Call Northside 777


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Call Northside 777

Theatrical poster
Directed by Henry Hathaway
Produced by Otto Lang
Written by Adaptation:
Leonard Hoffman
Quentin Reynolds
Screenplay:
Jerome Cady
Jay Dratler
Articles:
James P. McGuire
Jack McPhaul
Starring James Stewart
Richard Conte
Lee J. Cobb
Music by Alfred Newman
Cinematography Joseph MacDonald
Editing by J. Watson Webb Jr.
Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Release date(s) February 1, 1948
(U.S.A.)
Running time 111 minutes
Country United States
Language English
IMDb • Allmovie

Call Northside 777 (1948) is a documentary-style film noir directed by Henry Hathaway.[1] It is based on the true story of a Chicago reporter who proved that a man who has been in prison for murder, was wrongly convicted 11 years before. James Stewart stars as the persistent journalist. Richard Conte plays the imprisoned Frank Wiecek, a character 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 the Great Depression.

This is the first film to be shot on location in Chicago and views of the Merchandise Mart as well as Holy Trinity Polish Mission can be seen throughout the film.

Contents

Plot

It is 1932 in Chicago, and a policeman is killed outside of a speakeasy. Frank Wiecek (Conte) and another man are sentenced to life imprisonment.

Eleven years later, a newspaper ad by Wiecek's mother leads the city editor of the Chicago Times (Cobb) to assign reporter P.J. McNeal (Stewart) to look more closely into the case.

McNeal is skeptical and believes Wiecek is guilty,. But he starts to change his mind, and meets increased resistance from authorities unwilling to be proved wrong.

Eventually Frank is proved innocent by, among other things, expanding a photograph showing the date on a newspaper.

Cast

Critical reception

The film received mostly positive reviews when it was released, and again when the movie was released on DVD in 2004. A 2004 Onion AV Club Review argued that the film may not be a true film noir, but is good nonetheless, and wrote, "Outstanding location shooting and Stewart's driven performance turn a sober film into a vibrant, exciting one, even though the hero and the jailbird he champions are really too noble for noir."[2]

The web site DVD Verdict made the case that the lead actor may be best reason to see the film, and wrote, "Its value exists mainly in Stewart's finely drawn characterization of a cynical man with a nagging conscience."[3]

Awards

Wins

Nominations

  • Writers Guild of America: WGA Award; Best Written American Drama, Jerome Cady and Jay Dratler; The Robert Meltzer Award (Screenplay Dealing Most Ably with Problems of the American Scene), Jerome Cady and Jay Dratler; 1949.

References

Notes

  1. ^ Call Northside 777 at the Internet Movie Database.
  2. ^ Murray, Noel. Onion AV Club Review, film review, March 29, 2005. Last accessed: April 5, 2008
  3. ^ DVD Verdict. Film review, 2005. Last accessed: April 5, 2008.

External links








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