One Way Street

Hugo Fregonese’s One Way Street is a strange film with a story structure that tends to divide noir fans. With opening and closing sequences packed with iconic noir imagery, the film’s middle section stands out like a distinct, second narrative. Compelled to provide medical care to mob boss John Wheeler (Dan Duryea), the disenchanted Dr. Frank Matson (James Mason) steals the loot from Wheeler’s latest robbery and flees the country with Wheeler’s beautiful girlfriend Laura Thorsen (Märta Torén). While the noir storyline revolves around Wheeler’s efforts to recover his loot and exact revenge, the heart of the story is the placid existence the couple experiences in an exotic Mexican village after their plane goes down in the mountains. A dramatic contrast with the urban starkness that opens the film, village life gives them a taste of the peace and freedom that may (or may not) await them. As Matson practices medicine in the local clinic, he tangles with various village denizens, including the distrustful medicine woman Catalina (Emma Roldán), the kindhearted Father Moreno (Basil Ruysdael), and entitled bandito Francisco Morales (Rodolfo Acosta), who wants to get his hands on Laura. The action concludes back in Los Angeles, where a final ten minutes in the rain culminates in beautiful tragedy.