The Threat

Plot synopsis:
Detective Ray Williams (Michael O'Shea) is recuperating from a broken rib as his wife Ann (Julie Bishop) tries to persuade him to get a desk job, especially with the new baby on the way. However, a call from the police inspector (Robert Shayne) informs him that homicidal criminal "Red" Kluger (who Williams apprehended) has busted out of Folsom Prison. As Williams is going to leave in his police car, he is kidnapped by Kluger (Charles McGraw) and his men. District attorney Barker MacDonald (Frank Conroy) is also kidnapped by his men. Lastly, nightclub singer Carol (Virginia Grey), who apparently ratted him out is kidnapped. She however claims it was Tony, one of Kluger's associates, who Red has arranged to come out of Mexico City to Palm Springs to give Red and his associates the $12,000 from a deposit box and give them an escape plane to leave the country out of. Kluger makes no secret of his plans to kill Williams and MacDonald once he's made a getaway. Carol claims to not have ratted him out constantly, but Kluger rejects her claims. Kluger also takes in another hostage, Joe Turner, driver of the truck escorting the gang. The gang is housed up at a shack, awaiting Tony. Joe tries to escape with a gun he had stolen from the truck earlier, but Kluger subdues him, takes the gun and kills him.
Ray is forcefully told by the gang to give the police a false lead on the radio to throw them off. Inadvertently, he tips off his wife that he may be in danger by saying to tell his wife the newborn kid can be named Dexter, which his wife finds suspicious due to his previous statements that he'd name the newborn Dexter only if he'd had a gun to his head. Kluger tells Lefty and Nick to force Williams to call off the search for him, but Williams and MacDonald subdue and tie up the henchmen. They call out to Kluger to come to them, awaiting to try and shoot him, but in the ensuing gunfight, Kluger shoots Ray in the knee. Williams decides to climb up the wall and hang over the door, as MacDonald tries to bait Kluger to come to them. As he walks over to the door, Ray jumps up and lands on Kluger, but Kluger overpowers him and hits him with a chair. Kluger goes outside to see that a plane with Tony is nearby, waving to him to land. However, as he comes back inside, he sees that Carol has a gun. Telling her to drop the gun, he yells at her to not shoot, but Carol shoots him twice, killing him. Ray gets up and thanks her, while saying that he will deal with Tony.
The film ends with Williams discussing with Ann over the naming of their kid, and she reveals that one can be Dexter – because they're having twins.

Tags: revenge, murder, sadist

Review:
Effective "B" film that established Charles McGraw.
"The Threat" is an effective "B" film noir that is kind of a junior league "White Heat" with Charles McGraw starring as an escaped killer seeking vengeance on those who sent him up.
The storyline is relatively clever and the threadbare production values are easily overlooked due to the earnest acting and fast pace.McGraw was so evilly convincing as the heavy that RKO subsequently signed him to a seven-year contract and starred him in "Armored Car Robbery", "Roadblock" and "The Narrow Margin".
When you consider that this picture was shot in under three weeks with a total budget of $221,000, it is quite an achievement for director Felix Feist.One doesn't have to be 8 years old to appreciate economical film making that rises above the typical RKO "B" film sausage grinding of the time..
Charles McGraw- Wonderful Character Actor.
He steals this movie from Michael O'Shea and with his steel blue eyes totally captivates every scene he is in.
McGraw's "technique" lets us know that he was an actor to be reckoned with and that he was going to be around for a long time, which he was- another forty years as one of our better character actors who was given the lead in a few "B" movies and provided support in many "A" and "B" movies.
I can not envision too many actors taking this role and fully making it his own the way Mr.McGraw did.
Charles McGraw Was The Look & Sound Of Film Noir.
Charles McGraw was one of the all-time best at playing tough guy roles in Hollywood.
Both men were always interesting and both hit peaks in the very early '50s.In this film, McGraw is the main criminal, "Red Kluger," a man who has just busted out of Folsom Prison.
He immediately goes after the two guys most responsible for putting him behind bars, captures then and then goes on the lam with a stolen truck, a couple of other thugs and the kidnapped driver of the big truck.At only 65 minutes, this moves by pretty fast, although there is a lull halfway through until things start to get tense as the cops get closer and closer.
