By Richard Harland Smith
A Dangerous Profession
Brief Synopsis
A bail bondsman is asked to raise money to free his girlfriend's husband.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Ted Tetzlaff
Director
George Raft
Vince Kane
Ella Raines
Lucy Brackett
Pat O'brien
Joe Farley
Bill Williams
Claude Brackett
Jim Backus
Nick Ferrone
Film Details
Also Known As
The Bail Bond Story
Genre
Crime
Release Date
Nov
26,
1949
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 19m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,101ft
Synopsis
When Los Angeles bail bondsmen Vince Kane is taken by his friend, police detective Nick Ferrone, to the home of Claude Brackett, who has just been arrested in connection with a two-year-old bond securities robbery, Vince is disturbed to discover familiar feminine articles there. Vince, an ex-policeman, leaves his calling card behind, and the next day, he is visited by Brackett's wife Lucy, with whom he was once involved and whose sudden disappearance left him brokenhearted. Lucy tells Vince that she was separated from Brackett when she met and fell in love with him, and only returned to Brackett because he was in trouble with the law. Vince doubts Lucy's claims that she no longer loves her weak-willed husband, whom she maintains is innocent. Vince also refuses to help Lucy post Brackett's $25,000 bail, for which she and her lawyer, Lennert, have only $4,000. Later, however, Vince changes his mind and offers to do what he can to get Brackett out of jail.
The next day, a suspicious-looking lawyer named Matthew Dawson shows up in Vince's office with an additional $12,000 for Brackett's bail. Against the advice of his veteran partner, Joe Farley, Vince uses $9,000 of his company's money to make Brackett's bail. Vince questions Brackett about Dawson after he is released from jail, but Brackett insists he knows nothing about the lawyer. Because a policeman was killed during the securities robbery, Nick is furious at Vince for helping Brackett get out of jail and insinuates that the bondsman's true motive is to steal Lucy.
After he is further berated by the tightfisted Joe, Vince goes to McKay's Tavern to question a cigarette girl whom Brackett had dated during his separation. The cigarette girl tells Vince that Brackett worked with a con man who wore a flashy ring. The cigarette girl also helps Vince locate Dawson's office, but he is unable to see the lawyer, whom he believes is a gangster "mouthpiece." Vince, who is being followed, then goes to Brackett's apartment, where a distressed Lucy tries to hide the fact that her husband has jumped bail. Suspicious, Vince asks Lucy to run away with him and, when she readily agrees, accuses her of using him to buy time for Brackett. Although Lucy continues to insist that she truly loves him, Vince is skeptical.
A still hostile Nick then informs Vince that Brackett was murdered while fleeing town. Vince confronts Dawson at his home, and the frightened lawyer finally reveals the name of the hotel where the man who hired him was living. Although Vince misses the man at the hotel, the bellhop reveals information concerning the man's demeanor, and Vince soon realizes that the man who hired Dawson is Max Collins, the con man whom the cigarette girl described, and the man who has been following him. By bribing a taxi driver who drove Collins, Vince is able to find Collins' apartment and there discovers the flashy ring as well as a calling card from McKay's Tavern.
Returning to the tavern, Vince accuses owner Jerry McKay of fronting criminals like Collins and announces that he is "shaking him down" for $50,000. To Vince's surprise, Joe then walks into McKay's office. Concerned that his partner's activities will cost him business, Joe tells Vince that he is buying him out for $25,000. After the three men agree to exchange money the next day at Vince's apartment, Vince tells Nick about Collins' guilt in both Brackett's murder and the policeman's, and vows to bring him to justice. When Joe and McKay arrive at his apartment, Vince announces that, in addition to the $75,000, he wants Collins.
Unaware that Lucy is eavesdropping on the conversation, McKay tells Vince that he will arrange for Collins to ride with them to Bronson Canyon. Just before the men leave, Vince signals to Lucy to alert Nick, and soon Lucy and the police are racing toward the canyon. As they drive into the canyon, Collins smugly admits his guilt and threatens Vince. Soon Vince, McKay and Collins begin fighting in the back seat, and Joe suddenly stops the car, forcing the brawling men out of the car. During the ensuing struggle, Joe has a sudden change of heart and is shot by Collins. Vince, however, knocks the crook unconscious just as Nick and Lucy arrive with the police. As Vince and Lucy embrace, the wounded Joe returns Vince's $25,000 and advises Nick to keep McKay's $50,000 handy for his bail.
