User Reviews

Whether by fluke or design, joining the talents of director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton resulted in one of the most potent creative teams in movie history – certainly in the film noir cycle whose look and energy they helped forge (Alton's contributions are so innovative and striking that they amount to co-direction). Working for Eagle-Lion Studios on Poverty Row, they took a routine agents-in-peril plot packed with propaganda about Our Tax Dollars At Work in Washington and turned it into a memorable film that's little short of extraordinary -- at least at times.

Treasury agents Dennis O'Keefe and Alfred Ryder get assigned to track down a counterfeiting ring uttering high-quality, almost indetectable paper. They catch the scent, by means of cigars and Chinese herbs, of a portly gentleman in San Francisco. Going into deep cover, they get drawn into an increasingly edgy and violent underworld, putting themselves at considerable risk (in one of the film's most morally freighted moments, one of them doesn't make it out).

Appreciating this film means shutting out the super-patriotic anthem that rings out whenever we catch sight of the Capitol dome and the narrator's portentous drone that accompanies it (actually, more than 50 years later, these laughable gimmicks add a piquant period flavor). Instead, watch for Mann's syncopated pacing, which always catches you off guard, and for Alton's amazing throwaway effects. There are shots in this low-budget exercise so complex and evocative that they're models of the cinematographer's craft (Alton did, after all, write the seminal textbook "Painting With Light"). Shifting double images in the windows of telephone booths and pizza shops create parallel worlds.

The film leaves us with a number of unforgettable set-pieces: Assassin Charles McGraw plying his trade in a Turkish bath, Ryder not being able to acknowledge his new bride for fear of blowing his cover, a murder which one of the agents dares not prevent, or even react to. T-Men looks terrific, keeps us on edge, and deserves its reputation as one of the high-points of the film noir cycle.

When counterfeit currency begin appearing in the L.A. area, the Treasury Dept. comes to investigate. The only way to deal with the problem is to have two agents from different areas of the country infiltrate the ring in order to have the ones responsible captured. Dennis O'Brien and Tony Genaro are the two men tapped for the job.

It takes both men a while in getting to know how the gang operates. Dennis O'Brien gets lucky when he follows the Schemer into a craps game where he passes a counterfeit bill that is soon discovered. O'Brien is the one that is able to penetrate and get to know who are the people involved and is instrumental in solving the mystery.

"T-Men", directed with an amazing style by Anthony Mann is told documentary style, as though what we are watching was an episode, or a re-enactment of the real incident narrated by someone in the Treasury Department. Mr. Mann's direction and his innovative camera placements are about what makes the film watchable. The interesting black and white cinematography by John Alton gives the film a great look that keeps the viewer involved in the story. The background music is by Paul Sawtill and it works good with the action.

Dennis O'Keefe makes a cool Dennis O'Brien, the T-Man that is smart and is able to solve the puzzle at the risk of losing his own life. Alfred Ryder plays Tony Genaro, another T-man whose cover is blown by a friend of his wife. Wallace Ford is perfect as the oily Schemer, a man who loves to gamble and the steam baths. Mary Meade, June Lockhart, Charles McGraw, are seen in supporting roles.

The film clearly points out to the talent of a great film director, Anthony Mann, who created a film with a style and a substance that others imitated, but never succeeded.

Two treasury agents infiltrate a dangerous gang of counterfeiters in this exciting 1947 film.

The two are able to be accepted by the gangsters due to excellent detective and preparation on their parts.

The heartbreaking scene where one of them was killed was skillfully done. The camera image of Dennis O'Keefe, after his cohort is killed, was memorable. Also memorable was the one scene that June Lockhart appeared in. Realizing that her husband is on assignment and unable to reveal himself, Lockhart plays along. Later, her husband is killed.

Wallace Ford is excellent as a mob stooge.

Another great film noir by director Anthony Mann. It is only at the very end that the head of these people is revealed. We never saw this person throughout the film.

T-Men is a wonderful film. Although Mann utilises many of the semi-documentary school's technical contrivances (the opening legend, authentic backgrounds, off-screen narration, tight editing) and much of its philosophic outlook (rugged hero, tight-lipped, unexpressive; refined villain, his voice carefully shaded to suggest every nuance of depraved elegance), he has yet managed to inject the film with a distinctly personal style.