The only difference was that he had a mustache in this movie.One credibility problem: the truck driver, "Joe," could have escaped a few times, especially with his riding partner up front got out of the cab to talk to a cop!
What a perfect chance to slip out his side and run for it...but he stays in the driver's seat (with nobody looking at him?) Oh, well; no film is perfect.The climax was fine, offering some tense moments and a surprise finish regarding the hostages and crooks.
Kluger (McGraw) may take hostages for criminal purposes, but the screenplay takes no prisoners.
If there were B-movie Oscars, which there should have been, he would be richly deserving.Anyhow, the plot manages to turn the familiar prison break fugitive into an exciting chase across California, replete with a number of clever touches and a few surprises from an unflinching camera.
It took about 10 minutes for me to get into the story, because I didn't recognize any of the actors at first and I wasn't sure who I was supposed to identify with; but this turned out to be a typically tough and snappy little crime caper (65 minutes long) from director Felix Feist.Feist really knew how to use his small budgets wisely.
He creates a tension-filled atmosphere, keeps things moving at a crisp pace, deftly establishes and stokes conflicts, and can usually be counted on for one "bravura" piece of camerawork in every film (here, it takes place at the climax in the desert shack).
Here, Charles McGraw plays an escaped convict whose thirst for revenge against the detective and D.A. who put him away, really fuels the film and keeps it on track.
It's a good part and a very fine performance - the guy just doesn't give an inch and you find yourself having to respect that.Generally, when low budget crime movies fail it's because the bad guy is stupid or lets his guard down at a crucial moment - none of that here.
Charles McGraw's Best film.
In my opinion, Charles McGraw is probably the best and best known actor of the post war / film noir genre.
Michael O'Shea and Virginia Grey get top billing, but compared to McGraw they're hardly even in the film at all.
Scary because criminals like this actually do exist, and a great little film like this brings the audience enough into the movie that you can't help but think "what if I were kidnapped by a homicidal lunatic like this?" At 65 minutes, "The Threat" is a very tight film noir type crime drama filled with tension, and Charles McGraw is the center of picture.
Great film and a great under rated actor with Charles McGraw.
This little-known 'B' noir  tightly-paced and efficiently handled by journeyman Feist  provides Charles McGraw with one of his best roles as a vicious escaped criminal out to get the three people responsible for his conviction; clearly resourceful, he manages to kidnap all of them within the space of a few hours from his freedom (with the help of two other associates)!
The film makes great use of confined spaces: in their attempt to escape detection on the way to crossing the border into Mexico, the gang exchanges their hide-out a number of times  a house, a moving van (conveniently concealing a police car inside it which, apart from carrying the hostages, allows McGraw to know the pursuing force's every move!) and finally a cabin in the desert.As with other post-war examples of the genre, the violence is more pronounced  in particular the stunning sequence in which McGraw pins the hero to the floor (by stepping on the latter's outstretched arms) and breaks a chair over his face!
The hero, however, is rather colorless and it's the young van driver (himself an unwilling captive) who offers the most resistance to McGraw and gang  though, in their final confrontation, the criminal is able to disarm him in the blink of an eye!
Good minor film noir...Charles McGraw excellent....
CHARLES McGRAW is not the first name you think of when it comes to actors who specialized in good film noirs during the '40s and '50s, but in THE THREAT he shows why he was one of the best in this genre.McGraw is an ex-convict who kidnaps a D.A.
Pretty JULIE BISHOP is O'Shea's worried wife.There's not a wasted moment of running time in the brisk one hour and six minute film.
RALPH BYRD as a thug and VIRGINIA GREY as the captive girlfriend do well in good supporting roles.It's McGraw who makes the strongest impression as a steely-eyed killer, especially during the tense closing scenes with the captives held at gunpoint.
When vicious killer Arnold Kluger (Charles McGraw) and his pals escape from Folsom Prison, they go after the detective (Michael O'Shea) and the DA (Frank Conroy) who put Kluger in prison in the fist place.The two, plus a woman Kluger thinks ratted him out are holed up with the men in a desert shack where Kluger and his pals are to be picked up by another confederate, Anthony.Michael O'Shea plays a police officer who, with is wife, is awaiting the birth of their child.
