Border Incident is a 1949 American film noir featuring Ricardo Montalbán, George Murphy, and Howard Da Silva. Directed by Anthony Mann, the MGM production was written by John C. Higgins from a story by John C. Higgins and George Zuckerman. The film was shot by cinematographer John Alton, who used shadows and lighting effects to involve an audience despite the fact that the film was shot on a low budget.
Premise
The story concerns two agents, one Mexican (PJF) and one American, who are tasked to stop the smuggling of Mexican migrant workers across the border to California. The two agents go undercover, one as a poor migrant.
Cast
Ricardo Montalbán as Pablo Rodriguez
George Murphy as Jack Bearnes
Howard Da Silva as Owen Parkson
James Mitchell as Juan Garcia
Arnold Moss as Zopilote
Alfonso Bedoya as Cuchillo
Teresa Celli as Maria Garcia
Charles McGraw as Jeff Amboy
José Torvay as Pocoloco
John Ridgely as Mr. Neley
Arthur Hunnicutt as Clayton Nordell
Sig Ruman as Hugo Wolfgang Ulrich
Jack Lambert as Chuck
Otto Waldis as Fritz
Production
The film was among a number of lower budgeted movies produced at MGM under the regime of Dore Schary.
Reception
According to MGM records the film earned $580,000 in the US and Canada and $328,000 overseas resulting in a loss of $194,000.
Critical response
Roger Westcombe compared the film to classic Westerns: "Yet far from a typical Western's sense of freedom, Border Incident shares with [director Mann's previous film noir] T-Men that film's inky, submerged visual quality. These are 'wide' but not 'open' spaces, as Alton's beautifully registered grey-toned but grim visuals make the distant horizons as closed as the American border. The constant presence of vulnerable, innocent peasants adds a piquancy to Border Incident, raising the stakes from the destiny of a mere two police agents to that of an entire underclass."
References
Notes
Bibliography
Harry Tomicek: Das grosse Schwarz. Border Incident, von Anthony Mann, Kamera: John Alton (1949). In: Christian Cargnelli, Michael Omasta .(eds.): Schatten. Exil. Europäische Emigranten im Film noir. PVS, Vienna 1997, .