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Desperate

Play trailer Poster for Desperate 1947 1h 13m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
100% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Gangster Radak (Raymond Burr) and his cronies try to coerce truck driver Steve (Steve Brodie) into shipping stolen goods, but Steve manages to tip off the police and foil the crooks. Radak evades capture, but his brother ends up gunning down a policeman and going to jail. Radak and his men attempt to pressure Steve into taking the fall for the killing, using the well-being of the trucker's wife, Anne (Audrey Long), as leverage. But Anne and Steve manage to skip town, and the chase is on.

Critics Reviews

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Geoffrey O'Brien The New York Review of Books Aug 13, 2018
B-movie as country-and-western ballad, seventy-three minutes of total involvement followed by oblivion: except for one's lingering uneasiness about unlit corners and warehouses near the river. Go to Full Review Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid Jul 16, 2010
[Has] Mann's sense of coiled violence, just waiting to unload. Go to Full Review Kelly Vance East Bay Express May 5, 2010
The story is standard urban crime stuff, but the director throws in a treasure trove of flourishes. Go to Full Review Michael E. Grost Classic Film and Television Aug 9, 2007
Nicely done crime thriller, with some great visual set pieces. Go to Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Jan 1, 2000
B-
Anthony Mann is a master at directing these cheapie films and making them look stylish. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alain E @AlainE Nov 11, 2025 One expects after the characterization of B movie to see ridiculous acting or plot, but actually the movie provides pretty solid entertainment. For the ending we could have a gloomy outcome or a satisfactory conclusion. Either choice would have been valid. The cinematography and music was also pretty successful. See more Bob W @NMBob Nov 8, 2023 The femme fatale in this movie lured and trapped a man by using home-cooked deserts. This short film could be a study in noir cinematography. The angles, the lighting, the shapes and shadows...  Raymond Burr's best. Oddly unbelievable character behaviors prevent this from being rated higher. See more Dallas H @RT53171010 Aug 12, 2023 I enjoy watching classic black-and-white film noir. RKO Radio Pictures made this movie as a B-picture and has Raymond Burr playing the villain role, which I find pretty entertaining. See more Aug 3, 2022 Why he the victim didn't just go straight to the police is not well explained. If only he'd listened to his lovely wife. Acting is well done however with Raymond Burr a 1st class thug. See more Bill B @RT01438538 Nov 5, 2019 One of Anthony Mann's more stylish film noir entries. Raymond Burr's screen presence as a villain is always amazing. Add to that some long shadows and swinging overhead lamps and you can add anything else you like. Not as hard-hitting as "Raw Deal" but it's in the same ballpark. See more Apr 4, 2019 The plot is full of action, but it's all ridiculous, impossible, and B-level material; something to see on Saturday morning with the kids. The story is so outlandish and the actions of the characters are so out of line with what anyone would do that the only saving grace here is that it keeps moving. To heighten interest, it throws in violence, gun battles, and fights. Everything adolescent boys would love. This is a mongrel of a picture, but deserves a slight nod because it is a niche above the simple gun, car chase, and knife fight violence that became prevalent around this time and saturated the movie industry with its insipidness. See more Read all reviews
Desperate

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Cast & Crew

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Anthony Mann

Director

Steve Brodie

Steve Randall

Audrey Long

Mrs. Anne Randall

Raymond Burr

Walt Radak

Douglas V. Fowley

Pete Lavitch

William Challee

Reynolds

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Desperate

Desperate (1947) Desperate (1947) Desperate (1947) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Gangster Radak (Raymond Burr) and his cronies try to coerce truck driver Steve (Steve Brodie) into shipping stolen goods, but Steve manages to tip off the police and foil the crooks. Radak evades capture, but his brother ends up gunning down a policeman and going to jail. Radak and his men attempt to pressure Steve into taking the fall for the killing, using the well-being of the trucker's wife, Anne (Audrey Long), as leverage. But Anne and Steve manage to skip town, and the chase is on.
Director
Anthony Mann
Producer
Michael Kraike
Screenwriter
Harry Essex
Production Co
RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 13m
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