Die Ratte von Soho (1950)

Die Ratte von Soho: Directed by Jules Dassin. With Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe. A small-time grifter and nightclub tout takes advantage of some fortuitous circumstances and tries to become a big-time player as a wrestling promoter.

“My favorite Richard Widmark performance on the screen and probably his best work is Night and the City. This was director Jules Dassinu0026#39;s last film before settling in Europe in the wake of the blacklist and it has a first rate cast tuned to a fine pitch, like an orchestra without a bad note in it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHarry Fabian is this smalltime American hustler/conman whou0026#39;s settled in London and always working that middle ground netherworld between the law and outright gangsterism. He really isnu0026#39;t a very likable man and the trick is to keep the audience care whatu0026#39;s happening to him. This is the test of a great actor and Widmark is fully up to the challenge.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFabian while working one of his cons overhears a piece of information about the father/son relationship between champion Graeco-Roman wrestler Gregorius the Great and gangster/promoter Cristo who is the London version of Vince McMahon. He cons Gregorius into thinking he wants to promote old style wrestling like Gregorius used to do. That con game sets in motion the events of the film that ultimately end in tragedy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cast is uniformly fine, but one performance really stands out, that of Stanislaus Zbyzsko as Gregorius. He was a real professional wrestling champion back in the day when it was real. Zbyzsko invests so much of his own life and reality as Gregorius that heu0026#39;s really something special. His scenes with Herbert Lom as his son are so good they go far beyond the plane of mere acting. Itu0026#39;s some of the best work Lom has ever done as well.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHow there werenu0026#39;t a few Oscar nominations from this is a mystery for me. For those who like film noir, this should be required viewing. Especially for you Richard Widmark fans.”