Deadline - U.S.A. (1952)

Director:

Richard Brooks

Writer:

Richard Brooks (writer)

Release Date:

14 March 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

With his newspaper about to be sold, crusading editor Ed Hutcheson tries to complete an exposé on gangster Rienzi.

Plot Keywords:

Big City | Diary | Daughter | Idealist | Editor

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Ed Hutcheson
Ethel Barrymore	...	Margaret Garrison
Kim Hunter	...	Nora Hutcheson
Ed Begley	...	Frank Allen
Warren Stevens	...	George Burrows
Paul Stewart	...	Harry Thompson
Martin Gabel	...	Thomas Rienzi
Joe De Santis	...	Herman Schmidt
Joyce Mackenzie	...	Katherine Garrison Geary
Audrey Christie	...	Mrs. Willebrandt
Fay Baker	...	Alice Garrison Courtney
Jim Backus	...	Jim Cleary
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Parley Baer	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Bill Baldwin	...	Man asking for Ed Hutcheson (uncredited)
Willis Bouchey	...	Henry (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks	...	Newspaperman (uncredited)
Harris Brown	...	Al Murray (uncredited)
Clancy Cooper	...	Capt. Finlay (uncredited)
Ashley Cowan	...	Lefty Smith (uncredited)
Joseph Crehan	...	City Editor (uncredited)
Luther Crockett	...	National editor (uncredited)
Lawrence Dobkin	...	Larry Hansen, Rienzi's Lawyer (uncredited)
John Doucette	...	Hal (uncredited)
Paul Dubov	...	Mac, Photographer (uncredited)
June Eisner	...	Miss Bentley (uncredited)
William Forrest	...	Mr. Greene, Mrs. Garrison's Lawyer (uncredited)
Robert Foulk	...	Rienzi Associate (uncredited)
Betty Francine	...	Telephone operator (uncredited)
Alex Gerry	...	Prentiss, Garrison Daughter's Lawyer (uncredited)
Everett Glass	...	Doctor Emanuel (uncredited)
Raymond Greenleaf	...	Lawrence White (uncredited)
Dabbs Greer	...	Day Reporter (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Harry Harvey	...	Bill (uncredited)
Thomas Browne Henry	...	Fenway (uncredited)
Marjorie Holliday	...	Telephone Operator (uncredited)
Selmer Jackson	...	Williams (uncredited)
Edward Keane	...	Mr. Blake, Mrs. Garrison's Lawyer (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Newspaperman (uncredited)
Nolan Leary	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Norman Leavitt	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Rory Mallinson	...	Rienze's associate (uncredited)
Paul Maxey	...	Senator (uncredited)
Ann McCrea	...	Sally Gardner aka Bessie Schmidt (uncredited)
Joseph Mell	...	Lugerman (uncredited)
Richard Monahan	...	Copyboy (uncredited)
Al Murphy	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Forbes Murray	...	Newspaperman (uncredited)
Howard Negley	...	Police sergeant (uncredited)
David Newell	...	Foreign Editor (uncredited)
Kasia Orzazewski	...	Mrs. Schmidt (uncredited)
Tudor Owen	...	Watchman (uncredited)
Elsa Peterson	...	Mrs. Rienzi (uncredited)
Tom Powers	...	Andrew Wharton (uncredited)
Fay Roope	...	Surrogate Court Judge (uncredited)
Joe Sawyer	...	Whitey Jones (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Court reporter (uncredited)
William Self	...	Bellamy (uncredited)
Marion Sherman	...	Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Florence Shirley	...	Miss Barndollar (uncredited)
Ted Stanhope	...	Washington Editor (uncredited)
Charles Tannen	...	Sports Reporter (uncredited)
Phillip Terry	...	Lewis Schaefer (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy	...	City Editor (uncredited)
Harry Tyler	...	Headline writer (uncredited)
Irene Vernon	...	Mrs. Burrows (uncredited)
Frank Wilcox	...	Senator (uncredited)
Mack Williams	...	Rienzi Associate (uncredited)
Stuart Wilson	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Wilson Wood	...	Interne (uncredited)
Barton Yarborough	...	Male Secretary (uncredited)
Carleton Young	...	Crane, Garrison's Daughter's Lawyer (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Brooks

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Richard Brooks		writer

Produced by
Sol C. Siegel	....	producer

Original Music by
Cyril J. Mockridge		(as Cyril Mockridge)
Sol Kaplan		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Milton R. Krasner		(as Milton Krasner)

Film Editing by
William B. Murphy

Art Direction by
George Patrick
Lyle R. Wheeler		(as Lyle Wheeler)

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
Eloise Jensson		(as Elois Jenssen)

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Maybery	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Harry M. Leonard	....	sound
E. Clayton Ward	....	sound

Special Effects by
Ray Kellogg	....	special photographic effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Charles Le Maire	....	wardrobe director

Music Department
Lionel Newman	....	musical director
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator (as Edward Powell)
Bernard Mayers	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Kay Thackery	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1963) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Also Known As:

Deadline (UK)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

New York Daily News Building - 42nd Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

In order to get the feel of what it would be like to work for real newspaper, Bogart hung out at the city room of the New York Daily News.

Quotes:

Ed Hutcheson: It's not enough any more to give 'em just news. They want comics, contests, puzzles. They want to know how to bake a cake, win friends, and influence the future. Ergo, horoscopes, tips on the horses, interpretation of dreams so they can win on the numbers lottery. And, if they accidentally stumble on the first page... news!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bacall on Bogart (1988) (TV)

Racing to beat life's deadline

Deadline - U.S.A. has Humphrey Bogart as the editor of a big city newspaper that is in the process of being sold to a Rupert Murdoch like chain that publishes scandal sheets. His paper is in the process at the same time of doing an expose of notorious racketeer Martin Gabel.

And if that ain't enough for Bogey his wife Kim Hunter is splitting from him. It's the usual story, she can't stand having him married to her and the paper as well.

Growing up in New York in the Fifties we had several newspapers, each vying for a smaller readership. I remember we had the Times, News, Post, Herald Tribune, World-Telegram&Sun, Journal-American, and the Daily Mirror. Some of those you can see are the products of consolidation, there were more in the past. After a printer's strike in the sixties most of them went out of business.

The papers were competing for a shrinking share of readership. In the previous generation, radio competed with the print media and I grew up with that new phenomenon of television. Today we are seeing the effects of the Internet as the individual's primary source for news.

The gangster part of the plot gets started with the discovery of the body of a Virginia Hill like moll, the former mistress of Martin Gabel. While some of the scandal sheets cover the sensational aspects of the murder of a glamor girl, Bogey's paper does some serious investigative reporting and uncovers a lot of evidence. Their work also has consequences including the maiming of young reporter Warren Stevens.

In the meantime the heirs of the newspaper's original founder are looking to sell the paper. Opposing it is their mother, Ethel Barrymore and she has a fine part and is obviously the model for the widow publisher played by Nancy Marchand in Lou Grant. She has one classic scene with Humphrey Bogart where they commiserate over their mutual problems.

Deadline - U.S.A. is a realistic look at the life of a big city paper in days gone by. It's a gritty piece of nostalgia, as timely in its day as The Front Page was in the Twenties. Cast members like Paul Stewart, Jim Backus, and Ed Begley look and feel right at home at their jobs.

The film is recommended particularly for younger viewers who are glued to their computers and television to see how a newspaper functioned back in the day.