Dan Duryea, in a rare lead performance, stars in this 1950 film noir of a morally compromised reporter in over his head. Druyea is the equivalent of an ambulance chasing lawyer only he's a reporter who inserts himself into a story to sensationalize it to its maximum effect which happens at the story's start when he fingers a testifying witness (w/his news story headlines) nearly getting the DA shot when the gangsters attempt a hit. His bosses already frustrated w/this & his past conduct, terminate him but while he's wallowing away his misfortunes in a bar, he comes across an newspaper ad selling a stake in a small town paper. Going hat in hand to the mobster, played by Howard Da Silva, he helped indirectly w/his story, he manages to get the seed money for the newspaper buy. Arriving at the town he finds the environment quaint & storied, not much going for it but when a woman's body turns up, the daughter-in-law of a newspaper tycoon who resides in the sleepy burg, played by Herbert Marshall, Duryea smells a hot lead. The killer in question is Marshall's son but fearing that discovery will ruin him & his family name, his son puts the blame on his wife's friend, a black woman. Duryea, hoping to milk the headlines for all their worth, turns the accused woman in to the authorities & finagles a deal w/a lawyer to defend her (playing on the townsfolk heartstrings they donate monies towards a defense fund which Duryea hopes to split w/the shyster). As public opinion starts to favor the jailed woman, Marshall uses his influence to turn the moral table on our reporter making him persona non grata & to make matters worse, DaSilva & his goons are after him (Marshall's son has cut a deal w/him to have Duryea wiped out). Making his last stand when he's eventually turned over to Marshall & son, Duryea (who's called the DA) waits to see if he's doomed for sure or if the Calvary will arrive for the rescue. A real page turner from start to finish, this film dwells heartily in the moral grey zone w/its direction sharply drawn & wonderfully acted. Ample support is given by Gale Storm playing the owner of the small newspaper, Alan Hale turns up as a big city colleague of Duryea's w/special mention to Gar Moore who is quite good as the murderer who nearly gets away w/it.
Review of The Underworld Story