Director
Ted Tetzlaff
Director
Cast
George Raft
Vince Kane
Ella Raines
Lucy Brackett
Pat O'brien
Joe Farley
Bill Williams
Claude Brackett
Jim Backus
Nick Ferrone
Roland Winters
Jerry McKay
Betty Underwood
Elaine Storm
Robert Gist
Max Collins
David Wolfe
Matthew Dawson
Mack Gray
Fred, taxi driver
Charmiene Harker
Helen
Lynne Roberts
Miss Wilson
Steven Flagg
Roberts
Jonathan Hale
Lennert
Gloria Gabriel
Kane's secretary
Dick Dickinson
Thin man
Paul Maxey
Judge Thompson
Barry Brooks
Detective
Dick Ryan
Gus
Allan Ray
Clerk, Hotel Dorsey
Don Dillaway
Young drunk man
W. J. O'brien
Clerk
Jacqueline Hammette
Girl in mink coat
Jim Drum
Wally
Yvonne Rob
Vi
Frank Shannon
Barman
Harry Brown
Room clerk
Alan Wood
Bellhop
Frances Morris
Mrs. Farley
Phyllis Kennedy
Maid in Kane's apartment
Burk Symon
Herman
Nancy Valentine
Dawson's secretary
Mike Lally
Policeman
Ralph Volke
Terry Wilson
Ken Terrell
Crew
C. Bakaleinikoff
Music Director
Irving Berns
Makeup
Charles Burke
Camera Operator
James Casey
Assistant Director
Albert S. D'agostino
Art Director
Warren Duff
Writer
Robert De Grasse
Director of Photography
Al Herman
Art Director
Frederick Hollander
Music
Gana Jones
Script Supervisor
Alex Kahle
Stills
Frederic Knudtson
Film Editor
Annabelle Levy
Hairstylist
Harold Lewis
Production Manager
Harley Miller
Set Decoration
Earl Mounce
Sound
Clem Portman
Sound
Martin Rackin
Writer
Sid Rogell
Executive Producer
Darrell Silvera
Set Decoration
Robert Sparks
Producer
Frank Uecker
Gaffer
Ralph Wildman
Grip
Michael Woulfe
Gowns
Photo Collections
8 Photos
A Dangerous Profession - Lobby Card Set
Here is a set of Lobby Cards from RKO's A Dangerous Profession (1949), starring George Raft and Pat O'Brien. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.
Film Details
Also Known As
The Bail Bond Story
Genre
Crime
Release Date
Nov
26,
1949
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 19m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,101ft
Articles
A Dangerous Profession -
While shooting The Princess Comes Across (1936) at Paramount early in his career, George Raft complained that cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff was favoring leading lady Carole Lombard over him; Raft quit the production in a huff and was replaced by the more easygoing Fred MacMurray. Over a decade later, Raft and Tetzlaff were able to bury the hatchet to make the Los Angeles crime film A Dangerous Profession (1940) at RKO. As fate would have it, the lead role of Vince Kane, a former cop turned bail bondsman who winds up on the wrong side of the law when he helps an ex-flame (Ella Raines) keep her husband out of prison, was intended for Fred MacMurray! MacMurray had used his own money to option Martin Rackoff's original screenplay, The Bail Bond Racket, and Nicholas Ray was considered to direct, but the vagaries of the film industry compelled MacMurray to sell his option and the production to go to Tetzlaff, fresh from his Oscar-nominated noir The Window (1949). Joining Raft in this at times meandering tale of vice and corruption in the City of Angels is his Broadway (1942) costar Pat O'Brien, cast as Kane's dubious business partner. Both actors were by this time well beyond their respective primes as Warner Brothers stars and thought little of A Dangerous Profession beyond the paycheck. The duo would be reunited on film only once more, in cameo roles in Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959).
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
A Dangerous Profession -
While shooting The Princess Comes Across (1936) at Paramount early in his career, George Raft complained that cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff was favoring leading lady Carole Lombard over him; Raft quit the production in a huff and was replaced by the more easygoing Fred MacMurray. Over a decade later, Raft and Tetzlaff were able to bury the hatchet to make the Los Angeles crime film A Dangerous Profession (1940) at RKO. As fate would have it, the lead role of Vince Kane, a former cop turned bail bondsman who winds up on the wrong side of the law when he helps an ex-flame (Ella Raines) keep her husband out of prison, was intended for Fred MacMurray! MacMurray had used his own money to option Martin Rackoff's original screenplay, The Bail Bond Racket, and Nicholas Ray was considered to direct, but the vagaries of the film industry compelled MacMurray to sell his option and the production to go to Tetzlaff, fresh from his Oscar-nominated noir The Window (1949). Joining Raft in this at times meandering tale of vice and corruption in the City of Angels is his Broadway (1942) costar Pat O'Brien, cast as Kane's dubious business partner. Both actors were by this time well beyond their respective primes as Warner Brothers stars and thought little of A Dangerous Profession beyond the paycheck. The duo would be reunited on film only once more, in cameo roles in Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959).
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was The Bail Bond Story. The film opens with a voice-over narration spoken by Jim Backus as his character, "Nick Ferrone." Backus briefly describes the bail bond business. According to a November 1948 Los Angeles Examiner news item, actor Fred MacMurray bought Martin Rackin's screen story "out of his own pocket" and instructed his agent to "package" the deal with himself as the film's star. The same article noted that, on the day that MacMurray purchased the story, the Los Angeles papers ran an item announcing that the local bail bond "racket" was about to be exposed. Despite MacMurray's apparent interest in the project, he was replaced by Raft shortly after buying Rackin's story. In February 1949, Hollywood Reporter announced that, after his departure from The Woman on Pier 13 , RKO contract director Nicholas Ray was being considered for the picture. On April 27, 1949, the first day of production, Hollywood Reporter announced that Jean Wallace had been cast in the feminine lead. Wallace did not appear in the film, however.
