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Edge of Doom main poster

Edge of Doom

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5.9/10 • 18

1950-08-031h 39m

CrimeDramaThriller

100 BREATH-TAKING MINUTES OF "EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT" SUSPENSE AND PULSE-POUNDING MYSTERY!

A priest sets out to catch the man who killed one of his colleagues.

Directors
Mark Robson
Writters
Charles Brackett, Ben Hecht
Editors
Charles Brackett, Ben Hecht, Daniel Mandell

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Dana Andrews

    Dana Andrews

    Thomas Roth

  2. Farley Granger

    Farley Granger

    Martin Lynn

  3. Joan Evans

    Joan Evans

    Rita Conroy

  4. Robert Keith

    Robert Keith

    Mandel

  5. Paul Stewart

    Paul Stewart

    Mr. Craig

  6. Mala Powers

    Mala Powers

    Julie

  7. Adele Jergens

    Adele Jergens

    Irene

  8. Harold Vermilyea

    Harold Vermilyea

    Father Kirkman

  9. John Ridgely

    John Ridgely

    Detective #1

Reviews1

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Jan 21, 2014

7/10

It doesn’t take much to poison a young man’s soul. Edge of Doom is directed by Mark Robson and adapted to screenplay by Philip Yordan from the novel written by Leo Brady. It stars Dana Andrews, Farley Granger, Joan Evans, Robert Keith, Paul Stewart, Mala Powers and Adele Jergens. Music is by Hugo Friedhofer and cinematography by Harry Stradling. Give evil a root and it will grow and thrive. Relentlessly grim in thematics and mounted in classic film noir style by Robson and Stradling, if it were not for the heavy religio angle then we would be talking about one of film noir’s highlights. Bookended by pious pontifications as Dana Andrews’ priest offers his wisdom to a new understudy, everything in between is tinged by a bleakness as Granger’s poverty stricken young man desperately tries to arrange a “big” funeral for his just deceased mother. With a mother fixation firmly planted on his shoulders, Martin Lynn trawls through the oppressive and unforgiving city looking for help but finding none. His employer, the church, nobody, so when his temper finally snaps he also has to contend with guilt and the police circling him like a straight-jacket. All the while Father Roth is hanging around to show the good side of the church, even turning into the punching preacher at one point. But can he grant salvation to a frantic Martin Lynn as his soul begins to fracture? Samuel Goldwyn effectively stopped backing the picture and Granger pretty much disowned it, unsurprisingly it flopped at the box office and has sort of languished in noir purgatory ever since. Shifting too much of the focus onto Father Roth really hurts the film, where Goldwyn had Robson do a re-edit and hired Ben Hecht to spruce up the religious theme. There’s also a problem with Granger over acting at times, while Andrews is a touch miscast in a role tailor made for Pat O’Brien. Though the support players, particularly Keith and Stewart, more than compensate. There’s enough bite in the narrative to do justice to the excellent visuals, a cynicism that haunts the shadows of this seamy side of New York, but this really should have, and could have, been so much better. 7/10

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  • Edge of Doom poster
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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
film noircatholic