Quicksand

Overview

Dumb-cluck garage mechanic Mickey Rooney falls for seemingly sweet Jeanne Cagney, who convinces him to "borrow" twenty bucks from the cash register to buy her a mink coat (twenty bucks???) From this minor theft, Rooney is plunged into a nightmarish world of big-time crime, homicidal criminals and police manhunts. Only his love for Barbara Bates rescues Rooney from ending up riddled with bullets. Quicksand is a minor "film noir" bolstered by strong direction (Irving Pichel) and convincing characterizations. The best performance is delivered by Peter Lorre as a surly carnival huckster.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/23/2019
UPC:	0660845449336
Original Release:	1950
Rating:	NR
Source:	Grapevine Mod
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:18:00
Sales rank:	48,651

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Mickey Rooney	Daniel 'Dan' Brady
Peter Lorre	Nick Dramoshag
Jeanne Cagney	Vera Novak
Barbara Bates	Helen Calder
Taylor Holmes	Harvey
Art Smith	Mackey, Garage Owner
Wally Cassell	Chuck
Patsy O'Connor	Millie
John Gallaudet	Moriarity
Minerva Urecal	Landlady
Richard Lane	Lt. Nelson
Lester Dorr	Baldy
Kitty O'Neil	Madame Zaronga
Frank Marlowe	Watchman
Alvin Hammer	Auditor
Ray Teal	Motorcycle Officer
Louis Gruenberg	Composer

Technical Credits

Robert Smith

Mort Briskin	Producer
Irving Pichel	Director
Robert Smith	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Quicksand is one of the most harrowing examples of film noir ever made, and also one of the more fascinating social documents of its era. Mickey Rooney (who financed this film with Peter Lorre and saw both his and Lorre's shares of the profits stolen by their third partner) gives the best performance of his career as a well-meaning but not too bright schlub who finds himself sinking ever deeper into a maze of theft and assault, and even murder. Director Irving Pichel shows a fine eye for detail in both the performances and the action. Much of the movie was shot in actual locations on the sleazy Southern California amusement piers where it was set; additionally, the characters in the film, especially the men, act and talk like real guys, not characters in a movie -- the dialogue and the banter, and even the way they stand and interact with each other, all feels real and harsh. One gets a vivid sense of the texture of working-class life during that period, long enough after World War II for fun and games, and an easygoing approach to life, but with an underlying unease reflecting the era of Korea, the Red Scare, and the uncertainty lying just below the surface of American life. Indeed, the nature of the story and the dark, shadowy treatment of so much of the action seems to be an unsettling commentary on the fragility of the stability of life, made even more compelling by the accepted optimism of the era.