I Walk Alone (1947)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Partners Frankie (Burt Lancaster) and Noll (Kirk Douglas) split up to evade capture by the police. Frankie is caught and jailed, but Noll manages to escape and open a posh New York City nightclub. Years later Frankie is released from the clink and visits Noll with the intention of collecting his half of the nightclub's profits. But Noll, who has no intention of being so equitable, uses his ex-girlfriend Kay (Lizabeth Scott) to divert Frankie from his intended goal.
- Actors:
- Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, Wendell Corey, Kristine Miller, George Rigaud, Marc Lawrence, Mike Mazurki, Mickey Knox, Roger Neury, Bobby Barber, Brooks Benedict, John Bishop, Charles D. Brown, Gino Corrado, James Davies, Jean Del Val, Jimmie Dundee, Franklyn Farnum, Bess Flowers
- Directors:
- Byron Haskin
- Producers:
- Hal B. Wallis
- Writers:
- Charles Schnee, Robert Smith, John Bright, Theodore Reeves
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Burt Lancaster
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Reviews (1) of I Walk Alone
Forties Noir. - I Walk Alone review by Steve
Ultra-pessimistic film noir which has many interesting genre features but is ultimately frustrated by Byron Haskin's uninspired direction. The premise is familiar from gangster films of the early '30s; a hapless stooge (Burt Lancaster) takes the rap for his partner (Kirk Douglas) when their racket gets tumbled during prohibition.
So when the fall guy is sprung from the big house 14 years later, he expects a share of his old pal's hot nightspot. But the ex-jailbird is an anachronism. The mobs are over. Now WWII has happened, the concept of the sucker coming home to find others have done very well in his absence and don't want to share the rewards, has a deeper resonance.
Burt was always a good punchbag in his noir days and Kirk is well cast as the vicious, impregnable top dog. Lizabeth Scott shimmers sensuously as the chanteuse who swaps sides. But Wendell Corey is best as the crooked, careworn accountant, slowly worn down by his guilty conscience. The quality cast gets some nice hardboiled dialogue.
When Lancaster assembles a gang to extract his cut by force, instead of exchanging gunfire, he finds he is holding up a cartel and he can't get his whack without a vote by the shareholders! This is based on a New York play (by Theodore Reeves) and this standout scene is all that's left of its negative critique of capitalism! Which is a shame.