At first, Kluger makes him call in as if all is well.Virginia Grey is the woman Kluger thinks betrayed her, and she spends most of the movie screaming and crying to let her leave.
Not looking good.Charles McGraw is dynamite in this film, incredibly mean, without one drop of human kindness.
He's absolutely frightening because he's capable of anything.If you're a baby boomer, you'll recognize the voice of Inspector Henderson from Superman right away, Robert Shayne as Police Inspector Murphy.
The film was made in 1949, and most if not all of these actors wound up in television.Michael O'Shea was always likable, and he's no different here, playing a police detective who keeps his cool.
Married to Virginia Mayo, the two did a lot of theater together, and after he retired he became a plainclothes CIA operative.Virginia Grey was a good actress and a lovely one, though this role called for her to be hysterical a good part of the time.This is a short film that packs a wallop - a real wallop.
It stars Charles McGraw, Virginia Grey, Michael O'Shea, Julie Bishop.
Wild.Maniac criminal Red Kluger escapes from jail and sets off to kidnap the three people he holds responsible for his incarceration.Compact at just over an hour in run time, The Threat is all about Charles McGraw impressing on everyone just what a great portrayer of hard cases he would become.
Once the escape and set up of plot has been formed, pic basically confines itself to one cramped location as Kluger and his two henchmen hold four people hostage at their hideout, the fourth person being an unfortunate truck driver who has got in the way.
The air of menace is palpable, the atmosphere hot and sweaty, and via torture, violence and mind games it builds to tough old climax, having got there without fuss or filler.Nothing memorable visually, and some of the screenplay involves characters doing daft things, but it's a gritty "B" noir well worth taking a look at.
It was reported that one of them was just like Charles McGraw, known to have a grudge against the people who sent him to prison.
McGraw would have been better off had he kept running as he's not only a mean customer, but a very shrewd one.McGraw busts out of the joint and he'll flee to Mexico, but first he's got a score to settle with detective Michael O'Shea and District Attorney Frank Conroy who put him in the joint.
McGraw also takes his former girlfriend Virginia Grey by force because he's not sure if she didn't rat him out.
And Grey can't convince him she didn't.The Threat is one no frills and never let up exciting short film about a manhunt for a dangerous man.
McGraw who played a lot of mean hoods was never meaner and threatening than in The Threat.Robert Shayne also has a plum role as the police inspector coordinating the manhunt who doesn't know that O'Shea is a captive until almost the end.
I'd like to think Shayne's role here was something that showed Henderson capable of real police work without Superman.The Threat is really top notch Charles McGraw and a top notch noir thriller..
Charles McGraw (Kluger) is a psychopathetic bully who escapes from prison and has a meticulously planned route to an escape that includes kidnapping DA Frank Conroy (Barker) and detective Michael O'Shea (Williams) who were both involved in his arrest and who he has vowed to kill.
He kidnaps these two with the help of Anthony Caruso (Nick) and Frank Richards (Lefty) and he also takes former girlfriend Virginia Grey (Carol) along for the ride as he suspects her of betraying him.
An unwitting driver Don McGuire (Joe) joins the gang as McGraw leads this troupe to a pre-designated desert hideout to await his escape to Mexico.The cast are all good in this short thriller.
Even the more humorous moments of the film are charged with tension, eg, thug Caruso asking about the time and handing his watch over to McGraw only to have it smashed with the response "Now you don't have to worry about the time".
Funny....but this guy McGraw makes it scary.A nice surprise of a film..
Charles McGraw is prisoner Red kluger, who is out to get the guys who put him away.
Directed by Felix Feist...had started making shorts, then moved to full length films.
McGraw a Really Bad Guy. I agree with the people who have talked about the psychological part of this movie.
Homicidal criminal Charles McGraw does a good job acting .
Not the best film noir .
Threat, The (1949) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A man (Charles McGraw) escapes from prison after swearing to seek vengeance on those he feels got him there in the first place.
I really enjoyed the story, the direction and the music score but the supporting performances are so incredibly dull that I couldn't wait for the film to be over.
McGraw is very good in his role but his supporting cast doesn't offer any help so their story is never interesting nor did I ever care if they were killed or not.
The story climaxes in the ubiquitous desert hide-a-way.The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is after escaped psycho killer "Red" Kluger, played brilliantly by veteran actor Charles McGraw.
