Black Tuesday was Eddie Muller’s Noir Alley pick for October 18th, and I just got around to watching it. Edward G. Robinson is one of my favorite actors of all time. His ability to so completely inhabit the characters he plays while also remaining so indistinguishably himself is one of the reasons I love him so much. 

Another reason is that in a career with such an expansive filmography, there’s more than a few hidden gems to be discovered. I would argue that it’s the performances of his that are less talked about that are among his best. I’m talking of course about the little-seen Two Seconds, a pre-Code crime drama from 1932 directed by Mervyn LeRoy, and The Red House, Delmer Daves’s exercise in abject terror from 1947. In both of these, we see Robinson embodying characters who, throughout the course of the film, unravel to reveal their baser selves. It is within this space of raw emotion and a naked psyche that Robinson really shines, and that can certainly be said for Black Tuesday. 

Directed by Hugo Fregonese and released in 1954, Black Tuesday tells the story of Vincent Canelli (Robinson), a death-row inmate who escapes prison on the night of his execution. Note that he also played a death-row inmate in Two Seconds. As far as prison breaks go, Canelli masterminds the operation with no small amount of ingenuity. For the sake of not spoiling this aspect of the film, I’ll not say anything, but suffice it to say that I was impressed. If you’re going to be a crook, be a successful one. 

Robinson’s Canelli is ruthless, cold-blooded, and misanthropic. His only vestige of humanity is seen in his love for his girlfriend, Hatti (Jean Parker), who helps him execute the details of the break. He has little regard for the feelings of others, and the end always justifies the means. He is violent for the sheer joy of it, and perhaps joy doesn’t even compute into the equation. He is violent simply because he can be, because he’s so full of hate that he can’t help but unleash it on whoever is unlucky enough to get in his way. 

The supporting performances in this film really help bring it over the top, especially those of the aforementioned Jean Parker and Milburn Stone of Gunsmoke fame, who plays Father Slocum, a Catholic priest. 

Black Tuesday can be watched on YouTube here. 

Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Cinephile. If you like what you see, please like, comment, follow, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. Keep watching the world, one frame at a time.