Dead Reckoning is a 1947 American film noir directed by John Cromwell and starring Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott, Morris Carnovsky, and William Prince. It was written by Steve Fisher and Oliver H.P. Garrett, based on a story by Gerald Drayson Adams and Sidney Biddell, adapted by Allen Rivkin. Its plot follows a war hero, Warren Murdock (Bogart) who begins investigating the death of his friend and fellow soldier, Johnny Drake (Prince). The investigation leads Murdock to his friend's mistress, a mysterious woman whose husband Drake was accused of murdering.
The film was originally intended to star Rita Hayworth in Scott's role as a followup to Columbia Pictures's successful Gilda (1946), but contractual obligations prevented Hayworth from appearing in the film. Instead, Scott was loaned out from her contract with Paramount Pictures to co-star with Bogart, who himself was loaned out for the project by Warner Bros. Filming took place in the summer of 1946, largely on Columbia soundstages in Los Angeles, with location shoots occurring in St. Petersburg, Florida; Biloxi, Mississippi; Philadelphia, and New York City.
Dead Reckoning was first released theatrically in San Francisco on New Year's Eve 1946, expanding to a wide theatrical release in January 1947. The film received mixed reviews at the time of its release.
Plot
Leaving a church, Father Logan, a well-known ex-paratrooper padre, is approached by Captain "Rip" Murdock. Murdock needs to tell someone what has happened to him in the past few days in case his enemies get to him. A flashback follows:
Just after World War II, paratroopers and close friends Captain Murdock and Sergeant Johnny Drake are mysteriously ordered to travel from Paris to Washington, D.C. When Drake learns that he is to be awarded the Medal of Honor (and Murdock the Distinguished Service Cross), he disappears before newspaper photographers can take his picture. Murdock goes AWOL, follows the clues and tracks his friend to Gulf City in the southern United States, where he learns Drake is dead – his burned corpse is recovered from a car crash.
Murdock finds out that Drake joined the Army under an assumed name to avoid a murder charge. He was accused of killing a rich old man named Chandler because Drake was in love with Chandler's beautiful young wife Coral.
Murdock goes to a nightclub to question Louis Ord, a witness at Drake’s trial for Chandler's murder. Ord reveals that Drake had given him a letter to give to Murdock. Murdock also meets Coral and Martinelli, the club owner. Seeing Coral losing heavily at roulette, Murdock not only recoups her losses at craps, but also wins her an additional $16,000. For some reason, however, she is uncomfortable with the situation. When all three go to collect the money in Martinelli's private office, Murdock accepts a drink he is tipped off by Ord that the drink it is drugged. When Murdock awakens the next morning, he finds Ord's dead body planted in his hotel room. He manages to hide the corpse before police Lieutenant Kincaid, responding to an anonymous tip, shows up to search his room without a warrant.
Murdock teams up with Coral. Suspecting that Martinelli had Ord killed in order to get Drake’s letter, Murdock breaks into Martinelli's office, only to find the safe already open. Just before he is knocked unconscious again, this time by an unseen assailant, he smells jasmine, the same aroma as Coral's perfume. When he awakes, Martinelli has him roughed up by his thug Krause, to try to find out the content of the message encoded in the letter. However, Murdock is able to escape from his captors when taking him back to his hotel; the police arrive. The flashback ends, and Murdock slips away.
Now suspicious of Coral, Murdock goes to her apartment to confront her. She claims to be innocent, but finally admits that she shot her husband in self-defence, not Drake. She went to Martinelli for advice and gave him the murder weapon to dispose of, but he has been blackmailing her ever since.
Now in love with Coral himself, Murdock agrees to leave town with her, but insists on retrieving the incriminating weapon first, despite Coral's objections. He threatens Martinelli in his office with a gun, eliciting some startling revelations: The club owner reveals that Coral is his wife. He killed Chandler (having learned the man had lied about having only six months to live) and framed Drake so that Coral could inherit Chandler's estate.