Stormy Tide (film)

Late in the evening in San Francisco, racketeer Bruno Felkin ( Richard Conte ) kills his rival Marty Prince, and then calls the police to report his death. Hiding from the police, Bruno heads to the apartment of his girlfriend Connie Thatcher ( Shelley Winters ), hoping that she will provide him with an alibi, but Connie is not at home. Police quickly begin an investigation, immediately suspecting that Bruno might have been involved in the murder. Marty Prince was known to the police as a dangerous criminal, and therefore detectives say among themselves that the one who killed him should be awarded a medal before they put him on an electric chair. A few hours later, police detective Lieutenant Kelsey ( Stephen McNally ) finds and interrogates Connie, who has just returned from work in a nightclub. Connie does not believe Kelsey’s words that Bruno could be a killer, because he is very kind, caring and courteous to her, and even pays for her studies at school. Nevertheless, she allows the detective to stay in her apartment until the morning in case Bruno appears. When Bruno sees that all the exits from the city are under police control, he goes to the port, where he hides on the small fishing schooner Taage, having overheard the conversation of the fishermen that she will go to sea at 4:00 in the morning. When a schooner goes to the open sea, Bruno sees her captain, an old experienced sailor Hamil Linder ( Charles Bickford ) arguing with his adult son Karl ( Alex Nichol ), who hates everything that his father lives, and above all, hard work the fisherman. It turns out that Karl was sentenced to imprisonment for stealing a car, but Hamil bailed him, and now Karl, by court order, must work at least a year on his father’s schooner. When Karl accidentally spots Bruno through the window, he explains that he lost his job last night, after which he got drunk and does not remember how he ended up on board their schooner, where he fell asleep. The kind, compassionate Hamil warmly welcomes Bruno, allowing him to stay on board during their 3-4-day voyage.

Bruno quickly settles on a schooner and begins to get used to the hard work of a fisherman. When the ship returns to San Francisco, Bruno offers Carl to work for him. For decent money for him at $ 200 a week, Karl, during stops at the port, will have to collect tribute from Bruno's points, taking Connie for $ 100. Karl, who strove for a beautiful city life, is happy to seize on this opportunity. Over the next few weeks, Bruno does not leave the schooner, more and more settling on it and mastering the profession of a fisherman. He begins to love the beauty of the sea, the good and balanced Hamil and their honest, hard work. When transferring money from Bruno, Carl meets Connie, trying to look after her, but she remains faithful to Bruno. In turn, Kelsey knows that Bruno could not leave the city and therefore sooner or later he would come to Connie. The detective sets the girl under surveillance and at the same time continues the investigation in the port where they saw Bruno for the last time. Bruno met in the port with the old poor, but kind and talkative sailor Corky Mullins ( John MacIntyre ), who, as it turns out, saw Bruno running on the pier on the night of the murder, but did not report to him the police. Bruno gives Corky money so that he can fix his failed boat and go to sea, and this action is highly appreciated by Hamil, who is friends with Corky. Karl is increasingly getting used to urban life. He bought a good suit for Bruno’s salary, an expensive car, and regularly invites Connie to a restaurant. However, Hamil is not happy that his son became sloppy in his work and when he scolds him, Karl rudely pushes his father, who takes off from the deck and falls on the pier. Seeing this scene, Bruno, who had already warned Carl to respect his father, was furious and pounced on Carl. A fight begins, during which Bruno beats Karl. When everything calms down, Hamil heals the wounds of his son and at the same time thanks Bruno for protecting him.

Karl falls in love with Connie, and she, too, shows an increasing interest in a young attractive and pleasant man in conversation, although she is still faithful to Bruno. One day, Kelsey tells Connie that he is aware of her “new boyfriend”, further reporting that Karl bought a new car in the name of the 64-year-old Corky Mullins, who disappeared. Despite persistent requests, Kelsey Connie refuses to help him detain Bruno. At a restaurant having dinner with Carl, she tells him that Kelsey knows about his car. Carl confesses to her that he works for Bruno, but wants to quit as soon as possible. He further explains that he registered the car in the name of his friend Corky, as he himself is on probation and cannot get the license. Connie fears that through Karl Kelsey will go to Bruno, after which she makes Karl understand that she likes him. During the next trip to the sea, Karl apologizes to his father for pushing him, taking the first step towards their spiritual reconciliation and rapprochement, after which the moved Hamil prays to God for returning his son to him. Kelsey arrives at the port to see what Karl is doing, almost noticing Karl working on the Taage. On the schooner, Karl declares Bruno that he is dating Connie, and they like each other. Bruno says it means the police are following him, claiming that the man Carl was talking to at the pier was a cop. Bruno threatens Carl, saying that anyone who tries to trick him ends up badly. During the voyage they find in the sea a fragment of the schooner Corky, realizing that he was dead. Bruno blames himself for his death, but Hamil thanks him for letting Corky do what he loves.

