The Narrow Margin is a classic noir B movie starring Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor. Detective Brown (McGraw) is a hard-bitten police detective assigned to escort Mrs. Neall (Windsor) a mobster's widow from Chicago to LA to testify before a grand jury against her husband's accomplices.
Most of the action takes place on a train--the perfect claustrophobic setting for a noir with its small compartments and narrow corridors. Brown and Neall are menaced by men with guns, a man with a bribe, and maybe others.
The dialogue crackles. In an early scene, Brown's partner wonders what the widow looks like. Brown's response: "A dish...Sixty-cent special. Cheap, flashy, strictly poison under the gravy."
Brown's partner is killed before they even get Mrs. Neall out of her apartment. On the train, Brown's drink and conversation with a woman makes her a potential target. Mrs. Neall wants to take advantage of the situation.
Brown: "You make me sick to my stomach."
Mrs. Neal: "Well, use your own sink. And let me know when the target practice starts. "
Later Mrs. Neall suggests they sell out. "Oh, wake up Brown. This train's headed straight for the cemetery. But there's another on coming along, a gravy train. Let's get on it."
I love how compact the story is with a running length of 71 minutes--a complement to the claustrophobic train setting. McGraw and Windsor make a great team.
I do have a problem with the ending of the movie. It's a bit too sweet and cutesy and does a disservice to a major character.
I still love this film.
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