Red Light main backdrop
Red Light main poster

Red Light

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5.8/10 • 22

1949-09-301h 23m

ThrillerCrime

THERE'S TROUBLE AHEAD!

Nick Cherney, in prison for embezzling from Torno Freight Co., sees a chance to get back at Johnny Torno through his young priest brother Jess. He pays fellow prisoner Rocky, who gets out a week before Nick, to murder Jess... who, dying, tells revenge-minded Johnny that he'd written a clue "in the Bible." Frustrated, Johnny obsessively searches for the missing Gideon Bible from Jess's hotel room.

Directors
Roy Del Ruth
Editors
Richard V. Heermance

Top Billed Cast

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  1. George Raft

    George Raft

    Johnny Torno

  2. Virginia Mayo

    Virginia Mayo

    Carla North

  3. Gene Lockhart

    Gene Lockhart

    Warni Hazard

  4. Raymond Burr

    Raymond Burr

    Nick Cherney

  5. Harry Morgan

    Harry Morgan

    Rocky

  6. Barton MacLane

    Barton MacLane

    Detective Strecker

  7. Arthur Franz

    Arthur Franz

    Fr. Jess Torno

  8. Ken Murray

    Ken Murray

    Ken Murray

  9. Stanley Clements

    Stanley Clements

    Carlson Hotel Bellhop

Reviews2

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Nov 20, 2014

6/10

Army Chaplain Slain! Red Light is directed by Roy Del Ruth and adapted to screenplay by George Callahan from the story This Guy Gideon written by Don Barry. It stars George Raft, Virginia Mayo, Raymond Burr, Harry Morgan and Gene Lockhart. Music is by Dimitri Tiomkin and cinematography by Bert Glennon. Something of an oddity, Red Light finds George Raft up to his neck in religion, revenge and a smouldering Virginia Mayo. After his brother, a chaplain, is murdered, he sets off to find the killer, whom can be identified by a message scrawled in a Gideon Bible. Find the Bible, find the killer. It is brought into the film noir sphere of things via Glennon’s photography, which kicks in at the hour mark and runs concurrent with the murky thematics in the narrative, Frisco a rain sodden place of sleaze. Other than that it plays more as a crime drama, albeit one with some decidedly spicy killings and another top villain turn from Raymond Burr. Tiomkin’s musical cues are strange and not always in sync with what is happening on screen, while the biblical hermeneutics and various plot contrivances irk rather than perk. See it for Burr and Glennon’s work, or if you fancy a weird blend of noir and ethical religio redemptions! 6/10

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
biblefilm noir