| Walk a Crooked Mile | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release lobby card | |
| Directed by | Gordon Douglas |
| Screenplay by | George Bruce |
| Story by | Bertram Millhauser |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Reed Hadley |
| Cinematography | |
| Edited by | James E. Newcom |
| Music by | Paul Sawtell |
| Color process | Black and white |
Production company | Edward Small Productions |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Walk a Crooked Mile is a 1948 Americananti-communist,Cold Warcrime film, directed byGordon Douglas, starringDennis O'Keefe andLouis Hayward.
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Information comes to light of a Communist spy ring infiltrating the Lakeview Laboratory of Nuclear Physics, a southern California atomic research center. Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Dan O'Hara teams up with Scotland Yard detective Philip Grayson, to hunt down the perpetrators responsible for the leak. At least one of the scientists at the nuclear plant is suspected of being involved in the clandestine espionage operation and the two investigators set out to find the mole and work out how the complex formulas are being smuggled out.
The film was one of the firstCold War movies and was made specifically to exploit the new anti-communist sentiment in the country afterWorld War II. Producer Edward Smalls hoped to repeat the success he recently had with the film noirsT-Men andRaw Deal. It was directorGordon Douglas' first major production, after primarily makingB movies forMGM.
The original title wasFace of Treason, which was later changed toFBI vs Scotland Yard.FBI directorJ. Edgar Hoover requested it be renamed again,[1] toFBI Meets Scotland Yard, but Small wanted no official collaboration with the agency, who could be overly controlling on cinematic projects. Hoover was involved with a big 1945 hitThe House on 92nd Street, a movie about the FBI's pursuit and conquest of domesticNazis that showcased the agency's methods and skills. By 1948, theHouse Un-American Activities Committee hearings aboutcommunist influence on the country were underway and the FBI wanted a movie about this hot new topic, but Small refused to let Hoover co-produce the movie. Small also refused to grant the FBI power to approve the screenplay, so Hoover insisted all traces of the agency be removed from the film. Small refused once again, stating that fictional treatment of a public agency was legitimate. The only concession Small made was regarding the title and as a consequenceThe New York Times published a letter from Hoover disavowing any connection to the film and stating that he had not sanctioned it.[2]
Exteriors are mostly fromSan Francisco but the film starts with exteriors shot in Brand Boulevard,Glendale, California.[3][4]
When the film was released,The New York Times film critic,Bosley Crowther, while giving the film a mixed review, wrote well of the screenplay, "No use to speak of the action or the acting. It's strictly routine. But the plot is deliberately sensational."[5]
The staff atVariety gave the film a favorable review, writing that the "Action swings to San Francisco and back to the southland, punching hard all the time under the knowledgeable direction of Gordon Douglas. On-the-site filming of locales adds authenticity. George Bruce has loaded his script with nifty twists that add air of reality to the meller doings in the Bertram Millhauser story. Dialog is good and situations believably developed, even the highly contrived melodramatic finale. Documentary flavor is forwarded by Reed Hadley's credible narration chore."[6]
San Francisco movie locations from classic films
