Riff-Raff (1947)

Beautiful, moving film.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Two passengers board a plane during a storm. When the journey is complete, only one passenger is left. It's a great opening sequence filled with tension, angst and progressed without any dialogue. It's pretty stylish and promises great things. However, the film doesn't live up to this gripping start and at only 80 minutes in length, this short film ends up seeming a lot longer.Apart from the excellent beginning, the dialogue is snappy and humorous and Anne Jeffreys (Maxine) sings a great song. The director puts on a good show for this offering. Unfortunately, everything falls apart with the lead actor - Pat O'Brien (Dan) - who is tasked with tracking down a map. He's unlike-able, too old, fat, balding and reminds me of a paedophile. The end sequence with him chasing after a taxi is ludicrous as we watch this fat blob running after and unrealistically keeping up with the car's journey. Ha ha. He looks ridiculous. The film somehow kills the interest and drags on. It's watchable, though.

Riffraff (AKA: erm, Riff-Raff) is directed by Ted Tetzlaff and written by Martin Rackin. It stars Pat O'Brien, Anne Jeffreys, Walter Slezak and Percy Kilbride. Music is by Roy Webb and cinematography by George Diskant.Something of a little cracker is this one, a pic for those with a discernible palate of Private Investigator based film noir. Don't be misled into believing others when they write that it's minor noir, or borderline of such, it quite simply is a noir pic from what was a stellar year for that film making style.Story is based in Panama and finds P.I. Dan Hammer (O'Brien) involved in the search for a map that shows priceless oil concessions. Sure enough there's others who desperately want the map, so in comes murder, beatings and a sultry babe.Pic opens with the shot of a reptile at nighttime, sitting on a rock in the pouring rain, it probably would have been better to use a snake in the shot, but it certainly is a most appealing and appropriate film opening. From there the piece is a veritable feast of super photography and punchy dialogue. OK, so the plot story is standard fare, but the makers never let it drag things down, there's always a quip or a punch thrown to keep things perky.Tetzlaff was himself a fine cinematographer (see the previous year's Notorious), and here armed with Diskant (They Live By Night/On Dangerous Ground/The Narrow Margin) in his corner the director makes hay. The plot set-up sequences in an aeroplane are moody visual supreme, and often when a scene calls for it - such as when Hammer is getting tortured in his office by Sleazak and his thugs - the noir style comes to the fore. There's wooden slats everywhere in this, wonderful!Initially one can be forgiven for being sceptical at a portly 48 year old O'Brien playing a tough P.I., but he pulls it off, sharp of tongue and he throws a good punch does Pat. Jeffreys (Dillinger) slinks in for some initial sultry suspicion, and does well, even getting involved in the key fight scene, Kilbride is wonderfully wry as Hammer's unofficial aide, and Sleazak does what he does best, Weasle time!Capping it off is the MacGuffin map, whose whereabouts at reveal is cheeky and something Hitch would have been proud of. Riffraff is a winner and well worth seeking out. 7/10

This typical film noir production has an unusual setting in Panama, although the fact that it's an RKO production means there aren't any exotic visuals or location shooting here. Instead this is a simply-plotted movie about the hunt for a missing map which has the location of oil highlighted on it. A private eye by the name of Dan Hammer (Mike's brother?) gets involved in the hunt and finds himself up against a criminal gang.RIFF-RAFF boasts a memorable opening sequence on board an in-flight aircraft in which a guy goes missing. However, it soon descends into your typical mystery thriller, with a few hard-knuckle fights here and there but little to distinguish it from literally hundreds of others. While Pat O'Brien was a great character actor (such as when he played the priest in ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES) he's an odd choice for lead and doesn't exactly seem to be the sort of guy able to handle himself. However, Walter Slezak is better as the sleazy villain and Anne Jefferys as the youthful love interest.

Riffraff finds Pat O'Brien as Dan Hammer, hardboiled private eye, operating in the Canal Zone which when the USA was operating the Panama Canal had a kind of hybrid sovereignty between America and Panama. Of course other than an aerial shot at the beginning of the film, no one got closer to Panama than the backlot of RKO Studios.I'm not sure if Mickey Spillane had already created his character of Mike Hammer, but O'Brien's portrayal sure could have been the model for it.O'Brien is hired by someone to locate a missing map of some undiscovered South American oil fields. His client is later murdered and that starts the ball rolling. A lot of the plot elements of Riffraff are found in that other private eye classic Murder, My Sweet and though Riffraff is entertaining, it doesn't hold a candle to that classic noir.Anne Jeffreys does well as the singer/moll who actually proves to be quite a bit of help to him in that last encounter with the bad guys. Walter Slezak is as always one charming, but dangerous villain. Jerome Cowan does well as the feckless and luckless oil executive and the best performance in the supporting cast is that of Percy Kilbride as a laconic cabdriver.In fact Percy's the one who gets the best of Slezak. You should see Riffraff just to see how he does it.