Give me a small cast of characters, ideally a cross-section of humanity, from the happy and hopeful to the hapless and despairing, lock them into some confined space in a way that shouldn’t be too contrived and I’m generally satisfied. Those limits and restrictions imposed by the situation tend to bring about some excellent drama. So it is with Dial 1119 (1950), something of a low budget sleeper which generates a good deal of suspense and tension from its simple premise. It demonstrates what can be achieved by a smart and focused script allied with a professional lineup devoid of big name stars.
Think of an oasis and the notion of growth and fertility, of life itself, tends to spring to mind. It’s the name of the bar in which perhaps 90% of the action in Dial 1119 takes place, though this particular bar is in reality something of a dead end in more ways than one. Aptly enough, one of the first characters we see is a reporter (James Bell) who has arrived at the weary middle-aged conclusion that his job has indeed led him up a blind alley, that the place he’s at is all it’s ever going to be. He talks of quitting, of throwing in the towel on the whole business, but as a colleague tells him he’s not really serious about it, and payday is just around the corner after all. No, he decides to go round the corner, in a manner of speaking, and drop into his local bar for a drink on the way home. And there’s the woman (Andrea King) drifting toward the dispiriting prospect of spinsterhood at the ripe old age of 28. She’s getting ready to try to stave off that blank future by heading out to meet a man (Leon Ames), although she tells her (off screen) mother that she’s going away on a trip with a girlfriend. She too is headed for that same bar. Then there is the bar itself, a walk up place that claims to offer all the luxuries of the day, from air-conditioning to one of those newfangled TV sets. It’s a dour spot though, with a barman going by the name of Chuckles (William Conrad) who looks like he’s not cracked a smile since he grew his first tooth and who carps about the cheap clientele he’s saddled with. As the small group of customers drifts in and sets about tackling whatever drowsy numbness dulls their particular senses another joins them, an intense young man called Gunther Wyckoff (Marshall Thompson).
The viewer has already seen what Wyckoff is capable of since it’s been made clear that he’s on the run from a psychiatric hospital and we’ve seen him calmly shoot down a bus driver just because he got in his way. While we catch glimpses of the lives of the others in the bar, in addition to those mentioned there is also the alcoholic good time girl (Virginia Field) and the expectant first-time father (Keefe Brasselle), the TV in the background starts to broadcast news of a fugitive who has just killed a man. As the bartender grows uneasily aware that this killer looks a lot like the neurotic young guy who is stationed at the far end of the counter, we too have realized that the situation is poised on a particularly sharp knife’s edge. Before long more violence takes place and a state of siege develops with Wyckoff barricading himself and his ill-starred hostages in the saloon while the police wait outside and weigh up the pros and cons of allowing the killer’s shrink in to talk to him.
Aside from the drama inherent in this kind standoff situation, the film deftly notes the growing and evolving role of the media, especially the broadcast media, at the time. The film opens with a radio announcer telling the time and introducing a dance music show before cutting to a newsroom where the aforementioned disgruntled reporter is tapping out a would-be resignation letter. Soon, after Andrea King’s desperate romantic dreamer has been presented, the action segues into the screen of the TV mounted above the bar of the Oasis. In this way the three major sources of information of the era are shown in succession, and it is the latter which will have the most powerful influence on how matters develop. It provides the means by which Wyckoff’s identity is established by the bartender and then it offers live coverage of the siege from right outside the door, allowing the hostages inside the opportunity to watch the world on the outside watching them, simultaneously highlighting the gradual subordination of the traditional print media in the process. Somehow this feels appropriate given the fact the movie was directed by Gerald Mayer (nephew of MGM supremo Louis B Mayer), a man who made only a handful feature films himself and who would go on to work on a long list of successful TV shows over the following four decades.
