It starts like a patriotic, pro-government procedural, including a tiresome intro monologue from your Treasury Department… but it gets so much better! Wonderful noir elements throughout, excellent direction and cinematography by J.Alton. In my opinion the wrap-up feels like it returns to the corny feel of the start of the picture, but the darkness within the story makes it all worth it. I agree with HoN’s ranking of tier 1!
Director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton collaborated on T-Men, a near perfect representation of the “look” of film noir, the camera floating through baroque compositions of shadows and light shaped by industrial confines like warehouses, boats, dark alleys, fire escapes, and city streets. Alton’s camera shoots from high angles, low angles, and deep focus, incorporating several of his iconic “underneath” angles such as shooting from beneath an inspection spotlight or a bathroom sink. As for story, Treasury agent Dennis O’Brien (Dennis O’Keefe) is paired up with Tony Genaro (Alfred Ryder) to go undercover and penetrate a nationwide counterfeit ring with the goal of finding out who’s pulling the strings; the gang’s activities first lead to “The Schemer” (Wallace Ford), the gang’s Los Angeles connection, and then to big boss Diana Simpson (Jane Randolph), but the head of the operation still proves elusive. Meanwhile, despite the agents’ effective presentation as cool, tough guys who belong in the criminal element, some of the gang become suspicious, especially heavy-handed Moxie (Charles McGraw) who’s all too happy to play the role of terminator whenever required. Opening with an official introduction to the role of treasury agents, the film maintains a brisk narrative pace punctuated by a variety of memorable scenes like the murder in the bathhouse and the dying of an agent while still undercover. June Lockhart, famed television actress from “Lassie” and “Lost in Space,” has a minor role as Genaro’s lonely wife Mary.
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