs. Garrison, the widow of the owner of the paper, change her mind about selling the paper. She had two selfish daughters who only saw the gaining of money in the scheme of things.Rienzi is ruthless and will go to any length to keep his crooked enterprises thriving. This includes murdering his mistress when her own brother turns her in to the mob, and then he makes sure to eliminate the brother. Their poor elderly mother defies this gangster and gets the newspaper to print its final edition with her diary being used by the paper.The picture really brings out the tragedy of when a newspaper is sold and the new owner has the intentions of running it to the ground.We have an excellent cast here supporting Bogart. Kim Hunter is effective as his ex-wife, who still loves him. Ed Begley and Audrey Christie, both of whom would appear together 12 years later in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," are appealing as dedicated staff members, as does Jim Backus and others.

Richard Brooks wrote and directed this amazing film about the death of a quality newspaper. The detail about it's day-to-day workings are fascinating.Besides Bogart, in one of his very best roles, you get to see why Ethel Barrymore was considered one of the greatest actresses of the Twentieth Century. She's marvelous here.The supporting cast is really strong, but I have single out both Ed Begley and Jim Backus. Begley usually played mean types; here he's playing a honest, hardworking assistant to Bogart and he's really good.Most people don't know how good an actor Backus was. His performance here, as well as is in "Pat & Mike" show that he really had the chops to pull off a dramatic role, although both characters have their light side.The only that bogs down the film is Kim Hunter as Bogart's ex-wife and "love interest". She's a great actress, but she way too youthful for this part and after her performance in "Streetcar", this seemed a bit phoned-in. It's not Hunter's fault....it's the part.This is one of the remaining major Bogart films that have not yet come out on DVD, and it would certainly be appropriate for Fox to get with it.

A really great movie for one of Bogart's last pictures. His character is hard-nosed, but low key, a man who doesn't feel the need to prove how tough he is. An excellent supporting cast includes such reliable actors as Paul Stewart, Ed Begley,and Jim Backus as newspaper staff, with Joe DeSantis as the weaselly crook in hiding. Ethel Barrymore is superb as the widow of the paper's founder, watching as her obnoxious daughters sell off the paper they care nothing about. Martin Gabel hits just the right note as mob boss Rienzi, smiling and affable one minute, snarling and growling threats seconds later.One of the best scenes has Rienzi pick up Bogart's editor Hutchinson off the street and offer him a drink in his luxurious limousine. Bogart asks half seriously if he's being ' taken for a ride', and Rienzi claims he's not a gangster. Moments later, Rienzi loses his temper and smacks Hutchinson in the face. Hutchinson smiles that crooked Bogart grin and says, " That's more like it", telling Rienzi he's showing his true colors at last. The would be respectable businessman is nothing more than a gangster, after all.This movie is both an antique, in the way it shows how big city dailies were still operating fifty years ago, and surprisingly up to date in its concern with how the public often doesn't really care about the news, and that a lot of what's packaged as news is just entertainment. Bogart's great speech at the hearing to determine the paper's future is a rouser, as he talks about the importance of a free press.This movie deserves a wider audience on home video than its occasional cable TV showings. It's a great Bogart vehicle, and a fascinating story of the newspaper business, and just a fine picture in general.