The Narrow Margin

"A Fortune If They Seal Her Lips!...A Bullet If They Fail!"

1952 1h 11m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.6

IMDB

★7.3TMDB · 181🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes★7.6IMDB · 9,546

ThrillerCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.

“A Fortune If They Seal Her Lips!...A Bullet If They Fail!”

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Cast

Charles McGraw
Det. Sgt. Walter Brown
Marie Windsor
Mrs. Frankie Neall
Jacqueline White
Ann Sinclair
Gordon Gebert
Tommy Sinclair
Queenie Leonard
Mrs. Troll
David Clarke
Joseph Kemp
Peter Virgo
Densel
Don Beddoe
Det. Sgt. Gus Forbes

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Richard Fleischer
Writers: Earl Felton, Martin Goldsmith, Jack Leonard
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 71-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

74 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Richard Fleischer, shot by George E. Diskant. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Swink shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor and Jacqueline White carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A Fortune If They Seal Her Lips!...A Bullet If They Fail!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0044954 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Fleischer directs. George E. Diskant behind the camera. Robert Swink cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 71-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
274 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Richard Fleischer, shot by George E. Diskant. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Robert Swink shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor and Jacqueline White carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "A Fortune If They Seal Her Lips!...A Bullet If They Fail!".
7IMDB entry: tt0044954 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 17 themes, including "hitman", "widow", "telegram", "overweight man".

The technical file

Cinematography: George E. Diskant
Editing: Robert Swink
Costume design: Adele Balkan
Runtime: 71 min · 1h 11m
Status: Released
Budget: $10,000,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Narrow Margin (1952)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.6/10 · 9,546 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 nomination total

Also by

Richard Fleischer

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-11-07
The witness protection programme just got hard boiled. After finally waking herself up, a mobsters wife decides to testify against him and his organisation. As the trial draws closer she is constantly under threat of being murdered before she can spill the beans. Tough detective Walter Brown and his partner Gus Forbes are assigned to escort her safely across country via a train from Chicago to Los Angeles, but nobody can be trusted, and the threat of death is around everyone on board this speeding train. Yes it may well be a "B" movie, but as "B" movies go this has to rank as one of the finest exponents of that particular arc. With the film taking place almost entirely on board the train, the tension sapping and claustrophobic feel is perfectly executed by director Richard Fleischer. The plot twists and turns and throws up genuine moments of surprise that thrill instead of hinder, whilst the ending doesn't cop out by pandering to the normal requisite of witness protection thrillers. Charles McGraw is great as Brown, putting the hard into hard boiled and Jacqueline White is very precious as Ann Sinclair. Truth is, is that all the cast work well within the confines of this tightly produced picture. It was a surprise hit for RKO, where made on a small budget of under a quarter of a million dollars, it turned out to be a very profitable "B" production for the company. It wowed audiences back in the 50s and it's testament to the film's worth that today, here in the modern age, it's still being sought out and praised by movie lovers of all ages. 8/10

Production companies