Marshall Thompson was top billed as the delusional Wyckoff and he is suitably detached, a dangerous man with a vaguely sullen baby face, killing coolly and with no apparent regrets. Without wanting to delve too deep into spoiler territory for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie, I found the neat subversion of the classic noir scenario of a returning veteran traumatized by his experiences and struggling to adapt to post-war life to be most interesting. Should anyone wish to comment on or make any observations on that aspect, they are welcome to in the comments section below, but I’m going to refrain from doing so myself in the body of the piece here. Small films with correspondingly small casts frequently operate as ensemble pieces and I think this is generally true of Dial 1119. Even if everyone gets an opportunity to hold the spotlight at some point, the one who most consistently draws the attention is Virginia Field. It’s something of a foolproof role as written but still needed a capable actress to pull it all together. Field comes over as faded, jaded yet incorrigibly sassy at the same time and she also gets to make the pivotal move during the climactic scene. Andrea King’s part offers less scope, but it’s well played. Leon Ames is superbly insincere in a fairly standard part, while the ever reliable James Bell carries around the quality of watchful intelligence that has bolstered many a movie. Sam Levene could play any role under the sun – though for some reason I tend to visualize him mainly as a cop – and he’s suitably earnest as the doctor. Noir stalwart Richard Rober played the actual cop while William Conrad, as usual, managed to do quite a lot with very little.
Dial 1119 was an MGM production, not a studio generally noted for its contributions to film noir. It was released on DVD years ago by Warner Brothers in one of the later film noir collections, paired on disc with Phil Karlson’s The Phenix City Story. A lot of WB sets from around that time have proven to be unreliable, but so far my own copies of this noir box all remain functional, thankfully. It might not be all that well known yet it is a terrific little tough luck chamber piece which packs a lot into its hour and a quarter running time. Highly recommended.
Riding the High Country 
I prefer seeing the film before reading the review/take on it. Once again, I THANK YOU for the heads up on this one. You’re golden and this ore is meaningful to me. Please DO carry on, Sir! Now let’s turn off our miner-hat lamps and turn on the projector . . .
LikeLike
Testing……
LikeLike
WordPress has gone insane today I’ve also had problems over at Toby’s and my initial post vanished so I have got to re try via Facebook hence the mug shot which I would rather avoid. I agree that the second string cast really shines in this little gem. Only the other night I thought I must rewatch DIAL 1119 again, through the Thompson connection (THE TALL TARGET,MYSTERY STREET. ) Apart from the Sturges title other solid MGM Noirs are SIDE STREET and HIGH WALL, also SCENE OF THE CRIME. Some of MGM’s 40’s B Noirs are also excellent especially Edward l Cahn’s MAIN STREET AFTER DARK.
LikeLike
Sorry to hear you’ve been having trouble with WP, John. MGM in the 40s anyway, was not the first studio to spring to mind for noir. However, as you say, it did produce some good entries. The only one of those mentioned I haven’t seen and am not at all familiar with is the Cahn title. I shall have to look into that.
LikeLike
The problem I’m having with this site is that it’s almost impossible to read any of the posts because they’re buried under an avalanche of ads.
LikeLike
Something changed with the settings a while back that seemed to trigger a big increase in ads and how they appear. Recently, I have tried to scale back the intrusiveness, but I’m not sure how successful that has been.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I enjoyed HIGH WALL and SCENE OF THE CRIME a lot. They deserve more attention.
LikeLike
At least MAIN STREET AFTER DARK has Noir icons Duryea & Totter. I have watched so many MGM B’s recently it gets confusing, certainly films like 6,000 ENEMIES, THEY ALL COME OUT,SWORN ENEMY and TELL NO LIES would be classed as Proto Noirs,late 30’s entries loaded with dark elements especially the latter. Cahn’s DANGEROUS PARTNERS is very good, a sub Hitchcockian B Movie loaded with Noir elements-it’s a shame these films are not more readily available. A film that is available on DVD is MGM’s BEWITCHED a very dark film well worth seeking out. What I’m trying to say,if anything at all, was MGM was not a studio that I associated with B Movies but seeking some of these out gave me the taste for more,it often happens this way. The opening of DANGEROUS PARTNERS encompasses the true spirit of Noir,dark,mysterious,cruel, mean spirited.
LikeLike
Now Dangerous Partners is a movie I have seen, albeit a long time ago. I too recall it being pretty good but maybe unravels somewhat towards the end. I should try to revisit it.
LikeLike
The 1945 MGM Bewitched is excellent. Definitely in the overlooked gem category.
LikeLike
Good to find another BEWITCHED fan, the late,great Mark of the excellent blog Where Danger Lives likes it too. I did aptempt to post Mark’s great review here but I’m totally crap at that sort of thing. Mark also mentions in his review TENSION another great MGM Noir. Like Colin,in his fine review I never associated MGM with Noir; but then again,the further you dig….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Phyllis Thaxter is a bit of a forgotten actress. She was quite good but never quite made the top rank.
