Black History Month: Odds Against Tomorrow

ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW
Directed by Robert Wise
Written by Abraham Polonsky and Nelson Gidding
Based on the novel by William P. McGivern
Starring Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters and Ed Begley
USA, 1959

Here's another Harry Belafonte star vehicle, this time a taut, gritty, noirish crime thriller directed by Robert Wise. Previous to this I knew Robert Wise mostly as the big Hollywood director who did the first STAR TREK film, musicals like WEST SIDE STORY and SOUND OF MUSIC, and some beautiful black and white horror flicks as well, in a long and storied career that included work on such films as CITIZEN KANE. I never knew he also did gritty little street-level caper movies, too.

Although I guess it shouldn't be that big of a surprise -- he made WEST SIDE STORY right after this, and you can sort of tell where he brought in his urban influences -- the very opening of ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW brings us into the world of New York City in much the same way the opening of WEST SIDE STORY does, with lingering shots of real locations.

Belafonte stars as a night club musician who is deep in gambling debt to a mobster. A retired cop (Ed Begley) approaches him with an idea for a bank robbery that can get him some quick cash, and hinges on using a Black man as a stand-in for a waiter who makes nightly food deliveries to the banks' back door. Initially Belafonte's not interested, and neither is the other guy the retired cop approaches, a racist ex-con (Robert Ryan) who doesn't want to work with a Black man. Both guys end up coming around, however, when both of their situations become more desperate, and begrudgingly agree to work together in an uneasy partnership.

This isn't the stuff of exploitation flicks, though -- we don't get a unlikely buddy story between the Black guy and the white racist. The racist divide is viewed as appropriately troubling, and drives us straight towards the tragic, maybe inevitable, ending where one man's ignorant views ruin everything for everyone.

Of the Belafonte films I've seen so far, this one makes the best use of the sort of cool and detached air he has about him -- in CARMEN JONES it made him feel a little wooden and square (although that might have also been the character he was playing) and he wasn't really in BRIGHT ROAD enough to shine (though the one scene where he sings, he shines brightly). Here, he's a cool, stylish guy who, if we didn't know better, seems to be on top of the world and in command of every situation -- a perfect lead for a heist movie.

The rest of the cast is great as well, with Begley projecting likability and Ryan unafraid to wallow in complete unpleasantness. It's worth mention Shelley Winters is on hand as well, as Ryan's desperate shack-job, and though her plot is never really resolved, she turns in a sad and memorable performance.

From the beautiful black and white cinematography and the great use of real locations to the cool jazz score and artful way the tight plot works both as a caper and a morality tale without every being too obvious, ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW really deserves to be talked about more than it is.