Deadline at Dawn (1946)

Directed by Harold Clurman; produced by Adrian Scott

Sailor Alex Winkler (Bill Williams) wakes from an unprecedented binge and finds $1,400 in his pocket. He recollects that he stole it in a passing moment of anger at being cheated at a crooked card game, and, now remorseful, sets out to return the cash. Reluctant to admit his crime to the victim, he enlists the aid of June (Susan Hayward), a jaded dance-hall girl. But what he really needs is her help in proving his innocence when the woman from whom he took the money is found murdered.

This is an unusual crime-drama, prompted by the screenplay by Clifford Odets. The story itself, from the prolific pen of Cornell Woolrich (writing as William Irish) is pretty ordinary, and has little of Woolrich’s irony or plot-twists. Red herrings abound but clues fall into laps, rather than are hunted down. The interest here lies not so much in the mystery as in the attempts to solve it.

As Alex and June search for the killer, they encounter a number of individuals, some of whom have a part to play in the story, some of whom provide misdirection, and others merely atmosphere. The action takes place during a sultry New York night, and the nocturnal residents of the city are made human by their comments and behaviour. Despite the hour (the story runs from about two in the morning to six), no one is sleeping; there are cabbies working, cheap crooks hustling, drunks wandering; these provide the secondary and tertiary characters in Deadline at Dawn.

Odets gives most of these fleeting people personalities, if only hinted at, but makes them real and comprehensible: the fruit-vendor who wants to sell his last bunch of bananas so he can go home, the cat-owner panicky over his pet’s condition, the building manager angry at having too much work to do (though he doesn’t seem to be doing any). Even so, these don’t seem peculiarly New York residents; rather they could be typical denizens of any big city, not even American: just an entertaining assortment of individuals.

As for the main characters, Alex is called an “innocent” and “a baby” by June (Williams’ boyish appearance makes him seem younger than Hayward), but he has intelligence - his summary of what they know of the murder would impress a police detective - and is instinctively knowledgeable, if not worldly. June is more conventional: a young woman matured too soon by the cynical city. Gus the taxi-driver (Paul Lukas) is a philosopher in a minor way, someone with a sad past.

The title may make Deadline at Dawn sound like a hard-hitting story of investigative journalism; the catalytic homicide puts it in the crime or mystery genre; the night-time, big city setting suggests film noir. If at all, the film only touches these categories. It’s more of an adventure film, at times a light-hearted travelogue. Its dialogue is full of incidental insights and meandering thoughts.

This description might imply that Deadline at Dawn is more innovative or intellectual than it is. It is, in truth, a good story, entertaining and enjoyable, all in moderate amounts. A little different but not striking, the film will pleasantly fill 83 minutes, perhaps one sweltering summer night, when the viewer can’t sleep.