The Threat (1949)
Overview
A violent escaped con and his gang kidnap the police detective and DA who put him behind bars.
Cast
Michael O'Shea
Detective Ray Williams
Virginia Grey
Carol
Charles McGraw
Arnold 'Red' Kluger
Julie Bishop
Ann Williams
Frank Conroy
District Attorney Barker MacDonald
Robert Shayne
Insp. 'Murph' Murphy
Anthony Caruso
Nick Damon
Don McGuire
Joe Turner
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John Chard
Arnold Kluger Escaped From Folsom Prison Tonight…
The Threat is directed by Felix E. Feist and written by Dick Irving Hyland and Hugh King. It stars Charles McGraw, Virginia Grey, Michael O’Shea, Julie Bishop. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by Harry J. Wild.
Maniac criminal Red Kluger escapes from jail and sets off to kidnap the three people he holds responsible for his incarceration.
Compact at just over an hour in run time, The Threat is all about Charles McGraw impressing on everyone just what a great portrayer of hard cases he would become. Once the escape and set up of plot has been formed, pic basically confines itself to one cramped location as Kluger and his two henchmen hold four people hostage at their hideout, the fourth person being an unfortunate truck driver who has got in the way. The air of menace is palpable, the atmosphere hot and sweaty, and via torture, violence and mind games it builds to tough old climax, having got there without fuss or filler.
Nothing memorable visually, and some of the screenplay involves characters doing daft things, but it’s a gritty “B” noir well worth taking a look at. Especially for McGraw’s performance. 7/10
