Movie Review: T-Men (1947) directed by. Anthony Mann
When an informant who was supposed to deliver a paper sample to the Treasury Department turns up dead (with no paper) in Los Angeles, the investigation of a major counterfeiting ring is stalled. It’s determined that new agents who won’t be identified so easily will be needed. They’ll go undercover with one of the gang’s customers in Detroit, Carlo Vantucci’s (Anton Kosta) mob. They’ve been getting fake revenue stamps for their bootleg liquor that use the same presses, so there must be a connection. The agents are Dennis O’Brien (Dennis O’Keefe) and Tony Genaro (Alfred Ryder) who adopt the identities of Vannie Harrigan and Tony Galvani, survivors of a mostly deceased gang from the Prohibition days.
The first step is making themselves look like wanted men, who have some robbery heat, with a little help from the Detroit police. They talk themselves into work with the Vantucci mob and slowly gather clues that indicate that a lowlife named the Schemer is their connection to the counterfeiting ring. The protagonists get hold of one of his old outfits, and the loose lint in the pockets reveals he uses Chinese medicinal herbs, the Dragon Liver mix.
O’Brien heads to Los Angeles and starts asking around the Chinese apothecary shops. Finally, one of the shop owners recognizes the description but hasn’t seen the Schemer in a while. He cut the man off because the Schemer also takes frequent steam baths, which is contraindicated if you are taking Dragon Liver. The next step is spending a lot of time in steam baths until O’Brien spots a man who looks like the Schemer (Wallace Ford), right down to a scar that would normally be hidden.
Now it’s time to track the Schemer, and find a way to use him and some very nice printing plates to infiltrate the counterfeiters!
This 1947 semi-documentary (described as a “composite case”) was the first teaming of director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton. They do a good job together, and this movie is another example of how to use black and white photography effectively to manipulate light and shadow. The film noir aspects also work well in this context. The T-Men have to lie and manipulate people to infiltrate the gangs, and normal relationships are cut off. There’s a tense moment where Genaro’s wife (June Lockhart) has to pretend she doesn’t know him in an effort not to blow his cover. And in the end that’s futile. The Treasury Department wins in the end, but there’s no big triumph for our protagonists, who pay high prices for success. We don’t even get the reveal of the head of the counterfeiting ring until after the bust!
The script is okay, and some of the acting is quite good. The Schemer is a lowlife, but I missed him when he left the story.
Content note: Shirtless men during the steam bath sequences, one character is parboiled to death. Other violence, no blood. Outdated ethnic stereotypes, but played way down.
Overall: Good of its kind, may do well as an introduction to the work of the Secret Service in regards to counterfeiting. The glimpses of life in Detroit and Los Angeles before World War Two are fascinating to me. Recommended to police procedural fans.
