The 1950 noir Guilty Bystander is a ticking time bomb whodunit. The four-year-old son of alcoholic detective Max Thursday (Zachary Scott) has been abducted. Can he stay sober enough for two or three days to find the kid?
We meet Thursday years after his addiction has ruined both his career in law enforcement and his marriage. He’s living in a sketchy hotel, trading his lodging for work as the house detective. “House detective” sounds quaint today, but this is the kind of place that makes you think, “this joint needs a house detective”. A probation officer could probably roll up the hotel’s entire population in one visit.
Thursday loves the young son that he has left with his ex-wife, but he hasn’t managed to be part of his life. He can’t remember how old the kid is, and, when the kid goes missing, doesn’t have a recent picture.
With her son missing, Thursday’s ex-wife Georgia is desperate enough to ask Max for help. Desperate is the operative word here, because she is clear-eyed in her expectations of Max. Max is all set up for redemption, but both Max and Georgia know that, no matter his motivation, the booze is likely to get in his way.
Zachary Scott excelled at playing unreliable or shady characters (Mildred Pierce, Whiplash, The Mask of Dimitrios, Ruthless, Flamingo Road, Danger Signal). But, here, he’s no sleazebag; Max Thursday’s motivating inner turmoil isn’t a familiar film noir flaw like greed or lust. He’s just helpless against his urges for the bottle. (IMO Georgia is sometimes more understanding and kind about Max’s addiction than would be a real desperate parent.)
This one of Zachary Scott’s finest performances, probably informed by his own alcoholism in real life. Scott’s portrayal of Thursday’s addiction, his self-loathing, his lying to others, is all pitch perfect. 1950, when Guilty Bystander was released. was a lousy year for Scott, he divorced and his ex-wife married John Steinbeck, he had a rafting accident and his depression affected his work. Scott died fourteen years later at 51.
Thursday’s hotel is run by a colorful older woman named Smitty (Mary Boland). Boland had been a Broadway star in her prime, and then shifted into a movie career in the 30’s. In both theater and movies, she primarily worked in comedy. Guilty Bystander was Boland’s last feature film at age 68. Boland’s Smitty is one of the most indelible characters in noir cinema, and a significant reward for watching this film.
In another standout performance, Kay Bedford plays Angel, a woman a little too familiar with dive bars. She’s great.
Eleanor Parker had made three earlier films with Zachary Scott. She was 33 in Guilty Bystander and retired four years later, this being her penultimate feature. Just before making Guilty Bystander, she divorced FDR’s son Elliot Roosevelt and, afterwards, married band leader Skitch Henderson.
There’s a femme fatale in Guilty Bystander. The fun is in discovering which femme it is.
Film noir veterans Sam Levene and Jesse White also appear. Levene, for the umpteenth time, plays a stand-up cop. White, billed as “Masher”, gets a delicious cameo as a barroom lech.
Guilty Bystander is an indie, directed by Joseph Lerner for the production company he founded with his wife. The Lerners made the film on location in NYC guerilla-style, popping up and shooting without permits. The result works, and there’s an especially effective subway scene.
The cinematography is top notch. The photography credit goes to Gerald Hirschfield, much later celebrated for Young Frankenstein. IMDb also lists Russell Harlan as an uncredited cinematographer, and his oeuvre is much richer than is Hirschfield’s – Red River, Gun Crazy, A Walk in the Sun, King Creole, Rio Bravo, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Until recently, Guilty Bystander was considered a lost film (it was rescued and restored by director Nicolas Winding Refn), and it’s still difficult to find. I saw Guilty Bystander on Turner Classic Movies’ Noir Alley, and it’s sometimes on available to stream on Watch TCM.
