I Walk Alone (1947)

Frankie Madison gets out of prison in I Walk Alone after serving fourteen years for a crime he and his partner Noll Turner committed even longer ago. Noll promised Frankie that they would split everything fifty-fifty when they tried to escape, and Frankie had the misfortune of being the one the police were able to catch. The film starts with Frankie back on the outside looking for his fair share from Noll. Noll isn’t too happy about parting with any money at all, which seems to have been his original intention.

Noll wants to find out what Frankie has in mind, so he arranges a dinner date for Frankie with Kay Lawrence. Kay is the headlining act at the Regent Club, which is owned and run by Noll. She also happens to be in love with Noll, but she is willing to help him and to entertain Frankie over dinner. What she and Frankie don’t know is that Noll wants information that he can use against Frankie. None of the three imagine that Kay and Frankie would fall for each other, and once they do, the plot gets more complicated.

Lizabeth Scott often portrays a femme fatale; one example is her role in Too Late for Tears. But she also plays women with a heart, and Kay Lawrence in I Walk Alone has a heart. She may have fallen in love with Noll, but she’s not interested in his cruelty or in leading a criminal life. She sees possibilities in Frankie because he doesn’t lie to her about his past. She switches loyalties and wants to help Frankie. But her faith in Frankie is tested when he seems unable to let go of his anger at Noll for cheating him and his desire for retribution. She tells Frankie at one point, “It’s you I’m worried about. Once you use that gun, you’ll have a gun in your hand the rest of your life. That’s not for me.”

When I first started watching I Walk Alone (on one of the most temperamental DVDs ever), I thought I was going to get a rather typical film noir. The DVD refused to work at first, but I finally cajoled it into playing on my laptop because, no matter how typical the story line might be, I Walk Alone featured film noir greats: Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott, and Kirk Douglas. I didn’t want to pass up the chance to see what would likely be (and were) great performances, even if the story might be a bit stale.

(This blog post about I Walk Alone contains a few spoilers.)

The film may get off to a slow start, with a rather typical opening for a film noir, but who would have guessed that Noll would try to outwit Frankie with—drum roll—his accounting methods! Frankie wants half of everything that Noll has, but he’s met with convoluted accounting procedures that Frankie’s and Noll’s old friend Dave created for Noll so Noll could hide any illegal activity. Noll beats out Frankie simply because his business is incorporated and divided between three business enterprises. Any changes to any of the businesses need the approval of the board of directors. Frankie becomes angry when he realizes how much things have changed while he was in prison.

I can’t resist mentioning that this plot detail about Noll’s business structure and accounting practices in I Walk Alone reminds me of The Dick Van Dyke episode called “It Wouldn’t Hurt Them to Give Us a Raise” (aired December 2, 1962) in which Rob Petrie, Buddy Sorrell, and Sally Rogers, writers for The Alan Brady Show, demand raises. Rob offers to represent all three writers and gets a lesson in corporate finance structure from Alan Brady’s accountant. But Rob isn’t living in a noir universe, and he uses what he has learned to turn the tables on the accountant and convince him to give the raises that Rob, Sally, and Buddy want.

The scene where Frankie learns about Noll’s accounting procedures happens rather late in the film, but there’s a lot more to Frankie and Kay, and to Dave, too. The scene where Frankie confronts Noll and gets a lesson in money and accounting marks a turning point, where the film changes from a rather typical noir to one with some plot surprises.

The DVD that I watched came with commentary by film historian Troy Howarth, which is another reason that I’m glad I finally got the DVD to play. The DVD and thus the commentary were produced just a short while ago: in 2018. Howarth notes in his commentary that Kirk Douglas is still alive, which alas is no longer true.

Howarth also says that I Walk Alone had been languishing in obscurity and was finally getting the recognition it deserves. I was surprised to hear this because the film’s stars are no lightweights. Kirk Douglas wasn’t a star yet when the film was made, but it seems hard to believe that this film didn’t get more attention until a few years ago. I’m not even a big fan of Kirk Douglas (I would pick Burt Lancaster over Douglas: the man did his own stunts!), but there’s no denying Douglas’s fame and that of his son Michael more recently.

Howarth also discusses a point that I had already read about the film: Frankie was not innocent of the crime for which he was imprisoned. This detail is a key point because drumming up sympathy for his character violates the movie production code that was in effect at the time. The movie production code maintained that anyone committing a crime in a film should be punished for it. Contemporary reviewers apparently complained about this detail in I Walk Alone and held it against the film.

I think this complaint is a bit disingenuous. Frankie paid for his crimes: He was imprisoned for fourteen years. It’s Noll who hasn’t paid for his crimes, and he is still trying to cheat Frankie, even if their profits didn’t always come legally. I think part of the message of the film is that crime still doesn’t pay, and I’m not sure why critics and audiences didn’t think so for this film in 1947.

If your copy of the DVD for I Walk Alone gives you trouble, be persistent. Or find another way to watch the film! It’s worth the effort. All three stars—Lancaster, Scott, and Douglas—give great performances, as do the supporting actors. And the story line is bound to surprise you. I haven’t given away all the spoilers.

December 31, 1947, release date  •  Directed by Byron Haskin  •  Screenplay by Charles Schnee  •  Based on the play Beggars Are Coming to Town by Theodore Reeves  •  Music by Victor Young  •  Edited by Arthur P. Schmidt  •  Cinematography by Leo Tover

Burt Lancaster as Frankie Madison  •  Lizabeth Scott as Kay Lawrence  •  Kirk Douglas as Noll (aka Dink) Turner  •  Wendell Corey as Dave  •  Kristine Miller as Mrs. Alexis Richardson  •  George Rigaud as Maurice  •  Marc Lawrence as Nick Palestro  •  Mike Mazurki as Dan, the nightclub doorman  •  Mickey Knox as Skinner  •  Roger Neury as Felix Walter  •  Freddie Steele as Tiger Rose

Distributed by Paramount Pictures  •  Produced by Hal Wallis Productions, Inc.