{"id":4575,"date":"2007-10-24T10:32:42","date_gmt":"2007-10-24T17:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4575"},"modified":"2020-12-11T19:20:58","modified_gmt":"2020-12-12T02:20:58","slug":"narrow-margin-the-1952","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4575","title":{"rendered":"Narrow Margin, The (1952)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You&#8217;re just a job to me &#8212; a C.O.D. to be delivered to the L.A. grand jury.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-22686\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Poster.jpg 460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA detective (Charles McGraw) escorting a gangster&#8217;s widow (Marie Windsor) on a cross-country train tries to protect her from ruthless assassins.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Detectives and Private Eyes<\/li>\n<li>Hit Men<\/li>\n<li>Marie Windsor Films<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken or Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>Richard Fleischer Films<\/li>\n<li>Widows and Widowers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nRichard Fleischer&#8217;s Oscar-nominated <em>The Narrow Margin<\/em> is widely regarded as one of the best B-noirs ever made. At just 71 minutes, the story moves quickly, making effective use of claustrophobic locales (most of the action takes place on a rattling train), mistaken identities (hardly anyone is who he\/she seems to be), and hardboiled characterizations (McGraw and Windsor are both perfectly cast). While there are some minor plot discrepancies &#8212; which can&#8217;t be discussed without revealing spoilers &#8212; they&#8217;re easily excused, given that they don&#8217;t detract from the overall urgency of the narrative. I watched <em>The Narrow Margin<\/em> years ago, but had (conveniently) forgotten the central plot twist, and found it just as enjoyable the second time around. Highly recommended.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gravelly-voiced Charles McGraw as Detective Brown<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-McGraw2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-McGraw2-1024x621.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"388\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-57144\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-McGraw2-1024x621.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-McGraw2-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-McGraw2-128x78.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-McGraw2-768x466.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-McGraw2-1536x931.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-McGraw2-445x270.png 445w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-McGraw2.png 1677w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Marie Windsor as the irrepressible Mrs. Neall<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Windsor.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Windsor-1024x630.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"394\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-57143\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Windsor-1024x630.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Windsor-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Windsor-128x79.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Windsor-768x472.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Windsor-1536x945.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Windsor-439x270.png 439w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Windsor.png 1673w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Paul Maxey in a bit role as Mr. Jennings: &#8220;Nobody loves a fat man &#8212; except his grocer and his tailor.&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Maxey.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Maxey-1024x621.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"388\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-57142\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Maxey-1024x621.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Maxey-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Maxey-128x78.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Maxey-768x466.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Maxey-1536x931.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Maxey-445x270.png 445w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Maxey.png 1687w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Creative cinematography and direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Direction2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Direction2-1024x626.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"391\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-57147\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Direction2-1024x626.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Direction2-300x183.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Direction2-128x78.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Direction2-768x469.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Direction2-1536x939.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Direction2-442x270.png 442w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Narrow-Margin-Direction2.png 1677w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Plenty of zingy dialogue:<br \/>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Detective Brown:<\/strong> You make me sick to my stomach.<br \/>\n<strong>Mrs. Neall:<\/strong> Well, use your own sink!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<li>Earl Felton&#8217;s Oscar-nominated screenplay &#8212; taut, crisp, never lagging<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes. This well-received B-thriller is an all-around good show. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Good Show<\/li>\n<li>Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0044954\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1952\/05\/05\/archives\/translux-60th-street-presents-a-suspense-melodrama-the-narrow.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/noiroftheweek.blogspot.com\/2007\/10\/narrow-margin-1952.html\">Noir of the Week Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1657narr.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/1919\/the-narrow-margin#articles-reviews?articleId=66959\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re just a job to me &#8212; a C.O.D. to be delivered to the L.A. grand jury.&#8221; Synopsis: A detective (Charles McGraw) escorting a gangster&#8217;s widow (Marie Windsor) on a cross-country train tries to protect her from ruthless assassins. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Detectives and Private Eyes Hit Men Marie Windsor Films Mistaken or Hidden Identities Richard Fleischer Films Widows and Widowers Review: Richard Fleischer&#8217;s Oscar-nominated The Narrow Margin is widely regarded as one of the best B-noirs ever&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4575\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4575"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57148,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575\/revisions\/57148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}