Upon returning to San Francisco, Bruno secretly meets Connie. After kisses and romantic hugs, Bruno asks her to get Marty Prince's company letterhead. When they meet the next evening, Bruno tells Connie that he plans to sail with her to South America, but first she must call the police and hint that it was Karl who killed Marty. Connie does not want to do this and tries to object, but Bruno kisses her goodbye and quickly leaves. On the schooner, after entering the sea, Bruno throws Marty Prince's office blanks and a murder weapon into Karl’s jacket pocket. That evening, while fishing, Karl tells Bruno that he will no longer work for him, as he decided to become a sailor on his father’s schooner, and that he is going to marry Connie. Karl also demands that Bruno leave their schooner upon arrival at the port. Connie hints at Kelsey where Bruno is. That evening, the Taage enters a terrible storm. Hamil tells Bruno that he is grateful to him for returning Karl to him, and would like him to have a son like him. Touched by the words of Hamil, Bruno goes down to the cockpit and destroys the evidence thrown to Karl. As the storm intensified, Bruno and Karl kept the boat afloat with great difficulty. In the end, a huge wave washes away Karl washes overboard, and knowing that he cannot swim, Bruno dives into the ocean to save him. Although he manages to lift Karl aboard, Bruno himself is covered by a massive wave, and he is carried off to the open sea. Kelsey later makes Connie aware that Bruno has not returned from swimming. Hamil soon retires, transferring the schooner and his business to Karl. Hamil explains to his friend at the port that Karl has completely changed thanks to Bruno and Connie. And although Hamil curses himself for losing Bruno, he is happy that thanks to him he found another worthy person. Karl and Connie are preparing the schooner for sailing together, and it is clear that they are happy with each other.

The director of the film, George Sherman, set for his long creative career, which spanned the period from 1937 to 1978, 112 feature films, 72 of which are category B westerns . He also directed seven film noir and crime dramas, among which the most notable were The Whistler 's Secret (1946), Theft (1948) with Shelley Winters and The Sleeping City (1950) with Richard Conte ^[2] .

The film was occupied by a whole group of recognized actors in the film noir genre. In particular, Richard Conte is known for his main roles in such films as “ Crying of the Big City ” (1948), “ Thieves Highway ” (1949), “ House of Strangers ” (1949), “ Whirlpool ” (1950) and “ Hollywood Story ” (1951), and after this film - in such films as “ Blue Gardenia ” (1953), “ Big Ensemble ” (1955), “ Secrets of New York ” (1955) and “ The Rico Brothers ” (1957) ^[3] . Shelley Winters was twice awarded the Academy Award for supporting roles in the films Anne Frank Diary (1959) and Shred of Blue (1965), she was also nominated for an Oscar for the films Place in the Sun (1951) and The Adventure of Poseidon "(1972) ^[4] . Among the most significant films of Noir Winters are “ Double Life ” (1947), “ Crying of the Big City ” (1948, along with Conte), “ He Fled All the Way ” (1951), “A Phone Call from a Stranger ” (1952), “ Night ” hunter ”(1955) and“ Big Knife ”(1955) ^[5] . Charles Bickford was nominated three times for an Oscar for supporting roles in the films Song of Bernadette (1943), Farmer's Daughter (1947) and Johnny Belinda (1948) ^[6] . The actor also played supporting roles in the films noir “ Fallen Angel ” (1945), “ Brute Force ” (1947), “ Woman on the Beach ” (1947) and “ Whirlpool ” (1950) ^[7] . Among 18 Noir films by Stephen McNally, the most successful were Criss-Cross (1949), No Exit (1950), Woman on the Run (1950), Share of a Second (1953), and Cruel Saturday (1955) ) ^[8] , and John MacIntyre played in 12 noir films, including “ Johnny the Snitch ” (1949) with Winters, “ Crime Scene ” (1949), “ Under the Sight ” (1951) with Conte and “ History in Phoenix- city ”(1955) ^[9] .

The film is based on Ernest C. Gunn’s novel Fiddlers Green ^[10] , the working title of the film was also Fiddlers Green ^[11] .

According to the American Institute of Motion Picture Arts , some scenes of the film were shot in kind in San Francisco ^[11] .

According to " Hollywood Reporter ", the actor Jesse White was originally taken on the role of General Bol, but after White fell ill, he was replaced by Chubby Johnson ^[11] .

The Hollywood Reporter in July 1953 reported that “ Ferry and Pickman sued Charles Bickford, demanding $ 2,500 from the actor for his role in this film, receiving the money through the United States Film Actors Guild . Bickford however claimed that he played in this film after his contract with the agency expired. ” As the site of the American Film Institute further reports, “the outcome of the proceedings in this dispute is unknown” ^[11] .

As after the release of the film on screens, in our time the film did not attract much attention from critics. The modern film expert Michael Keeny only noted that this, “a little sentimental film and its unexpected ending have a moderate impact on the viewer” ^[12] .

Among the actors, modern film critics noted Richard Conte in the lead role ^{[10] [12]} . Keeney also singled out Bickford as the good old sailor, McNally as the “patient cop waiting for Conte to appear, and MacIntyre as the old sea wolf who saw Conte escaping from the scene of the murder but cannot say for sure” ^[12] .

• Spencer Selby. Dark City: The Film Noir . - Jeffeson, NC: McFarland & Co Inc, 1997 .-- ISBN 978-0-7864-0478-0 .
• Michael F. Keaney. Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940–1959 . - Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2003. - ISBN 978-0-7864-1547-2 .

• Rush Tide at IMDb  
• Rush tide on AllMovie website  
• Rush tide on the website of the American Film Institute
• High Tide at Turner Classic Movies