Pushover (film)
Encyclopedia
Pushover is a film noir
notable for being the first film to feature Kim Novak
in a starring role. Directed by Richard Quine
, the Columbia Pictures
film also stars Fred MacMurray
. It was adapted from two novels, The Night Watch by Thomas Walsh and Rafferty by William S. Ballinger.
) is tasked to recover $200,000 after a bank robbery. He and other officers maintain a 24-hour surveillance on Lona McLane (Kim Novak
), a girlfriend of one of the robbers.
Sheridan quickly falls in love with Lona, who, when she finds out he's a policeman, tries to persuade him to kill Harry Wheeler (Paul Richards
) so the two can take off with the cash. He initially resists, but eventually agrees.
After the killing, Sheridan finds that he also has to betray fellow detective Paddy Dolan and deceive partner Rick McAllister and their boss Lieutenant Eckstrom to cover his tracks. Almost all the action takes place at night in the U-shaped apartment building where Lona and a key eyewitness, neighbor Ann Stewart, both live.
, with some specifically comparing it to Double Indemnity. The New York Times review pointed out, "Fred MacMurray is going through the motions of his 'Double Indemnity' role in a mild facsimile."
However, Kim Novak is usually singled out as a rising photogenic star. Chicago Reader film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, "An aging cop (Fred MacMurray) falls in love with a bank robber's girlfriend (Kim Novak in her first major role, and if you're as much of a pushover for her early work as I am, you can't afford to miss this)."
Film critic Craig Butler wrote, "Aficionados will doubtlessly argue whether The Pushover should be classified as film noir or merely as a suspense film, but whichever its category, this overlooked movie deserves to be better known. Not that it's a great film, for it's not—the characters don't develop fully enough, remaining just film types rather than flesh and blood people, the themes of the film are not explored deeply enough to have resonance, and there's a late development that asks the audience to change its mind about the leading lady that just doesn't work. Still, it's immensely entertaining, skillfully directed by Richard Quine with the requisite suspense trappings (and a wonderfully unsettling sense of voyeurism), and covering a lot of territory in its 88 minutes."
Critic Dennis Schwartz liked the film and wrote, "Pushover covers familiar film noir territory, but does a good job of showing how easy it is to lose control of one's life when one is so vulnerable, obsessed and emotionally weak. Novak does a fine job in her first starring role as a heartless femme fatale who does have a heart after all, but is too inexperienced to prevent the man she loves from disintegrating because he becomes more obsessed with money than with her."
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
notable for being the first film to feature Kim Novak
Kim Novak
Kim Novak is an American film and television actress. She began her career with her roles in Pushover and Phffft! but achieved greater prominence in the 1955 film Picnic...
in a starring role. Directed by Richard Quine
Richard Quine
Richard Quine was an American stage, film, and radio actor and film director.Quine was born in Detroit. He made his Broadway debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical Very Warm for May in 1939 and appeared in My Sister Eileen the following year...
, the Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
film also stars Fred MacMurray
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
. It was adapted from two novels, The Night Watch by Thomas Walsh and Rafferty by William S. Ballinger.
Plot
Honest cop Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurrayFred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
) is tasked to recover $200,000 after a bank robbery. He and other officers maintain a 24-hour surveillance on Lona McLane (Kim Novak
Kim Novak
Kim Novak is an American film and television actress. She began her career with her roles in Pushover and Phffft! but achieved greater prominence in the 1955 film Picnic...
), a girlfriend of one of the robbers.
Sheridan quickly falls in love with Lona, who, when she finds out he's a policeman, tries to persuade him to kill Harry Wheeler (Paul Richards
Paul Richards
Paul Richards may refer to:* Paul Richards * Paul Richards , baseball player, manager, scout and executive* Paul Richards , American actor who starred in the ABC-TV 1963-64 series Breaking Point...
) so the two can take off with the cash. He initially resists, but eventually agrees.
After the killing, Sheridan finds that he also has to betray fellow detective Paddy Dolan and deceive partner Rick McAllister and their boss Lieutenant Eckstrom to cover his tracks. Almost all the action takes place at night in the U-shaped apartment building where Lona and a key eyewitness, neighbor Ann Stewart, both live.
Cast
- Fred MacMurrayFred MacMurrayFrederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
as Paul Sheridan - Philip CareyPhilip Carey-Biography:He was born as Eugene Joseph Carey in Hackensack, New Jersey. A former U.S. Marine, Carey was wounded as part of the ship's detachment of the USS Franklin during World War II and served again in the Korean War....
as Rick McAllister - Kim NovakKim NovakKim Novak is an American film and television actress. She began her career with her roles in Pushover and Phffft! but achieved greater prominence in the 1955 film Picnic...
as Lona McLane - Dorothy MaloneDorothy MaloneDorothy Malone is an American actress. Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years she played small roles, mainly in B-movies. After a decade in films, she began to acquire a more glamorous image, particularly after her performance in Written on the Wind , for which she won the Academy...
as Ann Stewart - E. G. MarshallE. G. MarshallE. G. Marshall was an American actor, best known for his television roles as the lawyer Lawrence Preston on The Defenders in the 1960s, and as neurosurgeon David Craig on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors in the 1970s...
as Lieutenant Carl Eckstrom - Allen Nourse as Paddy Dolan
- Phil Chambers as Briggs
- Alan Dexter as Fine
- Robert Stevenson as Billings
- Don C. Harvey as Peters
- Paul RichardsPaul RichardsPaul Richards may refer to:* Paul Richards * Paul Richards , baseball player, manager, scout and executive* Paul Richards , American actor who starred in the ABC-TV 1963-64 series Breaking Point...
as Harry Wheeler - Ann Morriss as Ellen Burnett
Reaction
Most critics seemed to find the film's plot similar to other film noirFilm noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
, with some specifically comparing it to Double Indemnity. The New York Times review pointed out, "Fred MacMurray is going through the motions of his 'Double Indemnity' role in a mild facsimile."
However, Kim Novak is usually singled out as a rising photogenic star. Chicago Reader film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, "An aging cop (Fred MacMurray) falls in love with a bank robber's girlfriend (Kim Novak in her first major role, and if you're as much of a pushover for her early work as I am, you can't afford to miss this)."
Film critic Craig Butler wrote, "Aficionados will doubtlessly argue whether The Pushover should be classified as film noir or merely as a suspense film, but whichever its category, this overlooked movie deserves to be better known. Not that it's a great film, for it's not—the characters don't develop fully enough, remaining just film types rather than flesh and blood people, the themes of the film are not explored deeply enough to have resonance, and there's a late development that asks the audience to change its mind about the leading lady that just doesn't work. Still, it's immensely entertaining, skillfully directed by Richard Quine with the requisite suspense trappings (and a wonderfully unsettling sense of voyeurism), and covering a lot of territory in its 88 minutes."
Critic Dennis Schwartz liked the film and wrote, "Pushover covers familiar film noir territory, but does a good job of showing how easy it is to lose control of one's life when one is so vulnerable, obsessed and emotionally weak. Novak does a fine job in her first starring role as a heartless femme fatale who does have a heart after all, but is too inexperienced to prevent the man she loves from disintegrating because he becomes more obsessed with money than with her."
External links
- Eddie Muller remarks about screenwriter Roy HugginsRoy HugginsRoy Huggins was an American novelist and an influential writer/creator and producer of character-driven television series, including Maverick, The Fugitive, and The Rockford Files....