A nasty criminal escapes from prison and immediately takes up with his old gang, kidnapping a key witness (who actually never blabbed), the detective who caught him, and the D.A. who prosecuted him.
Charles McGraw is ruthless and seemingly unstoppable as the head of this gang of violent criminals, while Michael O'Shea is a tough yet law-abiding (and more importantly, honest) cop.
***SPOILERS*** With convicted murderer Donald "Red" Kluger, Charles McGraw, busting out of Folson prison the lives of those involved with his capture and conviction Det. Ray Williams, Michael O'Shea, and D.A Baker McDonald, Frank Conroy, are in serious danger.
Not only that Kluger kidnaps his former gun moll night club singer Ann Williams, Julie Bishop, who he feels ratted him out to the police as well as took off with the $100,000.00 in cash he hid in a bus locker in downtown L.A. Still on a roll Kluger hijacks a moving truck together with it's driver Joe Turner, Don McGuire, to make his getaway amid some dozen police and state trooper road blocks.
It's in fact Tony who can clear up this confusion in Kluger's mind if Ann really took the cash he had hidden away and ratted him out to the police!
There's also Ann who's on Kluger's sh*t list and whom he treats like dirt during the entire movie who in the end is the one person who ends up blasting him with his own gun: The only one of the Kluger gang's guns that had live bullets in them.P.S The John Garfield looking tough guy actor Michael O'Shea fit perfectly in the part as detective Ray Williams in him coming from a long line of police family members, all his five brothers ended up being cops, himself.
The premise of "The Threat" - an escaped criminal seeking revenge on the cop and the district attorney that sent him to jail - is an irresistible one.
The acting is pretty good as well, and there are a few genuinely tense moments.All the same, I thought the movie could have been better.
This is a fast-paced noir with a gritty, tense atmosphere, and a commanding performance by Charles McGraw as the escaped con Kluger.
His character helps make The Threat interesting, but overshadows all of the other performances.Kluger's strategy involves kidnapping the two law enforcement personnel (Michael O'Shea and Frank Conroy) who were mostly responsible for his incarceration.
He has at least three decent chances to surprise Kluger with his hidden gun, but waits instead.
Another nice touch are the circling planes--Kluger is visibly shaken, he has to wonder if it's his accomplice Tony, or the police.The solid revenge premise could've made The Threat an outstanding noir, but the plot suffered from using its characters awkwardly, and counting on the lead to carry the movie.
I would've liked to have seen Carol, Lefty, and Nick more developed, with less Ray and Mac. And forget Joe. Overall, The Threat starts and ends well, but there's too many dead ends along the way for it to keep our suspension of disbelief intact..
As a general rule, the only people who are allowed to be good with guns in a movie belong to one of three categories: (1) policemen and other law enforcement officials, as well as prosecuting attorneys; (2) criminals and immoral women; and (3) military personnel, including veterans.
In short, movies tend to support the position of gun-control advocates, who argue that civilians are more likely to hurt themselves by owning a handgun.
But this movie is the absolute worst of them all in this regard.Kluger, who was on death row in Folsom Prison, manages to escape.
Kluger and his two henchman, Nick and Lefty, pack up their captives and a lot of stuff, and put them in a moving van so they can drive to a place and meet up with Tony.
And he owns a gun.Joe is supposed to drive the van with Lefty sitting in the cab with him.
Later, they come upon a roadblock, where there are several cops looking for Kluger.
Never mind that Kluger, known to be a vicious killer, is not going to let him live once he is no longer useful, and so Joe has nothing to lose by making a break for it, he is apparently too timid to risk it.When they stop at a filling station for gas, Joe retrieves his gun and hides it on his person while Lefty is dealing with a policeman.
But Kluger starts walking toward Joe, talking to him in a soothing tone of voice, saying it was a mistake to pull out the gun.
"Come on, give it here," Kluger says, as he gently reaches out his hand and takes the gun away from Joe without any resistance.
The only people left are those who movies allow are capable of using a gun, and so it is just a matter of time before one of them gets his hands on a gun and uses it competently.
This time Kluger knows he is in trouble, because she is not a spineless civilian like Joe, whom he can coax the gun away from.