Call Northside 777

Plot synopsis:
In Chicago in 1932, during Prohibition, a policeman is murdered inside a speakeasy. Frank Wiecek (Richard Conte) and another man are quickly arrested, and are later sentenced to serve 99 years imprisonment each for the killing. Eleven years later, Wiecek's mother (Kasia Orzazewski) puts an ad in the newspaper offering a $5,000 reward for information about the true killers of the police officer.
This leads the city editor of the Chicago Times, Brian Kelly (Lee J. Cobb), to assign reporter P.J. McNeal (James Stewart) to look more closely into the case. McNeal is skeptical at first, believing Wiecek to be guilty. But he starts to change his mind, and meets increased resistance from the police and the state attorney's office, who are unwilling to be proved wrong. This is quickly followed by political pressure from the state capital, where politicians are anxious to end a story that might prove embarrassing to the administration. Eventually, Wiecek is proved innocent by, among other things, the enlarging of a photograph showing the date on a newspaper that proves that a key witness statement was false. In actuality, innocence was determined not as claimed in the film but when it was found out that the prosecution had suppressed the fact that the main witness had initially declared that she could not identify the two men involved in the police shooting.

Tags: romantic, murder, flashback

Review:
The case then turns on Stewart's ability to locate a missing witness, his growing belief in Wiecek's innocence and the use of a wire-photo, then a new and unusual technology, to prove that this star witness for the prosecution had been shown the accused--standard illegal police procedure--before she had made her original identification.
Based on a true story, "Call Northside 777" follows P.J. McNeal, a newspaper reporter played by James Stewart, as he investigates a decade old murder case.
Filmed on location in and around Chicago, it tells the story of a newspaperman who comes to believe in the innocence of a convicted criminal when the man's aged mother places an ad in the paper asking for information about the by now almost forgotten crime her son was accused of.At first cynical, the reporter comes to believe the man's story, and arranges for him submit to a lie-detector test, which he passes.
Some 11 years on, tough cookie reporter P.J. McNeal gets involved with the case, the further he delves, the more he believes that Wiecek is innocent, but can he find evidence to back up his belief?Filmed in semi-documentary style by director Henry Hathaway, this James Stewart led noir thriller oozes realism from start to finish.
Based on the real story of the Joe Majczek case in 1933, it's filmed perfectly on location in Chicago {where the actual events happened}, gloriously mood emphasised by Joe MacDonald's superb black & white cinematography, and scored with tonal adroitness by Alfred Newman.
As intrepid Chicago Times reporter McNeal {based on real reporter Jim McGuire who was a Pulitzer Prize winner for his investigative efforts on this case}, James Stewart lays down a marker for the more edgier character roles that would follow for him in the 50s.
Call Northside 777 is in some ways a very interesting film, but it's crime drama, and a surprisingly slow one, filled with talk and persuasion and almost no action, almost no suspense.It does have two first rate actors, the impeccable James Stewart who makes the most of this (and saves the film from mediocrity), and James Lee Cobb playing a news editor, a great secondary to Stewart's role as a determined reporter.
It deals with a hard-boiled Chicago reporter P.J. McNeal (James Stewart) assigned by his publisher (Lee J Cobb) to investigate a strange information .
In fact, in this film it looked like it was a hopeless case for much of the time.The bad news is that the movie just wasn't good enough to add to my film noir collection.
The acting is good....James Stewart playing his usual straight shooter down to earth corny blustery stammering when indignantly angry character.What it lacks is suspense and as another reviewer stated it missed a wonderful scene where the perjuring witness Wanda would be exposed.The denouement involves state of art technology of the time....wired photographs and enlarging techniques.What was needed was a more talented writer to come up with some suspense.It gets a solid 7.RECOMMEND.
The only real witness is a mail carrier, who is oddly dispensed of in the script...Eleven years later, a classified titled "Call Northside 777" is placed in the "Chicago Times" by Mr. Conte's hardworking mother Kasia Orzazewski (as Tillie Wiecek).
