Two O'Clock Courage
1945 · United States · 68 min
- Director
- Anthony Mann
- Screenplay
- Gordon Kahn, Robert E. Kent
- Producer
- Benjamin Stoloff
- Music
- Roy Webb
- Production company
- RKO Pictures
Cast
What it is about
A man who has lost his memory staggers into a city street and nearly gets hit by a taxi driven by Patty Mitchell, who offers to take him to a hospital. On the way, the few belongings he carries, including theatre tickets and a hotel matchbook, suggest he may be tied to a crime. Together they follow these clues while the police also start to investigate.
How it was made
The film is based on a 1934 novel by Gelett Burgess and remakes Two in the Dark (1936), which RKO had made earlier. Robert E. Kent and Gordon Kahn wrote the screenplay, Anthony Mann directed, and Benjamin Stoloff produced. Tom Conway, who had starred in RKO's The Falcon series, leads the cast alongside Ann Rutherford, who had just left MGM. Filming began in August 1944.
Reception and legacy
Critics were lukewarm. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it a modest, second-rate piece of cinematic fun, and Variety described a slow, drab mystery, though it felt the leads gave the story some strength. Harrison's Reports judged it a fairly good programme murder melodrama, entertaining if neither novel nor logical.
Stills
Trailer
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Trivia
An early remake
The film is a new version of Two in the Dark (1936), also made by RKO from the same Gelett Burgess novel.
A B-picture regular
Tom Conway was already known for his role in RKO's The Falcon series, which made him a familiar face in this kind of crime film.
More films by Anthony Mann
The Fall of the Roman Empire
Winchester '73
The Glenn Miller Story
The Man from Laramie
The Naked Spur
El CidOriginal Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.