''Jigsaw'' is a 1949 American film noir

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

directed by

Fletcher Markle Fletcher Markle (March 27, 1921 – May 23, 1991) was a Canadian actor, screenwriter, television producer and director. Markle began a radio career in Canada, then worked in radio, film and television in the United States. Films and television ...

starring

Franchot Tone Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...

, Jean Wallace and Marc Lawrence. The feature was produced by the Danziger Brothers, Edward J. Danziger and Harry Lee Danziger, from a screenplay by Vincent McConnor and Fletcher Markle, based on a story by John Roeburt. Of note is that the film has

cameo appearances A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle, March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

, Marsha Hunt,

Doe Avedon Doe Avedon (born Dorcas Marie Nowell; April 7, 1925 – December 18, 2011) was an American model and actress. Early life Doe Avedon was born Dorcas Marie Nowell in Old Westbury, New York, Long Island on April 7, 1925. Her mother died when s ...

, Everett Sloane, newspaper columnist Leonard Lyons, and the director

Plot

The title refers to a jigsaw puzzle and the story begins with the murder of a print shop owner that is quickly labeled a suicide. But newspaper columnist Charlie Riggs is convinced that it was a murder related to a white

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration s ...

organization called the Crusaders and imparts this suspicion to Assistant District Attorney Howard Malloy. He also publishes this opinion in his column. Then Riggs himself is murdered, inducing Malloy to launch an investigation into the Crusaders. Because the group appears to be getting backing from organized crime, Malloy looks there, soon receiving unsolicited help from a crime boss called ''Angel,'' who recommends him for the position of special prosecutor. Later, with further help from a prominent judge's widow, Malloy is appointed. This is supposed to put him in the pocket of those behind the murders. But Malloy proceeds to investigate the artist who created the Crusaders recruiting poster. Seeing in the artist's studio a painting of an attractive night club singer, Malloy then proceeds to investigate her. This leads to a series of revelations regarding all of these characters and ends with more people dead and wounded in a fiery exchange at the end.

Cast

as Howard Malloy * Jean Wallace as Barbara Whitfield *

Myron McCormick Myron McCormick (February 8, 1908 – July 30, 1962) was an American actor of stage, radio and film. Early life and education Born in Albany, Indiana, in 1908, Walter Myron McCormick was the middle child of Walter P. and Bessie M. McCormick ...

as Charles Riggs * Marc Lawrence as Angelo Agostini * Winifred Lenihan as Mrs. Hartley *

as Caroline Riggs * Hedley Rainnie as Sigmund Kosterich * Walter Vaughan as District Attorney Walker * George Breen as Knuckles *

Robert Gist Robert Marion Gist (October 1, 1917 – May 21, 1998) was an American actor and film director. Life and career Gist was reared around the stockyards of Chicago, Illinois, during the Great Depression. Reform school-bound after injuring an ...

as Tommy Quigley * Hester Sondergaard as Mrs. Borg * Luella Gear as Pet Shop Owner *

as Nightclub Waiter * Alexander Campbell as Pemberton * Robert Noe as Waldron *

Alexander Lockwood Alexander Lockwood (May 5, 1902 – January 25, 1990) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the 1930s to the 1980s. Biography Lockwood was born in Slezská Ostrava, now Czech Republic, in 190 ...

as Nichols * Ken Smith as Wylie * Alan MacAteer as Museum Guard * Manuel Aparicio as Warehouse Guard * Brainerd Duffield as Butler

Reception

Critical response

When the film was released, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' film critic,

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

, panned the film, writing, "On the sole account of ''Jigsaw'', which opened at the Mayfair on Saturday, Hollywood has no reason to look immediately and anxiously to its laurels ... It is sluggishly directed by Fletcher Markle, who also co-authored the script, and almost indifferently played, where good playing would do the most for it, by Franchot Tone in the principal role ... An irresistible temptation to get a few recognizable stars to play bit roles in the picture was accepted unfortunately. John Garfield is seen as a loafer, Henry Fonda as a waiter in a club, Burgess Meredith as a bartender, Marcia Hunt as a secretary and such. This tomfooling doesn't help the picture. It gives the whole thing a faintly prankish look."Crowther, Bosley
''

'', film review, May 30, 1949. Accessed: July 12, 2013.

References

External links

* * * *
''Jigsaw''
informational site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images) * {{The Danzigers 1949 films 1949 crime drama films American black-and-white films Film noir United Artists films American crime drama films 1949 directorial debut films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Fletcher Markle 1940s American films