Our first indication that the picture is being directed by an unusually imaginative artist with both an expressive visual flair and the editing know-how to sustain it, comes in the restaurant scene where "The Schemer" makes contact with a photographer's girl. Instead of the usual flat establishing long shot with the hero walking up to the entrance, cut to the interior and pan, Anthony Mann has treated the sequence almost surrealistically; - with an opening shot of the restaurant's neon sign, rapid cut to its swinging door as O'Keefe strides through, tracking shot following the investigator into the interior - a confused medley of sight, sound and voices, - rapid pan as O'Keefe jostles his way to a telephone booth, closing the glass door so that a reflection of the whole dizzying scene swings into focus. Obviously, neither Hathaway, Keighley, nor any other of the semi-documentarists would have handled the scene this way, although heretofore it appeared that Mann was directing the film along established lines - or so it seemed at the time.

On a recent re-viewing of the film, however, I found that even in earlier scenes, Mann had been more daring than Hathaway in his choice of low angles, longer takes (the first interview with the unctuous gang-leader, - beautifully composed and photographed), and the remarkable no-dialogue sequence where a tip-off is passed to a crooked detective in the locker-room of a Turkish bath; - an intensified use of natural sound taking the place of both dialogue and music. (As is usual in this type of film, the composer - here, Paul Sawtell - is relegated to providing a few bars for the brass section to play under the credits). There follows a wonderful montage of low-angled long shots as Treasury agents try to trace "The Schemer" through his known addiction to Oriental herbs.

This dark thriller is a powerful documentary-style drama which is justifiably recognised as a film noir classic. Its combination of gritty realism, an intriguing story and plenty of suspense, makes it utterly compelling to watch and its striking visual style is simply awesome.

Dennis O'Brien (Dennis O'Keefe) and Tony Genaro (Alfred Ryder) are U.S. Treasury agents (T-Men) who are assigned to a case which involves them in going undercover to infiltrate a gang of counterfeiters. Working under assumed names, they go to Detroit and pose as the only surviving members of a well known gang and are accepted by local mob boss Carlo Vantucci (Anton Costa) who employs them to work on his counterfeit liquor stamps racket.

It soon becomes apparent that a man called "The Schemer" (Wallace Ford) is the gang's L.A. connection and O'Brien immediately leaves for L.A. to follow up this lead. His subsequent contact with "The Schemer" helps him to meet people at progressively higher positions in the organisation as he tries to find out the identity of the man in charge.

After Genaro has joined O'Brien in L.A. the boss of the gang arrives by ship from China and O'Brien meets Diana Simpson (Jane Randolph) who is second in command of the organisation. She distrusts "The Schemer" and ruthlessly arranges to have him killed. "The Schemer", however, had kept a written record of the gang's activities and the discovery of his notebook eventually enables the Treasury Department to ascertain all the knowledge they require to bring the gang's work to an end.

The story is based on records of actual Treasury Deapartment investigations and its authenticity is emphasised by the movie's very formal introduction which is spoken by a Treasury official. The two agents are incredibly dedicated and endure tremendous hardships as they pursue their investigation. They suffer great physical violence, the constant fear of being exposed as T-Men and both find themselves in situations where they have to severely repress their natural feelings and reactions to events because to do otherwise would blow their cover. These men fit into their criminal roles with a level of ease and enthusiasm which suggests that their aptitude for the work might well be rooted in some darker recesses of their psychological make up than even they are able to recognise.

The skillful work of director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton is exemplary. The camera-work is incredibly inventive with some great low angle shots which work really well, including one in which the audience see the action from floor level whilst looking up through a table lamp. The use of close ups contributes to the tension generated in some scenes and creative use of steam, smoke and chiaroscuro lighting reinforce the overall atmosphere of the piece.

"T-Men" is an exciting and sometimes violent film with particularly good performances from the actors in the lead roles and some rather tense sequences in which O'Brien and Genaro find themselves in very dangerous predicaments.

Anthony Mann directs this docudrama based on true events. Dennis O'Keefe stars as treasury agent Dennis O'Brien helping bring a counterfeiting ring to justice. Agent O'Brien teams with Tony Genaro(Alfred Ryder)going undercover to be accepted by a Detroit crime mob in order to crack down on counterfeiters in Los Angeles. A two-bit character named The Schemer(Wallace Ford)is used by both the undercover T-Men and crooks before his demise in a steam bath. Charles McGraw is flawless as the moody thug Moxie. This is a fine example of film noir and I would imagine educational as well as entertaining in the mid 40's. This crime drama also stars: June Lockhart, Janie Randolph, Jim Bannon, Art Smith and is narrated by Reed Hadley.