CALL NORTHSIDE 777 is a fascinating semi-documentary filmed in realistic style by Henry Hathaway and featuring a fine central performance by JAMES STEWART, as a newspaper reporter anxious to prove that an innocent man is still serving time for a crime he never committed.Others in the cast do their standard good work, including RICHARD CONTE as the wrongly convicted man, LEE J.
But most of the supporting players are no-names who give an authentic feel to all the minor roles, as does the fact that the film uses actual Chicago locations which gives the whole story an added flavor of realism.Although the ending should come as no surprise to anyone aware that justice will be done, getting the solution to an eleven-year old murder is what counts here.
The black & white photography actually enhances the story, giving the appearance of the photographic archival "morgues", maintained by newspapers as a permanent, historical records' file.The casting of Jimmy Stewart as the Chicago Times' Reporter, P.J.McNeal assured a heroic, yet realistic portrayal of a real reporter.
Eleven years after being given life sentences for killing a Chicago cop during the Prohibition years, two shady-seeming guys are still protesting their innocence; propelled by the mother of one of the prisoners, a somewhat-doubtful newspaper reporter writes a series of popular stories which may uncover the truth.
Based on a true story, a Chicago newspaper reporter named McNeal (Stewart) investigates a newspaper ad offering a reward for the killer of a cop that was murdered years ago.
No nonsense crime docudrama, based on a true story, about a reporter (James Stewart) working to find evidence to free a man wrongly convicted of killing a police officer eleven years before.
Released in 1948 - This intense, well-scripted Crime/Drama, starring James Stewart and Richard Conte, was greatly enhanced by excellent location shooting in and around Chicago.Apparently based on actual events, this b&w gem from the glorious 40s was partially shot in a semi-documentary format.Call Northside 777 tells the in-depth tale of hard-nosed news-reporter, P.J. McNeal, at the Chicago Times, who eventually proves that a man who was sentenced to life in prison for shooting down a police officer 11 years earlier was wrongly convicted.As the evidence of this man's innocence begins to slowly take shape, McNeal's skepticism soon turns around as he finds himself going well out of his way in search for justice for this man.This first-rate motion picture was directed by Henry Hathaway whose other notable films include - The Dark Corner, Niagara, and True Grit..
Not just a police procedural, but also a newspaper and justice system procedural, taking the viewer on a sometimes overly painstaking trail through all these processes, integral to James Stewart's reporter character's investigation of the wrongful imprisonment of a Polish immigrant for the murder of a policeman over 10 years before.The film is refreshingly free of the stock (over)dramatic depictions of cases like this, one would hope as much for reasons of respect to the true source story as well as the director's right to find a new way to portray crime stories in post-War Hollywood.
The convicted innocent's line that the problem with being innocent is that you don't know what actually happened at the crime scene (because he wasn't there) is an excellent summation of his and Stewart's predicament in trying to dig up the truth.The acting is really very good, Stewart excellent as the cynical reporter who turns from exploiter to investigator, Lee J Cobb, solid and believable as his crusty, crafty editor and Richard Conte creditably downplaying the potential for hamminess that his "victim" role could have led him to, but there are no weak links here.An influential film then in its use of near-documentary realism to tell its story, it works very well as a cinematic entertainment too, just as it should..
P J McNeal (Stewart)is reporter for the Chicago Times who is asked to look into an advertisement (mentioning a reward for someone who could investigate the case) sent by the mother of the convicted.
As it turned out the person who fingered the man who gunned down Officer Bundy ex-con Frank Wiecek, Richard Conte, was the speakeasy owner Wanda Skutnik, Betty Grade, who had since disappeared from off the face of the earth.It's 12 years later in 1944 that Wiecek's mom Tillie, Kasia Orzazewski, put an ad in a local newspaper, The Chicago Times, offering a $5,000.00 reward-by calling her at Northside 777-for anyone who can come up with evidence exonerating her son in Officer Bundy's murder.
It's now up to McNeal to track this Wanda Skutnik down,if in fact she's still alive, and get her to tell the truth or else Wiecek will spent the rest of his natural life behind bars!***SPOILERS*** Hard hitting film noir crime drama filmed entirely in Chicago that has investigative reporter Jim McNeal turn over every stone to find evidence in proving that Frank Wiecek is innocent in a crime he was convicted of 12 years ago.
