Blast from the Past: Burt Lancaster Revisited
A tight, hard-boiled noir melodrama, starring Burt Lancaster and Lizabeth Scott, I Walk Alone was produced by Hal B. Wallis, and directed by Byron Haskin.
Grade: B
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Original film poster
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The supporting cast featured Kirk Douglas (who would become Lancaster’s most frequent co-star), Wendell Corey, and Kristine Miller.
Frankie Madison (Lancaster) and Noll “Dink” Turner (Douglas), bootlegging partners during Prohibition, were involved in a shootout, when thieves tried to hijack their liquor, which attracted the police’s attention.
Frankie and Noll then parted ways, but with a gentleman’s agreement–should one of them be caught, he would still receive equal share of their business after his prison sentence.
Noll escapes cleanly, but Frankie ends up getting 14 years. Set free, the vengeful Frankie seeks Noll, who had never visited him in jail, to settle up.
Noll is arrested, but he escapes his escort and heads toward Frankie with a gun. However, before reaching Frankie, he is shot dead by the police.
In the contrived ending, Frankie vows to never again touch a gun, joining Kay for a better future together.
At the time, the major reviewers were (too) harsh toward the film, but over time, I Walk Alone has been revaluated and it is now considered a good sampler of the era.
Lancaster and Douglas: Screen Team
I Walk Alone was the first of six films that Lancaster and Douglas made together over the decades, including Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) with Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and Douglas as Doc Holliday, The Devil’s Disciple (1959) with Laurence Olivier, The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) with George C. Scott and John Merivale, Seven Days in May (1964) with Fredric March and Ava Gardner, and Tough Guys (1986).
Lizbeth Scott’s vocals on the song “Don’t Call It Love,” by Ned Washington and Allie Wrubel, were dubbed by Trudy Stevens (uncredited). The composing team also contributed a song, “I’ll Walk Alone,” heard as an instrumental.
Cast
Burt Lancaster as Frankie Madison
Lizabeth Scott as Kay Lawrence
Wendell Corey as Dave
Kirk Douglas as Noll “Dink” Turner
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
Credits:
Directed by Byron Haskin
Screenplay by Charles Schnee, Robert Smith and John Bright (adaptation), based on “Beggars Are Coming to Town,” 1945 play by Theodore Reeves
Produced by Hal B. Wallis
Cinematography Leo Tover
Edited by Arthur P. Schmidt
Music by Victor Young
Production: Hal Wallis Productions
Distributed by Paramount
Release date: Dec 31, 1947 (US)
Running time: 97 minutes
Box office $2.1 million