She’s one of the many fine actresses totally wasted in Women’s Prison which I consider to be one of the very worst movies of the 50s!
LikeLike
I like Phyllis too!
Well we cannot agree on everything,I adore WOMEN’S PRISON a sort of revisit to vintage Warner Bros flicks combined with a Sam Katzman type quickie, and yes the fine cast deserved better.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, the nasty Femme Fatale who morphs into a good gal after all was a bit odd.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed. Roadblock, while not an MGM picture, plays off that trope as well and I don’t find it an especially satisfying development.
LikeLike
More sad news, just over a week after Robert Redford left us, we now bid a final farewell to Claudia Cardinale. She leaves a legacy of wonderful roles, but I will probably remember her most for this –
RIP
LikeLike
Testing….More WordPress Blues and I still cannot engage the “like” feature………..
LikeLike
I tried to post this under the WOMEN’S PRISON comments so here goes another way.
The problem with WOMEN’S PRISON was that it was highly derivative of other better films also with sadistic matrons and kindly doctors. The film get by on it’s amazing cast and solid work from pros like Barry Kelly and Warren Stevens who are incapable of giving a bad performance. Sad to see Pre Code Queen Mae Clarke in such a minor role,the only sort of work she was able to get at that time. Clarke fans will soon be able to see her in her prime as Kino Lorber are prepping the extraordinary NIGHT WORLD for a future HD release.
LikeLiked by 2 people
An American women-in-prison that gets unfairly overlooked is Edgar G. Ulmer’s Girls in Chains (1943). Another example of Ulmer’s ability to make good movies with microscopic budgets.
LikeLike
Could not agree more, a triumph of style over content if ever there was one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just to avoid further WP Blues……
LikeLike
OK while we are on this Women’s Prison kick, an interesting sub genre if ever there was one I thought I would list some of my favourites.
The two Pre Code Classics LADIES THEY TALK ABOUT and LADIES OF THE BIG HOUSE had strident Lesbian characters but that was nixed after the dreaded code.
Other films I enjoy are RKO’s CONDEMNED WOMEN (1938) and Columbia’s CONVICTED WOMAN (1940) especially the latter. CAGED (1950) is something of a classic but oddly the prison is “whites only” unlike most other WP movies. The most racially diverse Prison Movie, although a men’s prison movie, is RKO’s THOSE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE (1936) a death row drama with a most diverse set of characters awaiting the rope,even a posh Brit.
Then again, there are the “Progressive Women’s Prison Pictures” Universal’s THE STORY OF MOLLY X (1949) is a very good one. Republic’s FORGOTTEN GIRLS (1940) is more of a Women’s Correction Facility to deter young women becomming hardened criminals, in fact Louise Platt perfers it to living with her wicked stepmother and her sucession of sleazebag boyfriends. Republic’s GIRLS OF THE BIG HOUSE (1945) is a similar place, quiet cushy really and not for Dee, I mean if he thought WOMEN’S PRISON was bad….!
Certainly FORGOTTEN GIRLS and GIRLS OF THE BIG HOUSE are what you would expect from Republic 40’s programmers, but I enjoy them well enough, especially the former. How authentic these two movies were is anybody’s guess.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really ought to make some effort to increase my knowledge of or exposure to prison based movies, my viewing of that particular subgenre is very limited. Of those you mentioned above, the only one I’ve seen, and that was some time ago, is Caged.
LikeLiked by 1 person
An early Glenn Ford picture MEN WITHOUT SOULS (1940) is also very good,sadly the online versions are woeful, sadly.
LikeLike
The women-in-prison genre was incredibly durable. The success of Jess Franco’s excellent 99 Women in 1969 triggered a major revival in both Europe and Hollywood (with Jonathan Demme’s Caged Heat in 1974). And there was another revival in the 80s with movies like the 1983 Linda Blair classic Chained Heat (which for my money is the best-ever American women-in-prison movie).
The 70s/80s movies were more overtly scuzzy but let’s be honest – it was always an inherently sleazy genre. And the basic formula remained the same from the 30s to the 80s – add some Social Commentary to make what are effectively exploitation movies seem respectable.
LikeLike
There’s a couple of Columbia quickies Warner Baxter made at the tail end of his career PRISON WARDEN (1949) and STATE PENITENTIARY (1950) very easy to take and just as easy to forget.
LikeLike