Riffraff
Brief Synopsis
After lucking into a map to a rich oil field, a man has to dodge those out to steal it.
Cast & Crew
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Ted Tetzlaff
Director
Pat O'brien
Dan [Hammer]
Walter Slezak
[Eric] Molinar
Anne Jeffreys
Maxine [Manning]
Percy Kilbride
Pop
Jerome Cowan
Walter [F.] Gredson
Film Details
Also Known As
Mr. Fix, The Amazing Mr. Hamer, The Big Angle
Genre
Adventure
Comedy
Drama
Release Date
Sep
15,
1947
Premiere Information
New York opening: 28 Jun 1947; Los Angeles opening: 30 Jul 1947
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Location
Panama
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 20m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,208ft
Synopsis
During a storm-battered flight from Peru to Panama City, a man carrying a briefcase is suddenly pushed from the airplane by his fellow passenger, Charles Hasso. In Panama, Hasso, who tells the pilot that the man jumped, is questioned by police lieutenant Rues, but is not arrested. With the man's briefcase in hand, Hasso then goes to see Dan Hammer, a tough but resourceful American, and hires him as a temporary bodyguard. While the well-connected Dan is discussing the job with Hasso, he receives a telephone call from Walter F. Gredson, who offers him work. As Dan is readying to leave to meet Gredson, Hasso surreptiously pins a map to his office bulletin board. Gredson, the vice-president of an American oil company, and his associate, Domingues, confide in Dan that they have invested their company's money in some unregistered Peruvian oil wells and that the map showing the wells has been stolen. After revealing that they suspect a man named Charles Hasso of stealing the map, Gredson and Domigues offer Dan money to find Hasso. Without disclosing his previous meeting with Hasso, Dan happily accepts the assignment for $5,000. Later, at a nightclub, Dan meets attractive singer Maxine Manning, who goes out of her way to introduce herself and flirts openly with him. Dan also meets Eric Molinar, a visiting artist looking for a back street tour of Panama City. Dan refers Molinar to a friend, then goes to Hasso's hotel, but finds Hasso dead in his overflowing bathtub. Soon after, Dan is questioned by Rues, but reveals nothing about the map. Back at his office, which has been torn apart, Dan discovers an unconscious Maxine. When she recovers, Maxine declares Dan "dangerous company" and leaves. Maxine then goes to see Gredson, who turns out to be her boyfriend, and hides when Dan unexpectedly shows up demanding explanations. Gredson, who had enlisted Maxine to spy on Dan, insists he knows nothing about Hasso's murder and tells Dan he must find the map to collect his payment. On his way back to his office, Dan joins the departing Maxine in a taxi driven by Pop, his friend and protector, and gives her his special city tour. Later, Dan is visited by Molinar, who reveals that he, too, is looking for the map. When Dan deduces that the portly Molinar was responsible for the attack on his office, Molinar quickly offers to give him a percentage of the map's profits, but Dan beats him up and notifies the police. Because Dan has no proof, however, Rues is forced to let Molinar go, and Molinar soon returns to Dan's office with two thugs. On Molinar's orders, the thugs begin pummeling Dan, hoping he will reveal the map's whereabouts. By the next morning, Molinar gives up on the battered Dan, who is then comforted by a concerned Maxine. Furious, Dan confronts Gredson again, but once again Gredson denies any knowledge of Molinar. While Dan is at Gredson's, he notices a photograph of Maxine and goes to see her. Before Dan can question her, however, a scared Maxine confesses her relationship with Gredson, but says that she is leaving Panama to get away from him. Convinced of Maxine's affection, Dan plots with her to test Gredson by telling him that he has found the map. Gredson, meanwhile, is being intimidated by Molinar and agrees to join forces with him. When Molinar hears that Dan has the map, however, he has his thugs kill Gredson and then heads for Dan's office. There Molinar and his gun-wielding thugs confront Dan and Maxine, and during the ensuing mêlée, Maxine and Molinar both notice the map on the bulletin board and struggle to grab it. Molinar escapes with the map, but unwittingly jumps into Pop's cab and, while Dan follows on foot, is driven to the police station. After Rues arrests Molinar, Dan receives his $5,000 check and a kiss from Maxine.
