James Stewart in Henry Hathaway's "Call Northside 777" (1948)
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- čas přidán 1. 04. 2024
- In Chicago in 1932, during Prohibition, a policeman is murdered inside a speakeasy. Frank Wiecek (Richard Conte) and another man are quickly arrested, and, in November 1933, are each convicted and sentenced to serve 99 years imprisonment for the killing.
Eleven years later, Wiecek's mother, Tillie Wiecek (Kasia Orzazewski), puts a classified ad in the Chicago Times offering a $5,000 reward for information about the true killers of the police officer. This leads the paper's city editor, 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's 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.)
A 1948 American Black & White reality-based newspaper drama film directed by Henry Hathaway, produced by Otto Lang and Darryl F. Zanuck, screenplay by Jerome Cady and Jay Dratler, adaptation by Leonard Hoffman and Quentin Reynolds, based on the 1944 Chicago Daily Times articles by reporters James P. McGuire and Jack McPhaul, cinematography by Joseph MacDonald, starring James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Helen Walker, Betty Garde, Michael Chapin, Howard Smith, Moroni Olsen, J.M. Kerrigan, Paul Harvey, George Tyne, Leonarde Keeler, and E. G. Marshall. Screen debut appearances of John McIntire, Joanne De Bergh, and Kasia Orzazewski.
Narrated by Truman Bradley. The man administering the polygraph test to convict Richard Conte was the inventor of the polygraph or lie detector machine, Leonarde Keeler. He played himself in the movie.
Based on Joseph Majczek, who was wrongly convicted of the murder of a Chicago policeman in 1932, one of the worst years of organized crime during Prohibition. After being released from prison in 1945, Majczek worked as an insurance agent in Chicago. For his wrongful imprisonment, the State of Illinois awarded him twenty-four thousand dollars, which Majczek gave to his mother Tillie. Majczek eventually remarried his wife, with whom he had divorced while he was in prison. His last years were spent in a mental institution. He died in 1983.
In 1946 James McGuire and Karin Walsh, the real-life people on whom Jimmy Stewart's and Lee J. Cobbs's characters were respectively based, won the prestigious Heywood Broun Award for excellence in investigative journalism for the Chicago Times for "stories helping free a man wrongly convicted of murder."
The Chicago Daily Times merged with the Chicago Sun in 1948, the year this movie was released, and became known as the Chicago Sun-Times.
James P. McGuire served as a Technical Advisor on this film. He is the Chicago Times reporter who wrote the articles on which this film is based, and was the basis of the character played by James Stewart.
This film won The Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay in 1949.
This was the first Hollywood-produced feature film to be shot entirely on-location in Chicago. Views of the Merchandise Mart as well as Holy Trinity Polish Mission can be seen throughout the film. A scene filmed at the Stateville Penitentiary shows the interior of the so-called "Roundhouse," a "panopticon" cell block built according to a design originated by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham. The "Roundhouse" where Frank Wiecek (Richard Conte) is kept at the Stateville prison was the only remaining panopticon still in use in the United States in the 1990s. It was closed in 2016, but the structure remains, due to its historical significance.
"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30-minute radio adaptation of the movie on October 7, 1948, with James Stewart and Richard Conte reprising their film roles.
When McNeal tries to convince Zaleska to take the blame for the murder to exonerate Wiecek, Zaleska asks if he should name "Joe Doakes" as his partner. At the time, Joe Doakes was another name for "Joe Blow" or "John Doe."
It reached number one at the US box office in its 3rd week of release with a gross of $500,000 from 17 cities.
The N.Y Sun, "Calls for three cheers from every working newspaper man and, for that matter, for at least two from every moviegoer."
A great newspaper caper noir. An engaging movie about injustice and redemption. By far the best documentary-style movie for its time. - Krátké a kreslené filmy
I'll always watch anything with Richard Conte in it.
Thanks for the great viewing, Mr. D. P. Borchers.
Anyone else watch these to fall asleep to at night?
Yeah, it doesn't have superheroes or lots of explosions. True life stories are soooo boring.
Yup. Actor’s voices from that era always puts me to sleep.
Yes,personally I watch 60s EuroSpy or Sword and Sandal films
I do not fall asleep i am interested
Joanne De Bergh (Played-Helen Wiecek) was born on February 22, 1918, in The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. She was an actress known for Call Northside 777 and The Doctor and the Girl. She died in 2005.
Nice eyes, but I don't think she blinked even once in the whole film. Lol!
A very good movie in every aspect.
watched a coule of times. It still is a fine watch! thx for uploading
Long ago I saw this movie and I was somewhere touched
At 8.57 is actor Charles Lane, who acted from the early '30s until 2006.
Richard Conte's career soon saw him typecast as gangster types, a pity, because he was good at playing 'sympathetic' roles like this one.
The manners, the way people spoke, times sure have changed. For the better ? 🤔
Thank you for this great movie.
What was the stupid woman thinking, don't say anything to the law officer so he can protect himself, just take off running.
Muy buena película, ya la vi la semana pasada 🙂 🎥🎬
Good movie
Taikuu, look I have a question, What about the other guy, he was not guilty too! So did he get out also, or was this only a half of a wrong righted??
Good question, I was wondering the same thing too - I found the answer on Wikipedia. Search for the article "Majczek and Marcinkiewicz".
He spent many more years in prison before he, too, was exonerated. He was offered a reduced sentence from 99 years to 75 but refused it because it would have been an admission of guilt. He finally got exonerated in 1950.
Taikuu, for taking the time and giving me that update, have a great day.
8 cops were shot down in the line of duty; you've been *nashing your teeth; I'll *drop over; drop by stop by; discret her proove she is a lier;
we have a notorized affidavite; from neginning to end; from start to finish; all the way through (all along) from top to bottom; to have *corroborative (cohesive conclusive decisive) evidence;
finger woman; pen penitentiary? scrub the floors scrub woman; could you *get started on it right away?
Moving and well made all the way. But where was the mother at the end when he left prison?
I KNOW THE OLD POLISH NEIGHBORHOODS IN CHICAGO ,,, I GREW UP THERE,,,,1938---1968
IIt´s amzaing what Newspapers can do they have a lot of power can go too many places and do good investigations and many other things nice film interesting!
Yep
31:27 That’s nice, it sounds like everything is…"Fine! Well that sure is just…fine. With a stronger script this film had great potential. Especially with Jimmy Stewart and Lee Cobb, both great actors.
I just dislike the writing, it sure is going to obvious and extreme lengths to make me outraged by an incompetent, indifferent mean old justice system that wrongly convicted the most selfless, considerate gentleman, husband (ex-husband) son and father ever. Not too subtle.
41:19 Or,after this “Please Stop” request, I’m being set up by a guilty man that has organized a master Machiavellian plan beyond his intelligence, from death row in history…and somehow enlisted the unlikely cooperation of many apparently trustworthy people to help him do it!?
If I wasn’t watching with my own eyes I wouldn’t believe it!
The world is flat…just sayin’