Movie Time: Roadblock

It's Movie Time! 

Today's movie post is about a minor low budget film noir from 1951.  

How minor? How low budget?

• The film stars Charles McGraw and Joan Dixon. No, you don't know who they are and neither do I.
• The movie was directed by Harold Daniels with cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca. Who are they? I have no clue so don't worry about it.
• No fancy film sets here, just whatever locations in and around Los Angeles the filmmakers could use.
• It's only 73 minutes long.

It's Roadblock. 

On his way back home to Los Angeles, insurance investigator Joe Peters (McGraw) has a "meet cute" with Diane (Dixon) at the airport. 

Lacking enough money to fly on her own Diane pretends to be Joe's wife without his knowledge in order to get half fare on her ticket. 

They wind up assigned to the same hotel room after a storm forces an unscheduled stop. 

Despite himself, straight arrow Joe is attracted to gorgeous but duplicitous Diane. 

For her part, Diane makes it clear she likes a higher standard of living than the modest pay Joes makes as an Insurance investigator can provide. Although she could kinda tumble for him despite herself.  

They part company when they reach Los Angeles.

Joe and his partner Harry are assigned to investigate a string of fur robberies and their prime suspect is a crook named Kendall Webb.

Guess who's hanging around as Webb's mistress? Yep, it's Diane!

Joe decides he's gotta have some of that and if Diane needs money (lots and lots of money!) for Joe to get some of that, well, he's got a plan.  

Using inside information on a railroad cash shipment of $1.25 million, he loops Webb in to set up a robbery in exhange for 1/3 of the take.

Meanwhile, Diane sees Joe and decides she's gotta get some of that and she chooses love over greed. Who needs money when she can have Joe? Aww! She tells Joe she wants to get married and she doesn't care about the money.  

Joe tries to get out of the robbery deal with Webb but he strong arms Joe into sticking with the plan. I mean, Diane says she doesn't care about the money NOW but what about after a few months of living off of Joe's paltry salary?

The railroad robbery is successful but a railroad employee is killed. In addition to robbery, there's now a case of MURDER!

The cops are on the case as well as Joe's insurance company.

A meet up between Joe and Webb goes awry and Joe winds up killing his co-conspirator.  

Joe's partner Harry has sussed out Joe's involvement and attempts to convince Joe to give himself up to the police.

Instead, Joe grabs Diane and makes a run for the border to flee to Mexico but Joe is shot by the police and he dies in Diane's arms. 

Well, that sucks!

Roadblock checks off the boxes of a film noir.

• Straight shooter of a guy brought low by a gorgeous dame way out of this league? Check!
• Fool proof plan to commit a crime but the cracks begin to show? Check!
• A protagonist meets a fatal end after a series of really bad decisions? Check!

At little more than an hour of running time, Roadblock barrels through it's plot getting from plot point A to plot point B with economical precision. No need to slow down for character development. If you have your handy dandy "Idiot's Guide To Film Noir", you know who these people are and where they're going.  

Roadblock does contain the first ever car chase scene filmed in the dry Los Angeles river bed so it's got that going for it.

For all it's thread bare execution, Roadblock is still a competently made film noir and at only 73 minutes long, that leaves you time to watch Double Indemnity which in 1944 also did the story of an honest insurance guy brought low to commit crimes for a gorgeous dame. Except with better actors and a better director.