Aboard the Noir Train by Fearless Young Orphan

Aboard the Noir Train

By Fearless Young Orphan

The Narrow Margin (1952)

Tense and action-packed from beginning to end, with a couple of twists that, while not completely unpredictable to a jaded audience, still manage to bring a smile of satisfaction, The Narrow Margin is a helluva taut little noir film. Maybe “little” is not a fair word to use, either, but I refer only to its relative brevity (71 minutes) and the fact that it takes place over the course of one train trip and almost entirely within the cramped, rattling train. It is not an expansive movie, but one tightly focused and relentlessly suspenseful.

You may have seen this remade in 1990 and starring Gene Hackman – opinions vary widely on how good that might have been. I saw it and remember almost nothing about it, which is telling in itself. I watch a lot of movies, sure, but I do tend to remember the ones I love.

Detective Sergeant Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) is assigned to escort a grand jury witness on a cross-country train trip to Los Angeles, where she will testify as to the mob activities of her dead husband. The woman, Mrs. Neal (Marie Windsor) is wanted dead by everybody and their mama, and has been promised police protection. Brown dislikes her before he ever meets her: what kind of woman would marry a mobster, anyway? No kind of woman he’d care to know. Mrs. Neal does not disappoint his expectations, either. She’s a shrill, selfish bit of nerves, demanding protection and hardly batting an eye when Brown’s partner takes a bullet for her within five minutes of their first meeting.

Brown and Mrs. Neal make for the train: this seems like a bad idea, because a trio of hit men knows that they are taking this train and get on board themselves, and the only advantage is that they don’t know what Mrs. Neal looks like. They know Brown, though, and skulk about the train watching Brown’s every move. Keeping Like some film noir, anyone? Mrs. Neal hidden is a trick that is almost unbelievable, in the movie’s context, but we’re going to forgive that. Everything else is too good to nitpick. Minus his partner and blaming himself for the man’s death, Brown must keep on his toes for this entire trip, perfectly aware that the gangsters are nearby.

While on the train, Mrs. Neal is restricted to her room where she must stay incognito. Meanwhile Brown squeezes his way from car to car trying to keep track of their enemies. I have seen a fair share of movies set on trains, but no other has ever conveyed so well the genuine cramped space of this mode of travel. Narrow margin, indeed – these train cars aren’t big enough for two people to pass each other without someone smashing against the wall. Just try avoiding someone on a train like this.

Brown’s behavior, which naturally appears bizarre to anyone who doesn’t understand what he’s doing, draws the attention of a loud and obnoxious little boy, who is convinced Brown is a train robber and shouts about it at every opportunity. It also draws the attention of the boy’s very pretty mother, Ann Sinclair (Jacqueline White), who enters into a friendly, teasing relationship with this odd man who keeps stumbling past her on the train. Another passenger, a portly man who would like to borrow Brown’s extra, “empty” room, keeps an eye on him too.

Brown is almost too preoccupied to keep track of all these people. Back in that extra, “empty” room, he’s got a scared, angry widow needling him at every turn. First, the gangsters approach Brown and offer him a hefty payoff if he’ll just give her up. He refuses this. He’s a straight cop, and furious about the death of his partner. Then Mrs. Neal herself, claiming she does not want to spend her life running, offers him another deal – she’ll give up her information to the gangsters if they’ll just leave her alone, and Brown can be in on the payoff too. He refuses again. He’s not likely to agree to comply with this woman, who has not shown one scrap of remorse about the death of Brown’s partner, nor does she seem overly concerned about his life.

As the train gets closer and closer to Los Angeles, the action ratchets up. Brown and the gangsters grow tired of dancing around each other and begin throwing punches, and people slowly reveal their real motives and their true identities. The Narrow Margin stands up to the years and remains a great film, with a pace so breathless you might believe Indiana Jones is about to hop aboard. Well worth watching as a thriller, and I predict a great Noir Scoire too. Let’s see . . .

The Scorecard:

Our Hero: Walter Brown, a cop so straight he can hardly smile. He has to escort some ungrateful mobster’s moll across the country, losing his detective partner to a bullet within the first few minutes of the job. He’ll do the job because that’s his duty, like it or not. Normally I like to find a “flaw” in our antihero, but this guy really doesn’t have one. He’s just that honest and loyal. At worst, I could say he’s kinda grouchy. On the plus side of noir, he’s brooding, hard-boiled and quick with the comeback. 9/10.

As Played by: Charles McGraw. He’s got a face like a pit bull! No, this is no pin- up, but women would be drawn to this tough, commanding presence. McGraw actually manages to take the “hard-boiled” Walter Brown and infuse him with a bit of humor and kindness, such as when he is dealing with Ann Sinclair and her son. That kind of humanity insures that we like the guy and want him to get out of this mess without getting hurt. 10/10.

Femme Fatale: Mrs. Frankie Neal, widow of a mobster, wanted dead, heading to Los Angeles to testify before a “Yeah, um, these are really small rooms. Is it hot in here?” grand jury. She’s catty and mean, selfish and greedy, unhappy about having to put her life on the line for “justice.” Now she’s stuck in a train car with a cop who won’t give her the time of day. But like any good femme fatale, there is something that she’s keeping secret. 10/10.

As Played by: Marie Windsor. And she’s a firecracker, too. Her hard-edged, biting performance gives us a “victim” for whom we feel little pity, thus helping us identify more deeply with Walter, who must protect this nasty, ungrateful, way too smart and way too sexy woman. 10/10

The mastermind: Our villains are a trio of gangsters who have been sent to do away with Mrs. Neal. As to a “mastermind,” we must assume that there is a man in charge out there somewhere, giving the orders. The thugs who are doing his dirty work are persistent, and what is worse, they are convincing and not entirely “bloodthirsty.” Until the man in the fur coat (the one who killed Brown’s partner) shows up, they do what they can to talk Brown down, offering him payoffs, easy ways out. They’d probably deal directly with the widow, if Brown would let them. I appreciate villains who are not heedlessly wicked. 9/10

As Played by: The performers are various, but they are all good. 8/10 The location: We spend almost the entire film on one crowded, narrow train that is a character in itself, both helping and hindering our characters. You cannot hide on a train, you cannot chase someone on a train, you cannot remain unnoticed on a train. The claustrophobic atmosphere adds much to the tension of the film. 10/10.

The crime/frame: There is a hit out on Mrs. Neal, to keep her from testifying her knowledge from her marriage to mob boss Frankie Neal. One cop is dead already, trying to get this woman to her grand jury appointment. The assassins will pursue her and her protector across the country. 10/10

The mood: The tension does not relent for a moment in this film, but it is liberally seasoned with that great film-noir tone of hopelessness. Here is a good cop risking his life for someone who doesn’t seem to deserve it, and all around him are temptations. 10/10

The sex factor: Mrs. Frankie Neal is almost too hot to handle. Like the way she slinks around their shared train cabin in a black negligee? Walter doesn’t like her, but he’s not blind. On the other hand, there is Ann Sinclair, who initially seems like a sort of empty-headed nice woman who is just flirting on a train ride. But as her character develops, she attains the noir-friendly sheen of a damsel in distress. 9/10

Overall Noir Scoire: 95%