Main Street Classic
Movie Club is an independent club that has been formed for the purpose of
showing and reviewing classic films in order to discuss and compare world
view, content, intention, character development, videography, graphic
technique, etc. Movies will be
screened in The Loft at The Hard Bean in Grandview. MSCMC screenings are
open to the general public, age 10 and up, and will be shown free of charge. HardBean.net is
posting information about these events as a courtesy to MSCMC.
The following are
guidelines for movie goers which The Hard Bean has requested be in place to
help insure an enjoyable movie experience for all:
Seating is limited
to 20; on a first come/first serve basis.
On Friday nights,
unless otherwise noted, movies will begin at 7:30 p.m. with a short
intermission.
Movie-goers may
arrive up to 20 minutes early and save their own seat plus up to one more
seat, provided they remain inside The Hard Bean, its hallway, or its rest
room until final seating time.
Final seating will
be 5 minutes prior to start of film.
No outside chairs or
seating can be permitted.
Any food or drink
purchased at The Hard Bean will be permitted in The Loft. No outside food
or drink is permitted on the premises.
If you would like to buy dinner at The Hard
Bean to eat during the show, please arrive by 7 p.m. to be certain you and
your food can be situated in time for the start of the movie. Or, you may
call ahead with your dinner order by 6:45 and it will be ready for you by
7:15.
Dead Reckoning is a 1947 Columbia motion picture starring Humphrey Bogart
and Lizabeth Scott, directed by John Cromwell. This film noir drama/mystery
was filmed in black-and-white.
Returning home from World War II, ex-paratroopers Captain Murdock (Humphrey
Bogart) and Sergeant Johnny Drake (William Prince) are to be awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross and Medal of Honor respectively. While on their
way to Washington, Drake disappears. Murdock follows the clues and tracks
his friend to Gulf City, where he learns Drake is dead – burned to death in
a car accident.
Murdock finds out that Drake joined the Army under an assumed name to avoid
a murder charge. He was accused of killing a rich old man named Chandler
because he was in love with his wife Coral (Lizabeth Scott). Murdock goes to
a nightclub to question Louis Ord (George Chandler), a witness in the murder
trial. Ord reveals that Drake had given him a letter for Murdock. Murdock
also meets Coral and Martinelli (Morris Carnovsky), the club owner, there.
Murdock's drink is drugged. When he wakes up the next morning, he finds
Ord's dead body planted in his hotel room. He manages to dispose of the
corpse before police Lieutenant Kincaid (Charles Cane), responding to an
anonymous tip, shows up to question him.
Murdock teams up with Coral. Suspecting that Martinelli had Ord killed in
order to get the letter, Murdock breaks into his office, only to find the
safe already open. Just before he is knocked unconscious by an unseen
assailant, he smells jasmine, the same aroma as Coral's perfume. When
Murdock awakens, Martinelli has him roughed up by his thug, Krause (Marvin
Miller), to try to find out what is in the coded letter. However, Murdock
manages to trick his captors and escape.
Now suspicious of Coral, Murdock goes to her apartment to confront her. She
claims to be innocent, but finally admits that she shot her husband in self
defense. She gave the murder weapon to Martinelli to dispose of, but he has
been blackmailing her ever since. In love with her himself, Murdock agrees
to leave town with her, but decides to retrieve the incriminating weapon
first, despite Coral's fears. He threatens Martinelli with a gun, eliciting
some startling revelations. The club owner claims that Coral is married to
him. He killed Chandler and framed Drake so that Coral could inherit the
estate before the bigamy could be discovered. Murdock gets what he came for
and leaves, with Martinelli preceding him. However, when they exit the
building, shots ring out, killing Martinelli.
Murdock jumps into the waiting car and drives off with Coral. As they are
speeding away, he accuses her of having tried to kill him, not Martinelli.
When she trains a gun on him, Murdock crashes the car. He survives, but she
suffers fatal injuries. Murdock comforts her in her final moments.