One often forgets how great Hathaway was ;his career encompasses such classics as 'lives of a Bengal lancer" "Peter Ibbetson" "kiss of death" or "Niagara " ;"call Northside 777" is as good as these ;it's not really a film noir like " the dark corner" or " kiss of death" ;the villains work behind the scenes.The audience does not side with the hero,a journalist in the first third ,where he appears as a go getter journalist looking for a scoop to boost his career .Little by little,while looking at the other people's plight (the old mom sweeping the floor,the wife trying to recreate a home for her boy,the dignity of the prisoner ),his moral fiber grows and when he begins a last fight against all odds -I've got no more friends,says the mom;(correcting herself)I've still got one friend- faith in God is the only way the prisoner and his mom can still hope - "Call Northside 777" features unforgettable scenes : the lie detector-the viewer has the strange feeling of being in the convict's shoes" - or the enlargement of the news paper -with a good sense of suspense-.Based on a true story.They do not say what happened to the second prisoner after Wiecek's release..
The latter played by Richard Conte has been imprisoned for 99 years in his part with killing a police officer.After Tessie puts an ad in the newspaper offering a reward, reporter Jimmy Stewart becomes interested in the case and does a fabulous job in exposing police corruption, 11 years before, when the murder occurred.Stealing the picture is a terrific supporting performance by Bette Garde, who plays Wanda Skutnik, a speak-easy old broad who identified Wiecek as one of the killers.The picture totally captures the period of Chicago in Polish neighborhoods from 1932-1943.
Call Northside 777 is based on the true story of a newspaper reporter working to free a man sentenced to 99 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.
At first, the reporter for the Chicago newspaper, played by Jimmy Stewart, goes to visit the mother of an guy who's serving 99 years in jail for killing a cop.
James Stewart (reporter James McNeal) starts working on an overwhelmingly hopeless case with all possible odds against him, but he never gives up.It's a heroic tale from real life of a journalist's quest for the truth at any cost with the sole possible award tempting him on being his conviction that the truth finally will prevail.Only the realism of the film of all the dungiest parts of immigrant Chicago and other insights behind the hard walls of the city makes it a classic for all times.
Henry Hathaway directed this film based on a true story about a wrongfully imprisoned man(played by Richard Conte) who was convicted of murdering a policeman in 1932.
After meeting the convict, Frank Wiecek (Richard Conte), McNeal shakes off his natural cynicism and begins to wonder, too."Call Northside 777" gets plaudits for debuting a new and tougher postwar Stewart and as an early example of the realist docudrama school of film-making.
The film leaves open some key questions, though it's only fair to point out that the same was true with the real-life event upon which the movie was based.Conte especially is very good, while Stewart and Cobb play off each other well.
The additional commentary on the DVD by James Ursiniand and Alain Silver is insightful and adds to the full enjoyment of the film and how it was created.While at the same time discouraged at the after-taste of a story that serves to re-affirm the basic tenets of the post-war nihilism, where no one is guilty in a world where basic survival practices fall short of an ideal value system.The 1948 film directed by Henry Hathaway released by Twentieth Century-Fox has plenty to admire and the visuals, acting and script elements all contribute to its appeal.Based on an actual event the whole story supposedly dramatizes documented facts, much of which is leading to a point with no resolution, and leaves us wondering about the truth.The script by Jerome Cady and Jay Dratler feature many technological advances like the new-fangled lie detector test that Richard Conte is strapped to.
The featured bit of technology is a photography wire machine that allows James Stewart to expand a part of a newspaper photo as evidence.The commentary track is a great resource for some of the back-story about why the star James Stuart did the film, and the fact that he was 40 years old- over the hill for leading men of his day.But the substantial content of the story of a man accused of killing a police office and sent to jail for 99 years still remains problematic.The key issue that releases the accused, played by Richard Conte, is a small fact that proves that the finger woman had actually seen the accused before she fingered him- a fact that the police denied.
