Alias Nick Beal (1949)

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Boring

Best movie of this year hands down!

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

Interesting, atmospheric late-'40s near-noir, shot through with smoky exteriors and great moody lighting. But it's just a variation on the Faust legend, and not an imaginatively conceived one. Thomas Mitchell, a good man running for governor, is courted by Ray Milland, who's essentially the devil. He talks in epigrams and charms when he wants to and bends fate to his will, and he enlists femme fatale Audrey Totter (who's splendid) to lure Mitchell away from his good, moral, dull wife. There's some fine Franz Waxman blasting beneath the surface, and some good character actors turn up--Fred Clark as a corrupt pol, Darryl Hickman as a bad kid turning better. What ruins it for me is the sanctimonious posturing, from a too-good-to-be-true priest to some absurd plot points- -Milland refuses to be touched, and is ultimately done in by being unable to touch a Bible. Though Milland's top-billed, Mitchell is really the lead, and he's good. But the picture sermonizes too much for its own good.

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A SPOILER. WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A SPOILER. WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A SPOILER.It's not often that a film pops up on TCM that I haven't seen before, and it's a special treat when it's a "lost" gem, and this one is that in that for years it could not be shown on television. And, this is a gem for several reasons. First because here Thomas Mitchell -- though getting third billing -- is the real star of film as a politician. He has the most screen time by far, and the story really revolves around him. And it's a fine performance.Ray Milland is, essentially, the Devil here, although it takes quite a while early in the pic to fully realize that. It begins to dawn on the viewer fairly early that there's something supernatural here, but at first you wonder if Milland is sort of a fallen angel with good intentions. One murder later and you know that's not true. Milland is good in the part, and his career is full of interesting parts where he clearly refused to be typecast. Good for him!Audrey Totter -- not exactly leading lady material -- is here (sort of). But rather than say leading lady, I'd say "key player". She does well.George Macready is good as a political minister of sorts. Fred Clark has an important, though minor role as a crooked political hack. Geraldine Wall, with whom I was not familiar, was very good as Mitchell's wife. Veteran character actor Henry O'Neill is here in a minor role as a judge. And young Darryl Hickman has a small role.So the story is good (in fact, I was tempted to give it an "8"). A politician gets involved with Old Scratch, though gradually without really realizing what is happening to him. The question is: will he sell his soul to the devil and, if so, will he be able to break that contract?Highly recommended.I should also mention that about 7 years later an episode of "Father Knows Best" called "Mister Beal Meets His Match" supposedly had an appearance by Ray Milland. I just watched that episode. No sign of Ray Milland from beginning to end.

Alias Nick Beal (AKA: A few other titles...) is directed by John Farrow and adapted to screenplay by Jonathan Latimer from the Mindret Lord story. It stars Ray Milland, Audrey Totter, Thomas Mitchell and George Macready. Music is by Franz Waxman and cinematography by Lionel Lindon.It's the Faustian legend filmed through film noir filters as Thomas Mitchell's politician unwittingly makes a deal with Ray Milland's suspicious Nick Beal.Nicholas Beal - Agent.It's all fogs, smogs and smoky pubs here, it's 1949 and John Farrow and his team are having a great time of things blending Faust with politico machinations. Narrative thrust comes by way of corruption and character disintegration, sprinkled naturally with your good old cinematic staple of good versus evil in bold type. Don't touch him! He doesn't like it! Milland is superb here, his Nick Beal is the ultimate Machiavellian Mannipulator, and the chief film makers really bring these traits to the fore. Beal is a bundle of smug grins and glinting eyes, he just appears in scenes, Farrow cunningly using various props and persons to suddenly unleash his little old devil when he is least expected. Around Nicky there are subtle changes of clothes and snatches of dialogue that hit the requisite devilish notes, Totter is our darling who is caught in Old Nick's trap, Mitchell (great) even more so.The last time I was here was quite exciting. City was on fire. Picked up quite a lot of recruits that night. Made quite a transportation problem.Lionel Lindon and Franz Waxman are also key components to what makes the pic work. Waxman (Sunset Blvd.) deftly shifts between big bass drums for thunder clap effects, to delicate swirls that give off other worldly - eerie - effects. Lindon (I Want to Live!) does great work isolating the eyes in light, while his fog and shadows work wouldn't be amiss in a Val Lewton picture. This is a criminally under seen movie, it's far from perfect because the collage of genre influences give it a very unbalanced feel, but there's so much fun, spookiness and technical craft on show to make it a must see movie for fans of the stars, noir and supernatural tinged pictures. 8/10

A super triple-plus cheer for the 1949 "Alias Nick Beal"! Director John Farrow told me this was his favorite film. "Everything came out right for once! Every scene was played, set, photographed and edited exactly the way I wanted it." And Ray Milland told me the same thing. "Alias Nick Beal!" he exclaimed. "I loved that movie!" And so right they were both were! Admittedly, I told Farrow I preferred "The Big Clock" as his finest achievement, but "Nick Beal" is definitely number two. Milland is perfect in the title role, and Totter almost equally wonderful as the floozy, but Macready had a far more winning role in the earlier film and Thomas Mitchell is no match at all for Charles Laughton. However, as superbly photographed by Lionel Lindon (who worked with Farrow again on the far less interesting "Submarine Command"), this movie definitely still comes across as a rivetingly atmospheric, film noir masterpiece.