Monday is the anniversary of his birth on November 11, 1909. Ryan had a knack for playing hardened and ruthless characters and the first of today's two films plays right into Robert Ryan's wheelhouse.
Odds Against Tomorrow is a 1959 film noir produced and directed by Robert Wise and starring Harry Belafonte.
Burke also enlists Earle Slater (Robert Ryan), a tough ex-con in his plan to rob a small town bank. When he finds out that Ingram is involved, Slater turns down the gig because as he tells Burke, "you didn't tell me the other guy was a n****r".
Side note #!: Robert Ryan was involved in many political activities including efforts to fight racial discrimination.
Side note #2: Shari Belafonte, Harry's daughter, said Robert Ryan was a close family friend who she called "Uncle Robert".
Side note #3: At a screening of Odds Against Tomorrow, Robert Ryan spoke spoke to "the problems of an actor like me playing the kind of character that in real life he finds totally despicable."
So...
Slater needs the money real bad so financial necessity wins out over blatant racism so he changes his mind and tells Burke he's in for the caper.
That still doesn't stop Slater from needling Ingram every chance he gets.
Despite Burke's detailed plans like he's working some kind of poor man's Ocean's Eleven con or something, everything that can go wrong goes wrong. Some of it goes wrong because of variables that Burke could not predict and some of it is because Slater will not let go of his ignorance and hate and trust Ingram.
Look, this is a film noir so it's not much of a spoiler if I tell you that all 3 members of this erstwhile heist wind up dead.
The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Department
- The soldier in the bar that rags on Slater and gets the crap punched out of him is Wayne Rogers, Trapper John from TV's M*A*S*H*.
Odds Against Tomorrow is beautifully shot by director Robert Wise with stark images in black and white giving everything that mood of pervading doom and despair that is the hallmark of a great film noir.
Harry Belafonte threads the needle with his portrayal of Johnny Ingram, a character of undeniable charm and humor but subject to failure due to his weaknesses and burdened by all he has lost and the obstacles in his path to regaining what he lost.
Robert Ryan takes some serious risks with Earl Slater, a character with virtually no redeeming qualities. He may be racist to Ingram but Slater quite frankly treats everybody like dirt, even people who seem to care about him for some damn reason I can't begin to fathom. You kind of know from jump that Slater will not survive this and furthermore, it will be his own damn fault.
I've seen Robert Ryan in other movies like Bad Day At Black Rock where he really leans in hard into this unlikable intensity.
But in our next movie gives Robert Ryan a rare deviation from his role as a hardened malcontent.
From 1950, The Secret Fury is ostensibly a film noir but it starts off with a very light touch more attuned to a romantic comedy starring Cary Grant.
David McLean (Robert Ryan) has shown up at a posh residence but can't get in with the well dressed guests coming in through the front door. Seems David doesn't have an invitation.
So it's the back door and getting in with the servants but David can't get in there lacking the credentials to show he's one of the staff.
Eventually David makes his way through a window which is a lot of trouble to put a man through to get into his own wedding.
David McLean is there to get married to Ellen Ewing (Claudette Colbert), a wealthy classical pianist.
It's all so silly like a classic Cary Grant/Myrna Loy romantic comedy.
The wedding is going along nicely.
Until it doesn't.
The reverend asks if anyone has any objection should speak now or forever hold their peace.
Some dude pipes up and says he has an objection: Ellen Ewing is already married to Lucian Randall in Fairview.
What the....?
Well that news is a shock to everyone, including Ellen!
Surely she would know if she was married to someone else, right?
We get an exposition dump from Ellen's Aunt Clara that suggests Ellen's had some issues with mental health in the past. I don't like Aunt Clara. She's too damn ready to throw Ellen under a bus.
Things do not get better in Fairview.
There's not only paperwork a plenty confirming Ellen Ewing married Lucian Randall but they keep running into people who recognize Ellen as "Mrs. Randall".
What the....?
Then David and Ellen find Lucian Randall to get to the bottom of this matter. Only for Lucian to get shot and damned if it doesn't look like Ellen killed him!
Well, that whole Cary Grant/Myrna Loy vibe is totally dead now.
There's a big trial where Ellen is badgered and harassed by the district attorney until she finally just has a frickin' emotional meltdown on the stand and is sent off to be confined in a mental hospital because damn, the girl be crazy, right?
David, God bless him, hasn't given up on Ellen and is still poking around for evidence that the whole marriage to Lucian Randall was a con and that his subsequent murder is a frame job.
But what about Ellen? Could we be dealing with someone who does not know her own mind? Amnesia, perhaps? Or schizophrenia?
Nope! What we got here is a good ol' fashioned gaslighting! Forged paperwork and a bunch of people paid to pretend they recognized Ellen as "Mrs. Randall". And all part of a plot to...
OK, the night I watched this on TCM, host Eddie Muller in his remarks after the movie asked his viewers to go on line and please explain what happened.
The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Department
- Is that hotel maid Ethel Mertz from I Love Lucy? Yep, that's Vivian Vance.
Claudette Colbert is not a regular for this kind of psychological thriller but she comports herself well enough with both the raging hysteria of her meltdown on the stand and that dead thousand mile stare while she's in the mental hospital.
And Robert Ryan proves he can play the good guy with an affable and gentle charm. But there are moments when the ol' Robert Ryan slips through and it makes you question if David is too good to be true and perhaps maybe up to something sinister himself. Thankfully, not this time.
I'll be back tomorrow with another movie post.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another.
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