***SPOILERS*** Trying get to the bottom of a major counterfeit ring Treasury Agents O'Brien & Genaro, Dennis O'Keefe & Alfred Ryder, are giver cover by the Treasury Department as two members, Harrigan & Galvani, of the defunct Detroit River Gange in order to infiltrate the city's notorious Vantucci Mob that's involve in a major counterfeiting printing operation. This illegal counterfeit racket is draining millions out of the US Treasury flooding the streets of Detroit and it's surroundings with millions of counterfeit 10 20 50 and 100 dollar bills.

It doesn't take long for the two agents to get taken in by the mob boss Carlo Luigi Vantucci, Anton Kosta, as members of his gang in that they schooled themselves in the Detrot's Mob history and knew as much about it, and how it operates, as boss Vantucci did. Finding a L.A connection to the Vantucci's mob counterfeit operations Agent O'Brian aka hoodlum Harrigan goes to the West Coast to establish an eyes and ears infiltration of the L.A Mob connected with Vantucci headed by suave and very well dressed mobster "Shiv" Triano, John Wengaf.

The key that connects both the L.A and Detroit mobs is this counterfeit expert called The Schemer, Wallace Ford, which is obviously a street, not legally given or Christened, name. The Schemer gets in a lot of hot water with his bosses back in Detroit in them being snookered into believing by Agent O'Brian and later Genero that he's going to rat them out. The Scheamers L.A Boss of Bosses Dragon-Lady Evangeline, Mary Meade, is also told that he's been shooting his mouth off in public about her, together with Triano & Vantucci, counterfeit operations while under the influence of alcohol as well as strong Chinese herbal stimulants. This of course is a lie concocted by O'Brian & Genero but it does get The Schemer to open up to them about what he knows about his higher ups that includes a secret little black book, that he has hidden in a public locker, that can hang all of them.

Evangeline not taking any chances in The Schemer ratting her and her ultimate boss, the really big cheese in this whole operation, out the well known antique dealer and philanthropist Oscar Grffney has him steamed to death as he's locked in a local Turkish Bath House steam-room by her top henchman Moxie, Charles McGraw. It was in fact Evangelines overreaction to undercover agents O'Brian & Genero accusations to The Schemers loose lips that eventually had her Gaffney & Co. end up behind bars of underground, in a grave, at the end of the film. The Schemer did in fact finger Agent Genaro when he was spotted by his wife Mary, June Lockhart, as he and Agent Genero, known to The Scheamer as hoodlum Galvani, were walking through an L.A fruit and vegetable market.

Agent Genero ended up getting gunned down by the "Shiv's" hoodlums only to cover his fellow agents, O'Brian, true identity and cluing him, who was forced to watch his friend and fellow Treasury Agent get murdered, in to where to find the late Schemer's little black book. It was the black book together with a raid of Evangeline's and big boss-man's Gaffney's docked freighter, where the entire underground counterfeit operation was being conduced, that finally put an end to this whole multi-state & city counterfeit ring. The raid also landed Agent O'Brian in the hospital with at least two slugs in his gut but fortunately, unlike his partner Agent Genero, he survived to live another day.

This is a fun movie, in a campy sort of way. Two undercover "T-men" (United States Treasury Agents) attempt to uncover a counterfeiting ring as a narrator describes the technical details of the laborious process they use to do it... at great detail, in other words, repetitively, like thus: "He trailed him, shadowing, hiding, keeping hidden, shadowing, trailing..." and so on.

This movie would be little better than an Ed Wood movie except for the cinematography and the directing. Almost all of the acting is completely covered up by the continuing narration until later in the movie, when the actors finally have time to present their characters without someone telling us what to think of them. Even after they are given room to act, however, they have to deal with such cheesy and dated lines as, "Are you out of your whim-whams?" and "Have you ever spent 8 nights in a steam bath looking for a man?" However, it's all in the fun of film noir, even if it is removed from the existential angst and is more like a crime periodical sort of story. A viewer still gets that rich sense of chiaroscuro and guns flashing out of the dark still pack a punch.

--PolarisDiB