Quicksand (1950)

Directed by Irving Pichel; produced by Mort Briskin

A hard-working but broke auto mechanic (Mickey Rooney) needs $20 to take out the new girl (Jeanne Cagney) at the local diner. He decides to steal it from his work-place, knowing that he can replace it on the morrow when a friend pays him an outstanding debt. But when the friend has to go away suddenly, the mechanic is forced to take ever more dangerous steps to keep his petty larceny from being uncovered, steps that lead to armed robbery, blackmail and perhaps even murder.

Mickey Rooney had, by 1950, fallen from the immense popularity of his ‘Andy Hardy’ film series which, whatever its professional and financial effects, did his acting no harm. In Quicksand, he leaves behind the over-acting and mugging of earlier days, and turns in a most creditable performance. The film depends almost exclusively on his participation and, if it had resulted in an unbelievable effort, could have been disastrous. His character, an ordinary man, is entirely credible. As his situation becomes more dire, and his actions more frantic, the viewer can feel the fright and panic building in the man.

Rooney is the best thing in Quicksand. Peter Lorre, also past his prime in terms of his career, gives an atmospheric performance that helps the movie tremendously. Less of a help is the leading lady; one has trouble imagining Jeanne Cagney as someone to inspire a crime spree, or even the initial reaction of Rooney and his pals.

The story is good but not imaginative. Rooney commits numerous acts that most probably would not, if faced with similar motivations, but they are not implausible. The ending, while realistic, is perhaps less climactic than the preceding events would have implied, and gives the characters a few breaks that may be considered the easy way out. Even so, there is uncertainty at many points as to where the plot would finish, and that is a key element of a suspense film.

The script matches the story in being adequate, but no more. The actions and words of Cagney’s character would surely have turned most men away from her, while those of Barbara Bates, as a girl badly stuck on Rooney, would have been classed as stalking, if committed by a man.

The direction is decent, as well, without being expert. There are some good scenes, such as the bell ringing to end a shift at the garage, just as Rooney lifts twenty dollars from the cash register. The timing, and Rooney’s reaction, make the viewer’s heart run a bit faster.

Quicksand reminded me of a low-budget film noir of the 1940s, with a second- or third-string cast which is nonetheless competent, a low budget and largely unknown people behind the camera. Move time up to 1950, add several better known actors who were once ‘names’, and you have Quicksand, entertaining to a degree, but no more.