This entry in the Film Noir of Anthony Mann collection is a 1948 B movie classic filmed in the same style as RAW DEAL and HE WALKED BY NIGHT. The visual elements are along the same lines as those films, but that’s where the similarities end. While RAW DEAL is a mob melodrama, and HE WALKED BY NIGHT is a police procedural, T-MEN is a federal-agents-undercover film. Director Mann had script writer John Higgins produce a tight script and he doesn’t leave any plot threads dangling. The result is a truly suspenseful crime drama that is, in my opinion, the best film in the Film Noir of Anthony Mann collection.

The production features a lot of the talent responsible for RAW DEAL including the star Dennis O’Keefe, an Irish actor who projects a lot of coolness and physicality into his role as undercover agent Dennis O’Brien. The O’Brien character is an undercover treasury agent (or T-Man to the bad guys; hence the title) who goes undercover to break into a counterfeiting ring. To make things more confusing, he uses an alias of Vinny Harrigan, an Irish-Italian mobster. The Treasury department assigns him a partner in Tony Genaro (played by Alfred Rider). There is a cameo by a young June Lockhart as Tony’s wife. The bad guys include character actors Wallace Ford as the Schemer (love that name), Charles McGraw as Moxie, and Jack Overman as Brownie. In fact, the casting is perfect from the main characters to the minor ones. Also, there is a definite lack of female characters in the film. But this is pretty much a "guy" movie anyway. There is a narration by Mann favorite Reed Hadley

We are introduced to the treasury department by the narrator, who informs us of the many feats performed by this branch of the government including the take down of Al Capone’s empire from the inside out. A new counterfeiting ring has arisen out of the Capone gang’s ashes, and the Treasury department has assigned two resourceful agents O’Brien (Dennis O’Keefe) and Genaro (Al Rider) to infiltrate the counterfeiting gang. To forge an identity for themselves in the underworld, the two travel to Detroit and endeavor to join the notorious Vantucci gang. Together, they manage to convince the Vantucci gang that they are legit enforcers, and also convince the head honcho to let them join the gang. A government informer tells O’Brien that a man called The Schemer is somehow connected to the nationwide counterfeiting operation. But The Schemer resides out in sunny LA. So O’Brien heads for LA and leaves his partner in Detroit to carry out their charade as long as possible.

After arriving in LA, the resourceful O’Brien manages to locate The Schemer, who is on the outs with the local mob, but still has connections. The Treasury Dept. gives O’Brien an untraceable, mint condition counterfeiting plate (used to make bills). He uses this plate to position himself along the mob hierarchy in order to get to the boss. O’Brien wants to make a deal with the boss in which he’ll give the boss the plate, but the boss does not want to reveal himself and has his lackeys make all the deals. Of course the mob is suspicious of O’Brien and have their men Moxie and Brownie breathing down O’Brien’s back. Inevitably, the mob bosses place a call to Detroit’s Vantucci gang to verify O’Brien’s roots. This call results in Genaro’s abduction from Detroit to LA. O’Brien and Genaro are reunited by the LA mob, but can they continue their charade? And will O’Brien live long enough to confront the unknown leader of the counterfeiting ring?

The above description does not do justice to the plot of T-MEN. There is a lot more to it, but I did not want to present too many spoilers. The film is taut and suspenseful all the way through thanks to Higgin’s script. You know the mob could lower the boom on the treasury agents at any time and vice versa. You see the look in the heroes eyes, as they try to act like criminals to avoid suspicion. The Treasury agents in this film are so much different than the police force in HE WALKED BY NIGHT. In that film, the police are dumb founded, but here agents O’Brien and Genaro use all kinds of undercover police techniques to crack each piece of the puzzle. And the puzzle is pretty complicated and authentic for the time. In fact, I come out of this movie feeling like I could start my own counterfeiting practice thanks to the details here. About the only negative criticism I have toward the film is the ongoing narration. It’s an attempt by the filmmakers to not go over the head of the audience by "educating" them. But all it ends up doing is annoying the audience.

SIGHT

This 1947 film was shot 1.37.1 ratio and is very slightly cropped here. The dead giveaway for this is when you read the opening sequence/credits; some of the words appear very slightly cropped. I do not know if the Roan Group restored this one like HE WALKED BY NIGHT, or that the source elements are just in better shape, but this is the best transfer of the box set. It’s sometimes hard to believe this is 1947 we are talking about. As far as old b & w films go, this one has almost a glossy look to it. Film grain is minimal compared to the other films in the set. The images are either shades of pure black or shades of pure white which makes for an eye catching image. There are a few nics and scratches in the transfer, but nowhere near as much as I expected. The blacks and shadow detail are very good, and this is crucial to a film of this type. In some areas of the film, the picture turns gets away from the balanced black & white look and appears grayish. But that is about the only negative thing I can say about the transfer. Cinematographer John Alton intended the film to have an atmospheric, hazy look with strange shooting angles, stark black and white, and atmospheric night photography. His techniques are particularly effective in the scenes where Moxie kills the Schemer in a steam bath, and the climatic showdown on board a fog-shrouded oil tanker in the harbor.

SOUND

I’m pleased to say, this mono soundtrack matches the quality video. The dialog comes though crisp and clear, the gunshots are loud and not distorted. There are no pops, or distortions of any kind normally associated with a film of this vintage. But I did detect some hiss during some quiet scenes, but it is minor (not like the continual, loud hiss on HE WALKED BY NIGHT). This is a dialog driven film, and the mono mix supports this perfectly. Additionally, Composer Paul Sawtell’s score is a really raucous, driving score that reinforces the mob drama and action nicely. This is the best score I’ve heard from him yet. As mentioned earlier, Reed Hadley’s narration quickly becomes grating and it is prominent in the mix. It would have been nice to have it down mixed, but you can’t please everybody.

FEATURES

No Extras. Part of the Film Noir of Anthony Mann box set along with RAW DEAL and HE WALKED BY NIGHT.

CONCLUSION

I rated T-MEN slightly higher than the other films in the collection because the script had me riveted and the quality is consistently higher. Though I recommended the other films to genre enthusiasts, I believe this one will entertain even today’s jaded film audience. If you decide to take the plunge into film noir on DVD, I strongly suggest this be the one you start with. Together the plot, the cinematography, the casting, and the music work together to transport you back in time to the post-war forties, when things were tough. The Roan Group delivers a quality transfer and soundtrack to enhance this DVD experience. The thing that would be the tip of the iceberg would be to have some kind of trailer, lobby cards, etc. included on the DVD (instead of the invisible extras we have here) to bring the nostalgia full circle.

T-MEN is available from DVDEmpire.com

                                             Rating (out of 5):