I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A BIG FAN OF THE BRIBE (1949) and the recent review of the film on the excellent Paleocinema podcast a few weeks ago got me thinking about it once again. And serendipity saw to it that a week after Paleocinema spotlighted the film, TCM aired THE BRIBE so that I could see it once again. THE BRIBE has been thoroughly neglected and is little known. Terry Frost was right in that it doesn't usually appear in reference books; a cursory glance made by yours truly through three film noir reference books found no mention. However, it is definitely a film noir and one of the better ones so this blindspot is particularly puzzling to me. I first became aware of the film back when it was inserted into the pre-CGI Steve Martin comedy DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID in which scenes and actors from classic films noir were made to interact with Steve Martin. That was a fun film I really enjoyed and it relied rather heavily on elements and clips from THE BRIBE. So, when an opportunity came to see the original film years later, I took it and greatly enjoyed THE BRIBE in its original form. The film features a marvelous cast: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton, Vincent Price, John Hodiak (of Hitchcock's LIFEBOAT), Samuel Hinds (Peter Bailey in Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE -- this was the actor's final film) and John Hoyt (who liked to shrink people in ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE). It's got a crackling script by Marguerite Roberts (TRUE GRIT as well as uncredited work on the rather good Katharine Hepburn/Robert Taylor/Robert Mitchum noir UNDERCURRENT) and features top notch German Expressionist noir photography by Joseph Ruttenberg (who shot everything from GASLIGHT, MRS MINIVER, ON BORROWED TIME, THE BROADWAY MELODY OF 1940, THE WOMEN, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY and the Terry Frost fave THE OSCAR).

The film opens with a federal agent by the name of Rigby (Robert Taylor) brooding in a hotel room being buffeted by a tropical storm. Shades of KEY LARGO! There are a lot of storm and rain scenes in the picture which makes for a wonderful atmosphere. Rigby is conflicted about his secret mission to track down a group of smugglers who are secretly importing airplane engines among scrap metal without paying their taxes. This graft annoys Uncle Sam (in the form of Rigby's boss played by John Hoyt) and Rigby is sent to collar the crooks. Rigby is told that the most likely suspects are married couple Tugwell & Elizabeth Hintten (John Hodiak and Ava Gardner) and the agent is sent to the Latin American island of Carlotta to get the proof. Tugwell is a mess: an alcoholic with a bad heart. Elizabeth is a singer in a club (shades of CASABLANCA and TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT) who may or may not be in on the criminal activity. Elizabeth is quite belligerent to Rigby at first but eventually the two fall for each other. There is also a "pie shaped man" named J. J. Bealer (a standout performance by Charles Laughton) who slouches around the joint complaining about his bad feet. Bealer soon offers Rigby a bribe on behalf of the smugglers to look the other way and get the hell outta Dodge. Later, a mine owner named Carwell (a young Vincent Price) that Rigby met on the plane ride south, turns up in Carlotta and goes marlin fishing with Rigby. Accidentally on purpose, Carwell guns the boat engine so that Rigby is propelled into the sea. The young boat owner Emilio jumps in to save him and becomes a shark's lunch. Obviously, Carwell is one of the baddies (why ELSE would you cast Vincent Price?!?) and Emilio's father agrees to help Rigby prove it. Tugwell takes a turn for the worse and is bedridden. This causes the crooks to work on Elizabeth (who has been ignorant thus far of the illegal activities) to get her to take over for her sick husband. Rigby, meanwhile, is wrestling with the offer to take the bribe in order to save Elizabeth from harm or prosecution. The various paths of all the principals intertwine into one messy knot which needs to be solved by the final reel.

THE BRIBE is frankly a rather top notch noir which doesn't deserve to be forgotten like it is. It is, in fact, better than some noirs which routinely get written about in many reference books. The film is practically dripping with style: the humid Central American island location constantly swept by rainstorms alternating with oppressive heat is almost palpable. Much use is made of mirrors and reflections; at one point a ghostly image of Ava Gardner is superimposed over Robert Taylor's reflection in a window. All this and the film ends with a spectacular fireworks-laden climax. Director Robert Z. Leonard (who started in silents and directed Greta Garbo's first screen test) pulls out all the noir stops while DP Ruttenberg's use of chiaroscuro lighting, deep shadows and slashes of horizontal lines (provided by the shadows of blinds and door slats) is textbook noir photography before the style was even codified by later French critics. There is also one particular scene in which our four main protagonists, good and bad, are together in a room brandishing guns when the lights go out during a storm. The room is pitch black but we see a pair of almost glowing eyes floating in the darkness -- I believe they are Robert Taylor's eyes -- and the effect is truly startling and unnerving! This is one slam bang noir which finds lead Robert Taylor actually perfectly cast as the typical deadpan protagonist (with his flat voice perfect for the voice-over narration so prominently featured in THE BRIBE) and impossibly beautiful Ava Gardner perfect as the "is she or isn't she a crook" femme fatale/love goddess. John Hodiak portrays petulance and drunkeness expertly while Vincent Price turns in one more splendid villainous performance. But the main attraction here has to be Charles Laughton who is remarkable as "the pie shaped man". The actor portrays Bealer with many layers; at first you assume he's some pathetic slob (which he is) but Laughton soon reveals there is more to the character. Bealer is no Wilmer in THE MALTESE FALCON; he is no pawn or stooge. Bealer subtly reveals some real intellect amongst his pathetic complaining about his feet; he shows he can twist the figurative knife of the bribe not only in Robert Taylor's back but later in Ava Gardner's as well. This pathetic slob shows himself remarkably capable of putting the screws to people. Laughton portrays his character as more than one-dimensional and it is fascinating to watch the actor roam through this movie.

THE BRIBE is a film noir well worth seeing. It certainly doesn't deserve to be neglected. It is for this reason that I'm adding my voice to Terry Frost in his recent review of the film at Paleocinema; a movie this deserving can't be plugged enough. The next time you see THE BRIBE in your TV listing do yourself a favour and tune in.