Director
Ted Tetzlaff
Director
Cast
Pat O'brien
Dan [Hammer]
Walter Slezak
[Eric] Molinar
Anne Jeffreys
Maxine [Manning]
Percy Kilbride
Pop
Jerome Cowan
Walter [F.] Gredson
George Givot
[Lieutenant] Rues
Marc Krah
[Charles] Hasso
Bonnie Blair
Woman at airport
Drew Miller
Pilot
Robert Anderson
Pilot
Julian Rivero
Passenger agent
Bob O'connor
Taxi driver
Fred Essler
Hernandez
Tex Swan
Driver
Alphonse Du Bois
Clerk
Norbert Schiller
Goon
Sammy Stein
Goon
Hector Sarno
Pedro
William Alland
Trumpie
Dorothy Mccarty
Singer
Patt Hyatt
Singer
Betty Hill
Singer
Virginia Owen
Singer
Alice Ludes
Singer
Carmen Lopez
Hula dancer
Lou Lubin
Rabbit
Eduardo Noriega
Felice
Italia De Nubila
Dancer
Bob Mascagno
Dancer
Al Murphy
Bartender
Tom Noonan
Drunk
Ernest Anderson
Wong
Saul Z. Martell
Hotel clerk
George Mendoza Mr. Marsh
Tom Coleman
Eddie Borden
Sam Lufkin
Crew
C. Bakaleinikoff
Music Director
Emmett Bergholz
Camera Operator
Russell A. Cully
Special Effects
Albert S. D'agostino
Art Director
George E. Diskant
Director of Photography
Jack J. Gross
Executive Producer
Maxwell Henry
Assistant Director
Nat Holt
Producer
Walter E. Keller
Art Director
Terry Kellum
Sound
Alex Kramer
Composer
Philip Martin
Film Editor
Michael Orenbach
Set Decoration
Martin Rackin
Original Screenplay
Renié
Gowns
Darrell Silvera
Set Decoration
John E. Tribby
Sound
Leslie Urbach
Dialogue Director
Roy Webb
Music
Joan Whitney
Composer
Videos
Movie Clip
Film Details
Also Known As
Mr. Fix, The Amazing Mr. Hamer, The Big Angle
Genre
Adventure
Comedy
Drama
Release Date
Sep
15,
1947
Premiere Information
New York opening: 28 Jun 1947; Los Angeles opening: 30 Jul 1947
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Location
Panama
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 20m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,208ft
Articles
Riffraff (1947)
After lucking into a map to a rich oil field, a man has to dodge those out to steal it.
Riffraff (1947)
After lucking into a map to a rich oil field, a man has to dodge those out to steal it.
Quotes
You shouldn't do that, Mr. Hammer. It gives the place a bad reputation.- Bar proprietor
You mean a worse reputation.- Dan Hammer
Guys around bars talk. Anything you can find out will be worth fifty.- Dan Hammer
No thanks. That wouldn't keep me in aspirin.- Maxine Manning
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was The Big Angle. The title then was changed from The Big Angle to Riffraff to Mr. Fix, then back to Riffraff, then to The Amazing Mr. Hammer and back again to Riffraff. With this film, Ted Tetzlaff, who was a well-known cinematographer, returned to feature directing after a six-year absence. Tetzlaff and a camera crew took background shots for the picture in Panama, according to Hollywood Reporter. Hollywood Reporter announced that eighteen-year-old Marilyn Budgeon, who worked as a messenger at RKO, was to play a messenger in this picture under the name Marilyn Messenger, but her appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. Variety gives the film's running time as 70 minutes, but this is probably an error. According to modern sources, Pat O'Brien liked Martin Rackin's script so much that he arranged for Rackin to be hired as a staff writer at RKO. Rackin went on to write three more scripts at RKO for O'Brien-Fighting Father Dunne and Race Street in 1948, and A Dangerous Profession in 1949 ( entries).
