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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
`Odds Against Tomorrow' is a noir bank heist thriller from 1959. Although a late entry in the classic period its noir credentials are irrefutable, making this film vital viewing for any film noir fan.
The plot sees Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Ed Begley play a trio of petty criminals preparing a bank heist. The story doesn't deliver the same kind of procedural take on the heist genre as `The Asphalt Jungle' or `The Killing' but uses the genre to explore the tensions between Belafonte and Ryan, two men in disgrace, against a background of heating racial and sexual upheavals, embodied in compelling, multifaceted supporting parts by Shelley Winters, Kim Hamilton and noir icon Gloria Grahame. Kudos to any film that uses its star's talents; it is Belafonte's vehicle and he gets to sing. What is more the film's jazz score is one of the most striking in all of film noir.
The film's reputation rests largely now on Jean-Pierre Melville's approval. You can see in the hats, coats and doomed masculinity precisely what the director of the masterpieces `Le Samourai' and `Le Cercle Rouge' saw in the film. The film is also noteworthy for Abraham Polonsky's screenplay. Polonsky, the director of 'Force of Evil', was blacklisted during the McCarthy era and originally received no credit for the screenplay.
The director Robert Wise doesn't immediately come to mind in the pantheon of noir filmmakers (or any pantheon for that matter, he is often unfairly criticised for being a journeyman) despite having made three noir classics in `Odds Against Tomorrow', the great noir-ish boxing film `The Set-Up' in 1949, and the marvellous 'Born to Kill' in 1947. He handles the film exceptionally well.
'Odds Against Tomorrow' is a near-masterwork that doesn't quite reach the stature of other late-50's noirs like `Touch of Evil' and `Sweet Smell Of Success' but it is a compelling film in its own right and an interesting transitional film between the initial indefinite period in the history of film noir and the later, retrospective period during which the body and history of film noir came to be defined.
Optimum are to be praised for bringing `Odds Against Tomorrow' to Region 2 DVD. Their transfer is acceptable but there is some ghosting. Definitely worth buying!
The plot sees Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Ed Begley play a trio of petty criminals preparing a bank heist. The story doesn't deliver the same kind of procedural take on the heist genre as `The Asphalt Jungle' or `The Killing' but uses the genre to explore the tensions between Belafonte and Ryan, two men in disgrace, against a background of heating racial and sexual upheavals, embodied in compelling, multifaceted supporting parts by Shelley Winters, Kim Hamilton and noir icon Gloria Grahame. Kudos to any film that uses its star's talents; it is Belafonte's vehicle and he gets to sing. What is more the film's jazz score is one of the most striking in all of film noir.
The film's reputation rests largely now on Jean-Pierre Melville's approval. You can see in the hats, coats and doomed masculinity precisely what the director of the masterpieces `Le Samourai' and `Le Cercle Rouge' saw in the film. The film is also noteworthy for Abraham Polonsky's screenplay. Polonsky, the director of 'Force of Evil', was blacklisted during the McCarthy era and originally received no credit for the screenplay.
The director Robert Wise doesn't immediately come to mind in the pantheon of noir filmmakers (or any pantheon for that matter, he is often unfairly criticised for being a journeyman) despite having made three noir classics in `Odds Against Tomorrow', the great noir-ish boxing film `The Set-Up' in 1949, and the marvellous 'Born to Kill' in 1947. He handles the film exceptionally well.
'Odds Against Tomorrow' is a near-masterwork that doesn't quite reach the stature of other late-50's noirs like `Touch of Evil' and `Sweet Smell Of Success' but it is a compelling film in its own right and an interesting transitional film between the initial indefinite period in the history of film noir and the later, retrospective period during which the body and history of film noir came to be defined.
Optimum are to be praised for bringing `Odds Against Tomorrow' to Region 2 DVD. Their transfer is acceptable but there is some ghosting. Definitely worth buying!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a disappointing transfer with the left third of the picture much softer than the right half which is acceptably sharp but still nothing to write home about. How do Optimum manage to cock up like this, and do they care ?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A top tense heist thriller with a powerful message. Powerful stuff and Robert Ryan & Harry Belafonte on top form.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
odds against tommorow
it could have been a classic great acting great locations the ending a rip off of white heat
Published 21 months ago by j j
Odds against tomorrow
A classic film noire, especially with its racial tension and suberb filming in black and white. The John Lewis sound track is also excellent, especially, if you are a fan of MJQ.
Published on 3 Mar 2010 by L. M. Ingle
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