Henry Hathaway directs this perfect film noir with Stewart in a great role as a reporter on the search for truth and finds himself right in the middle of the re-opening of a ten year old murder case.
Cobb), sees the ad and assigns one of his reporters, P.J. McNeal (James Stewart), to visit Mrs. Wiecek and learn more about the 11-year-old case against her son.
James Stewart is the reporter P.J. McNeal of the Chicago Times who is asked to investigate a newspaper advertisement placed by a Polish Charwoman offering $5000 for evidence that will get her son out of prison after 10 years of incarceration.
James Stewart is a reporter who becomes involved in an old murder case in "Call Northside 777," directed by Henry Hathaway and costarring Lee J.
The film is done semidocumentary style, in black and white, and is based on a true story.Much of the movie is done in a low-key, realistic way, with most of the energy coming from Stewart.
And near the end of the picture, McNeal takes the members of the pardon board to a police photo laboratory, where an enlarged photograph is developed and gives conclusive proof that Wiecek is innocent; as McNeal nervously watches the photo develop, his face lights up and he is elated when the fully-developed picture offers the proof he needs to show to the board."Call Northside 777" was an excellent step-up for James Stewart, and after making a few more less-than-successful movies, he would make another hit with "The Stratton Story" (1949), after which he was back on top in the public eye..
"Call Northside 777" is based on a true story; that of Frank Wiecek (Richard Conte), a blue collar patsy who is framed for the murder of a police officer during the bad IL' days of prohibition in Chicago.
J. McNeal" (James Stewart) is a reporter for a Chicago newspaper who gets handed an assignment to look into a strange add that offers $5000 for information pertaining to a criminal case that was closed 11 years ago.
Directed by Henry Hathaway, the film tells the story of a Chicago reporter, P.J. McNeal (James Stewart) who trying to prove the innocence of a man, Frank Wiecek (Richard Conte) who was wrongly convicted for murder, many years before, of a Chicago Traffic Cop. Without spoiling the movie, too much, while the movie states out on screen, that this is a true story.
Cobb as the stars (although all are outshone by Kasia Orzazweski in the first and most impressive of eight movie appearances), is an unusual film noir in that the lead character in this true-life reconstruction of crime and imprisonment is neither the alleged criminal nor the investigator but the killer's mother, who is handed the script's best lines and its most powerful scenes.The sequence in which out-for-a-story-and-nothing-else reporter James Stewart (who has previously raised her hopes) callously turns down the mother's pleas for help, is one of the most unforgettable moments in the whole history of world cinema.Brilliantly directed by Henry Hathaway, Call Northside 777 is one of those rare movies that really pack a punch..
The best scene in the movie has Jimmy Stewart, as an ace reporter, searching the dingy Polish dives of Chicago's "back of the stockyards" neighborhood in search of Wanda Skutnik, the liar who sent innocent Richard Conte to the slams eleven years ago.
Wiecek(Richard Conte)is arrested and due to confusion with his story charged with the murder.He and another man are found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.All goes quiet for eleven years,until a cleaning lady places an advert in the newspaper offering a five thousand dollar reward for information which will clear her sons name.One of the papers top reporters P.J.Mcneal(James Stewart)is put on the case and meets Mrs.Tillie Wiecek(Kasia Orzazewski).He learns she has been scrubbing floors to get the cash to help her son.At first not believing in his innocence,McNeal runs a sob story about her efforts for her son,which the public love and he begins a weekly serial about the case.McNeal gradually comes to realise there may be more to the story than he first thought and does some investigating of his own.The cast is superb and the story is gripping and will leave you open mouthed at one point or another..
Henry Hathaway's well made docu-drama "Call Northside 777" is a gripping thriller which recounts the true story of two men who were unjustly imprisoned for many years and the newspaper reporter whose actions eventually led to them being exonerated."Chicago Times" editor Brian Kelly (Lee J Cobb) becomes intrigued when he sees a small ad in the newspaper which offers a $5,000 reward for information about the killers of a police officer who'd been shot twelve years earlier.