Film Snail

5.5

Red Light

NR·1949·83m

Thriller

Crime

Thriller

Crime

Summary

Nick Cherney, in prison for embezzling from Torno Freight Co., sees a chance to get back at Johnny Torno through his young priest brother Jess. He pays fellow prisoner Rocky, who gets out a week before Nick, to murder Jess... who, dying, tells revenge-minded Johnny that he'd written a clue "in the Bible." Frustrated, Johnny obsessively searches for the missing Gideon Bible from Jess's hotel room.

Cast

George Raft

Johnny Torno

Virginia Mayo

Carla North

Gene Lockhart

Warni Hazard

Raymond Burr

Nick Cherney

Harry Morgan

Rocky

Barton MacLane

Detective Strecker

Arthur Franz

Fr. Jess Torno

Ken Murray

Stanley Clements

Carlson Hotel Bellhop

William Frawley

Hotel Night Clerk

Arthur Shields

Father Redmond

Frank Orth

Wallace 'Wally' Stoner

Phillip Pine

Pablo Cabrillo

William Phillips

Det. Jim Ryan

Movita

Trina (uncredited)

Victor Sen Yung

Vincent (uncredited)

Claire Carleton

Waitress (uncredited)

Leonard Bremen

Bookie (uncredited)

Bill Cartledge

Elevator Operator (uncredited)

Robert Espinoza

Miguel (uncredited)

Charles Ferguson

Reporter at Airport (uncredited)

Paul Frees

Bellhop (uncredited)

Mack Gray

Bookie (uncredited)

Chuck Hamilton

Detective Arresting Nick (uncredited)

Al Hill

Burt (uncredited)

Bob Jellison

Man in Hotel Room (uncredited)

Soledad Jiménez

Pablo's Mother (uncredited)

Phyllis Kennedy

Chambermaid (uncredited)

Joe Kirk

Reporter in Newsreel (uncredited)

David Leonard

Man Reading Bible (uncredited)

Knox Manning

Newsreel Commentator (voice) (uncredited)

Edwin Max

Bert Adams (uncredited)

Sol Murgi

Convict (uncredited)

Simon Oakland

Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)

Jack Overman

Hotel Clerk (uncredited)

Bob Perry

Red's Helper (uncredited)

Brick Sullivan

Red (uncredited)

John Wald

Reporter at Airport (uncredited)

Crew

Director

Roy Del Ruth

Screenplay

George Callahan

Story

Don 'Red' Barry

Reviews

John Chard

November 20, 2014

Army Chaplain Slain!

Red Light is directed by Roy Del Ruth and adapted to screenplay by George Callahan from the story This Guy Gideon written by Don Barry. It stars George Raft, Virginia Mayo, Raymond Burr, Harry Morgan and Gene Lockhart. Music is by Dimitri Tiomkin and cinematography by Bert Glennon.

Something of an oddity, Red Light finds George Raft up to his neck in religion, revenge and a smouldering Virginia Mayo. After his brother, a chaplain, is murdered, he sets off to find the killer, whom can be identified by a message scrawled in a Gideon Bible. Find the Bible, find the killer.

It is brought into the film noir sphere of things via Glennon’s photography, which kicks in at the hour mark and runs concurrent with the murky thematics in the narrative, Frisco a rain sodden place of sleaze. Other than that it plays more as a crime drama, albeit one with some decidedly spicy killings and another top villain turn from Raymond Burr. Tiomkin’s musical cues are strange and not always in sync with what is happening on screen, while the biblical hermeneutics and various plot contrivances irk rather than perk.

See it for Burr and Glennon’s work, or if you fancy a weird blend of noir and ethical religio redemptions! 6/10