T-Men |  | Director: Anthony Mann
Actors: Dennis O'keefe, Mary Meade, Alfred Ryder, Wallace Ford, June Lockhart
Studio: Vci Video
Category: DVD
Buy New: $39.00
New (5) Used (8) from $11.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 103768
Format: Black & White, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Italian (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 92
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 089859830822
EAN: 0089859830822
ASIN: B00005Y70T
Theatrical Release Date: December 15, 1947
Release Date: April 30, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Anthony Mann was a poverty-row director with ambition when he transformed this story of undercover Treasury agents (based on a collection of true cases) into a moody, alienated drama about two lawmen living a shadowed life in the underworld where a blown cover means death. Square-jawed Dennis O'Keefe, a former leading man turned beefy B movie tough guy, and Alfred Ryder star as the titular T-men who take over a counterfeiting investigation when their predecessor is killed, posing as street thugs to infiltrate their way into the gang and living the dangerous life of the gangster to the hilt. The documentary-style realism, with its authoritative narrator, location shooting, and stock-shot interludes of shuffling papers and laboratory testing, is given a nightmarish dimension with stark sets lit in claustrophobic shadows, creating an abstract, eerie emptiness. Penned by John C. Higgins (who wrote Mann's previous film, Railroaded!), and shot by the brilliant cinematographer John Alton, T-Men is raw in comparison to the smoother, more handsome studio noirs such as The Maltese Falcon and Out of the Past. Saddled with often awkward dialogue and hackneyed narration, this low-budget gem derives its power from the brutal violence (often offscreen but no less unsettling for it) and spare style, and the desperation in the hard faces of the unglamorous actors. Mann, Alton, Higgins, and star O'Keefe reteamed for the moody Raw Deal the next year. --Sean Axmaker
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
A photographer's dream. October 13, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
John Alton, the DP on this film, wrote "Painting with Light", THE book on cinematography & lighting, which is still in print.
These days many people pay $5000 for a Leica M8 body & try for this kind of quality...& don't even come close.
This is what a film might have looked like if it were shot by Walker Evans or Harry Callahan.
T-Men June 25, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Filmed in pseudo-documentary fashion, this nail-biting underworld drama was a box-office smash in 1947 for fledgling director Anthony Mann, who immediately signed to MGM with now-legendary cinematographer John Alton. Exploring the grey area between sanctioned undercover work and out-of-control criminal behavior, "T-Men" plunges deep into the shadowy world of the thug's life, with a serpentine plot and gritty, lock-jawed performances from the B-movie cast. Aside from its rough-hewn realism, Mann's film is a triumph of stylish production design and Alton's brilliant chiaroscuro visuals. Capped by a steam-bath murder that will snatch your breath away, "T-Men" is a crackling tale of claustrophobic tension.
 The prototype for the undercover agent film February 22, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Nietzsche wrote "he who fights monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster." The exploration of this idea is often the underlying theme of undercover agent films like "Donnie Brasco," "Deep Cover" and even to some degree, "The Departed." All of these films are indebted to Anthony Mann's almost forgotten noir classic, "T-Men" - a film that represents one of the first instances where the story focuses on men who sacrifice their souls (and in one case a life) as they descend into the criminal underworld to serve the law. The title is the street name for treasury agents, who are here assigned to infiltrate a counterfeiting ring. As they adopt the identities of criminals they make compromises of increasing magnitude to protect their covers and in the process become less distinguishable from the people they are trying to apprehend. The film expresses this process visually by showing them stepping in and out of shadows, literally, to echo what's happening morally, following a genre convention that still manages to look fresh because of John Alton's stunning cinematography. Aside from the hokey documentary-style narration, the film feels incredibly modern.
"T-Men" is an essential film of the film noir genre worthy of wider recognition. Like many other films of the genre, only the budget was at a B level.
Breaking the Bonds November 21, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The movie starts off as one of those popular police procedure films that glorified law enforcement, especially during the law and order 1950's. However, there's an artistic sensibility underlying this effort that effectively undercuts the documentary conventions. Because about 20 minutes into the photography, the tone becomes steadily darker as the undercover agents plunge deeper into the angular shadows of the L.A. underworld. Unknowingly, they have descended into the claustrophobic twilight of noir, where anything can happen. A cop can even be mudered while his partner stands idly by, thereby breaking all the rules of the time, but affirming our sense that reality is a lot darker than the popular conventions made it out to be.
There are so many imaginative touches that the feeling of a film within a film emerges, one that's striving to burst the bonds of Hollywood's Production Code. The film-makers do their best to keep the climax consistent with the overall mood, but Code demands ultimately prevail such that the viewer may be left unconvinced by the round-up happy ending. It's this friction between convention and artistry, between the predictable and the unpredictable, that finally splits the film into conflicting, even warring, perspectives. Anyone wishing a glimpse of the contrast between the two, and how Hollywood subordinated art to ideology, should catch up with this 90 minute melodrama.
Fantastic Noir Cinema March 28, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is just a plain terrific crime noir film. It's loaded with atmosphere, gritty dialogue, and an interesting story. Dennis O'Keefe (an actor who I'm ashamed to say I'd never heard of before this) is great as an undercover Treasury agent doing his best to ferret out a gang of counterfeiters.
Dark and moody with genuine suspense and plenty of guts. It's even got an introduction by one of the real life Treasury agents that took down Al Capone. Worth seeing if you're a noir fan. Or crime buff. Or just interested in watching an old film that has aged remarkably well.
Oh, just see it, you mugs.
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