Slick production values and star names do not necessarily ensure a superior film and this is certainly true of Peter Hyam's 1990 remake of 'The Narrow Margin' from 1952.
Working within budgetary limitations and with a second tier cast, director Richard Fleischer has succeeded in turning a 'B' movie into an 'A' Film Noir.
There are few places to hide on a train and George E. Diskant's camera has used narrow corridors, cramped compartments and reflections in windows to great effect whilst the tension is maintained by Robert Swink's customarily taut editing.
The very nature of the genre requires the characters to be somewhat one-dimensional but the direct, hard-boiled, no-nonsense performances by Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor are spot on. The supporting players are capable although for this viewer at any rate the villains are more buffoonish than menacing.
Unusually for IMDb there are twice as many reviews for this than for the glossy remake which is both encouraging and gratifying.
Working within budgetary limitations and with a second tier cast, director Richard Fleischer has succeeded in turning a 'B' movie into an 'A' Film Noir.
There are few places to hide on a train and George E. Diskant's camera has used narrow corridors, cramped compartments and reflections in windows to great effect whilst the tension is maintained by Robert Swink's customarily taut editing.
The very nature of the genre requires the characters to be somewhat one-dimensional but the direct, hard-boiled, no-nonsense performances by Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor are spot on. The supporting players are capable although for this viewer at any rate the villains are more buffoonish than menacing.
Unusually for IMDb there are twice as many reviews for this than for the glossy remake which is both encouraging and gratifying.