Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

writers_reign At the time - mid-late forties - they were churning out movies of this genre and this standard Hershy Bars, today they're harder to find than Auk eggs, which makes this doubly precious. There's so much that's right about it that it's tough to find a flaw. Even the usually insipid Lizbeth Scott turns in a half-decent performance and if Wendell Corey is as wooden as ever at least he is a pleasant walnut burr. This was the first of seven teamings for Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster and they started as they meant to go on, Kirk the smooth schemer and Burt the starry-eyed bruiser and a good time is had by all not least the audience.

Michael_Elliott I Walk Alone (1948) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Frankie Madison (Burt Lancaster) gets out of prison after fourteen years and heads to see his old partner Dink Turner (Kirk Douglas). The two men made an agreement when Frankie took the wrap that they'd split everything down the middle while he was in prison but once on the outside he realizes that Turner has double crossed him. Broke and without any hopes for the future, Frankie must get his revenge. There are some terrific performances to be found here but sadly the end results aren't nearly as good as one would hope for thanks in large part to a screenplay that is just way too predictable for its own good. The story itself really isn't anything original and it doesn't take long for you to realize that Lancaster isn't going to be getting what's coming to him and the film takes way too long for this obvious set-up to take place. Once the double cross actually happens things start to pick up but once again you're one step ahead of the characters as none of them ever really see what's going to happen and after a while you start to realize that they're all rather stupid. This is especially true during the ending, which I won't ruin. I will say there's something Douglas does, which is just so silly that you can't help believe the two characters he does it to would be that dumb. With that said, the film is still worth seeing thanks in large part to the terrific cast. There are many legendary actor-actor combos throughout film history but one of my favorites has always been Lancaster and Douglas. It's somewhat shocking to me that their films aren't better respected than they are but this was the first of seven films they made together and that terrific chemistry is on display here. It's rather amazing to see how well they play off one another in their film film but Lancaster was always terrific at playing the wronged tough guy and Douglas is just so snake like that you can't help but love to hate him. Lizabeth Scott is good in her role as the woman in love with Douglas but who quickly starts to fall for Lancaster. There's no question that the director wanted her to "act" like Lauren Bacall but it works well. Wendell Corey is also very good in his role. I WALK ALONE is part noir and part thriller and fans of those two genres will probably want to check it out. The terrific performances make it a film worth watching but it's a shame the screenplay didn't do a better job with the characters.

secondtake I Walk Alone (1948)Wow, this should have been great. Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas alone make a great combination. Throw in Lizabeth Scott, who practically owns the archetype of a film noir leading woman (which isn't to say she's the best at it, for sure). But there are two huge problems. The script, the story, is just too thin and old hat to matter--a club owner, an ex-con, a torch song singer, and some old scores to settle. Could have been a contender, maybe. Looming larger is something you don't always see so clearly--bad direction. It shows in a lot of ways, the biggest being great actors (all three) who are at their worst. It's really a shock, if you like these people. Even the photography varies, sometimes dramatic (there are some great sets, for sure) and sometimes static and functional.Now, it's not a disaster. And there is an interesting angle to the movie that echoes the movies more than real life. There is an attempt to revive the old Prohibition gangster feel. In fact, they work a time warp into the story by having Lancaster play bootlegger who was jailed in the early 1930s, and just got out in 1947. So he still has the old gangster mentality. Douglas avoided jail and for fourteen years has been semi-legit. The clash of eras ends up being the real height of the movie. Even the clash of desires (both men want the compliant singer, Scott) isn't enough to lift those scenes.

Alex da Silva Frankie (Burt Lancaster) is released after 14 years in prison and is met by old friend Dave (Wendell Corey) who sets him up with a place to stay. He senses that Dave is uneasy with him and discovers that Dave is working for his old partner in crime, Noll (Kirk Douglas), who is now running a successful nightclub. Frankie visits the club and Noll is curious to find out what he wants. He instructs his mistress Kay (Lizabeth Scott), who is a singer at the club, to pump Frankie for information over a dinner. It is soon clear to Frankie that everyone around him is under the influence of Noll and so confronts him with a demand of a half share in the business. Noll refuses and Frankie plans to take what he believes is rightfully his - they agreed to split things 50-50 if either of them went to prison. It is interesting to see the two different characters pitted against each other, ie, Frankie (straight forward and uneducated) vs Noll (deceitful and intelligent). Kay switches allegiance when she hears of Noll's intention to marry Mrs Richardson (Kristine Miller) and Dave also has 2nd thoughts about Noll....The film is well-acted but Lizabeth Scott seems slightly out of place as a world-weary nightclub singer. She's too young to be believable as someone who has been "around the block", and I also found her voice slightly irritating. The acting honours go to Kirk Douglas and Wendell Corey. Burt Lancaster tends to overact his part. My favourite part of the film is the sequence where Frankie confronts Noll with a team of heavies in order to get what he feels is his share of the nightclub. We have a very amusing scene where Noll and Dave confuse him with legal speak to the point where even his gang of thugs give up with the whole idea. It's an entertaining film although I was expecting slightly more from it. There is also a melodramatic piece of music that is played throughout the WHOLE film. I can't remember when the music wasn't playing!