# 711 Ocean Drive (1950)

### reviewed by
Dennis Schwartz

711 OCEAN DRIVE (director: Joseph M. Newman; screenwriters: Richard English/Francis Swan; cinematographer: Franz Planer; cast: Edmund O'Brien (Mal Granger), Joanne Dru (Gail Mason), Donald Porter (Larry Mason), Sammy White (Chippie Evans), Dorothy Patrick (Trudy Maxwell), Barry Kelley (Vince Walters), Otto Kruger (Carl Stephans), Howard St. John (Lt. Pete Wright), Robert Osterloh (Gizzi), Sidney Dubin (Mendel Weiss), 1950)

    Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

The American dream is a rags-to-riches story. When one's inventive ability is in a technical field, like telephone repairs, the occupation the industrious Mal Granger (O'Brien) works at, and if the loose living Mal gets there by dishonest means, which he does, then it makes his rise to power a mockery. This is not the way the American dream is meant to be earned. It can only be attained by the honest means of hard work and fair play and through one's ability. At the time this film was being made, there were national newspaper stories running about the dangers of bookmaking, and this film was made as an answer to that expose. As a noir story, shot handsomely in B/W, this film conveys Mal's rise to power in the world of California bookies and his inevitable downfall, caused by greed and bad judgment.

After losing to his bookie Chippie (Sammy) at the horses, Chippie introduces him to the big wheel behind the operation, Vince Walters (Kelley), thinking that they can help each other out. Mal uses his technical skills from being a telephone repairman to rig the phone, wiring all the bookies in California with racing results as soon as they are announced at the track. When Mal feels he is being played for a sucker by his boss, who is getting very rich from his savvy in electronics, but paying him only a $150 weekly instead of cutting him in for a share of the illegal profits, Mal is ready to double-cross him by re-rigging the phones, thereby forcing himself in as a partner. The more successful he becomes, the less scruples he has about being a full-time criminal. When the operation cracks down on the local bookies, Mal ignores their plight and sides with the cruel boss. A disgruntled bookie, in a state of panic, at being forced out of business by the syndicate, comes into the office and kills Vince. Taking advantage of the situation, Mal now heads the syndicate.

There is a slight romantic interest shown for the nice girl (Dorothy) who worked for Vince and who now works for Mal. But he spurns her in favor of the hot love he has for Gail (Dru), who happens to be married to one of the big bosses in the bookie field, Larry Mason (Donald Porter). He represents the big syndicate's Eastern boss, the coy Carl Stephens (Otto Kruger).

Lt. Pete Wright (Howard St. John), of the incorruptible gangster squad, cracks down on the bookie operations across the state. Mal is forced into joining the Eastern syndicate for protection, but he soon realizes they are gypping him of his share and he also grows increasingly jealous of Larry, who is not only married to the woman he loves but is now his boss in the syndicate. So he hires a treacherous gunman (Osterloh) to execute him. This results in his taking over Larry's position in the mob.

When the hitman tries to muscle his way into Mal's organization, saying he won't keep quiet if he isn't payed off with a partnership, Mal runs him over. But in his panic, as the police question him, he uses the alibi that he was vacationing in Palm Springs, rigging the phone to make it appear as if he was there. This comes back to haunt him, as his call is recorded and on it there is a trolley car whistle, which can only be heard in the city.

The change in Mal is now complete, caught up in greed and power and lust, he is being tracked by both the police and the mob. He escapes to Las Vegas to rip off the mob for one last time in a phone rigging gambling scheme, then gets trapped in the crossing of Hoover Dam, as he tries to exit Nevada for his last chance of hope in Arizona, with the police closing in on him.

The big boss, Otto Kruger, walks away from all this clean as a whistle, as he goes back to his home in Ohio, seemingly still in charge of things. This moralistic tale spins an interesting take on the criminal genius who falls and the sychophant crime bosses, who can't be stopped completely. In 1999, even with many states operating legal horse betting parlors, the bookie business is bigger than ever. There is something sinister to be said about the smiling Otto Kruger, that leaves a dark shadow on the ground, as he heads back to his wealthy home, a part of the American dream that is turned into a nightmare. Kruger also has the best line in the film, when he tells Chippy, "I admire loyalty, but not to the wrong people."

    REVIEWED ON 8/12/99     GRADE: B-

Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"

    http://www.sover.net/~ozus

    ozus@sover.net

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ

The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews