Shakedown (1950) | Directed by Joseph Pevney

A hard-edged film noir about Jack Early, an ambitious San Francisco newspaper photographer who treats crime like a career ladder. He cuts deals with gangsters, double-crosses allies, and uses incriminating pictures as leverage—until the underworld turns the camera back on him and his hunger for the “perfect shot” becomes his downfall.

Genre: Film noir; crime drama

Director: Joseph Pevney

Joseph Pevney (1911–2008) was an American actor-turned-director who moved from stage and film acting into a long, prolific directing career. He became a reliable studio craftsman in the 1950s (notably for Universal-International) and later shifted heavily into television, directing many well-known episodes across major series. He is especially remembered by TV audiences for directing a large number of episodes of the original Star Trek, including several fan favorites.

Star Cast:

Howard Duff as Jack Early

Brian Donlevy as Nick Palmer

Peggy Dow as Ellen Bennett

Lawrence Tierney as Harry Colton

Bruce Bennett as David Glover

Anne Vernon as Nita Palmer

Often viewed as a brisk, punchy “programmer” noir on release, Shakedown earned attention for its fast pace and its unusually unsympathetic lead character. Over time it has been reappraised by noir fans as a sharp journalism-and-corruption thriller, with Howard Duff’s performance singled out for making the anti-hero watchable even at his worst.

Fun Facts:

The film’s working/alternate title was The Magnificent Heel.

The original screen story was titled “The Red Carpet,” and story contributor Nat Dallinger had real-world experience as a news cameraman, helping ground the newsroom/photography angle.

Shakedown was Joseph Pevney’s first assignment as a feature-film director.

Pevney also appears briefly in the film (uncredited), and it marked his last acting role.

Rock Hudson has an uncredited early appearance as a nightclub doorman.

It runs a lean 80 minutes, a big reason it feels so quick and relentless.

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