''Odds Against Tomorrow'' is a 1959

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

produced and directed by

Robert Wise Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American film director, producer, and editor. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of ...

and starring

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

. Belafonte selected

Abraham Polonsky Abraham Lincoln Polonsky (December 5, 1910 – October 26, 1999) was an American film director, screenwriter, essayist and novelist. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for '' Body and Soul'' but in the early 1950s ...

to write the script, which is based on a novel of the same name by

William P. McGivern William Peter McGivern (December 6, 1918 – November 18, 1982) was an American novelist and television scriptwriter. He published more than 20 novels, mostly mysteries and crime thrillers, some under the pseudonym Bill Peters. His novels wer ...

. Blacklisted in those years, Polonsky had to use a front and John O. Killens was credited. Polonsky's screenwriting credit was restored in 1996 in his own name.

Plot

David Burke is a former policeman who was ruined when he refused to cooperate with state crime investigators. He asks Earle Slater, a tough ex-con and racist, to help him rob a bank, promising him $50,000 if the robbery is successful. Burke also recruits Johnny Ingram, a nightclub entertainer, who doesn't want the job but who is addicted to gambling and deeply in debt. Slater, who is supported by his girlfriend Lorry, learns that Ingram is black and refuses the job. Later, he realizes that he needs the money, and joins Ingram and Burke in the enterprise. Tensions between Ingram and Slater increase as they near completion of the crime. On the night of the robbery, the three crooks are able to enter the bank and abscond with stolen money. Burke is seen by a police officer when leaving the scene of the raid and is gunned down in the ensuing shootout. He then shoots himself to avoid capture. Slater and Ingram fight each other while evading the police. They escape and run to a fuel storage depot, chasing each other onto the top of the fuel tanks. When they exchange gunfire, the fuel tanks ignite, causing a large explosion. Later, when police survey the scene, Slater's and Ingram's burned corpses are indistinguishable from each other. The film ends with a shot of a sign at the entrance of the depot reading "STOP—DEAD END".

Cast

as Johnny Ingram *

Robert Ryan Robert Bushnell Ryan (November 11, 1909 – July 11, 1973) was an American actor and activist. Known for his portrayals of hardened cops and ruthless villains, Ryan performed for over three decades. He was nominated for the Academy Award for ...

as Earl Slater *

Shelley Winters Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...

as Lorry *

Ed Begley Edward James Begley Sr. (March 25, 1901 – April 28, 1970) was an American actor of theatre, radio, film, and television. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film ''Sweet Bird of Youth'' (1962) an ...

as David Burke *

Gloria Grahame Gloria Grahame Hallward (November 28, 1923 – October 5, 1981) was an Academy Award-winning American actress and singer. She began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in ''It's a Wond ...

as Helen *

Will Kuluva Will Kuluva (May 2, 1917 – November 6, 1990) was an American actor. He appeared in the films '' Abandoned'', ''Viva Zapata!'', '' Operation Manhunt'', '' The Shrike'', ''Crime in the Streets'', ''Odds Against Tomorrow'', ''Go Naked in the World ...

as Bacco *

Kim Hamilton Kim Hamilton (born Dorothy Mae Aiken; September 12, 1932 – September 16, 2013) was an American film and television actress, as well as a director, writer, and artist. Her career spanned more than half a century, from the early 1950s to 2010. H ...

as Ruth *

Mae Barnes Mae Barnes (born Edith Mae Stith, possibly January 23, 1907 – December 13, 1996) was an American jazz singer, dancer and comic entertainer. She was responsible for introducing the Charleston dance to Broadway in the 1924 revue ''Runnin' W ...

as Annie * Richard Bright as Coco * Carmen De Lavallade as Kitty *

Lew Gallo Lewis D. Gallo (June 12, 1928 – June 11, 2000) was an American character actor and producer, best known for his role as Maj. Joseph Cobb on the 1960s ABC World War II series '' Twelve O'Clock High''. Gallo was born in Mount Kisco, New York, ...

as Moriarty * Lois Thorne as Eadie *

Wayne Rogers William Wayne McMillan Rogers III (April 7, 1933 – December 31, 2015) was an American actor, known for playing the role of Captain "Trapper" John McIntyre in the CBS television series ''M*A*S*H'' and as Dr. Charley Michaels on '' House Calls ...

Soldier in bar *

Zohra Lampert Zohra Lampert is an American actress, who has had roles on stage, film and television. She performed under her then-married name of Zohra Alton early in her career. Among her performances were as the title character in the 1971 cult horror film ...

as Girl in Bar * Allen Nourse as Police Chief

Production

The film was produced by HarBel Productions, a company founded by the film's star,

. He selected Abraham Polonsky as the screenwriter. Polonsky was

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

ed by the

House Unamerican Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

at the time, which had conducted extensive hearings on communist influence in the film industry. He used John O. Killens, a black novelist and friend of Belafonte, as a front to be the credited screenwriter. In 1996, the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Guil ...

restored Polonsky's film credit under his own name. Principal photography began in March 1959. All outdoor scenes were shot in New York City and Hudson, New York. According to director Robert Wise:

I did something in ''Odds Against Tomorrow'' I'd been wanting to do in some pictures but hadn't had the chance. I wanted a certain kind of mood in some sequences, such as the opening when Robert Ryan is walking down West Side Street...I used infra-red film. You have to be very careful with that because it turns green things white, and you can't get too close on people's faces. It does distort them but gives that wonderful quality—black skies with white clouds—and it changes the feeling and look of the scenes.

This film was the last in which Wise shot black-and-white film in the standard aspect ratio. This technique "gave his films the gritty realism they were known for." After this film, Wise shot two black-and-white films, both in the cinemascope (2.35:1) aspect ratio: ''

Two for the Seesaw ''Two for the Seesaw'' is a 1962 American romantic-drama film directed by Robert Wise and starring Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine. It was adapted from the 1958 Broadway play written by William Gibson with Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft (who ...

'' and '' The Haunting''.

Musical score and soundtrack

The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

of the

Modern Jazz Quartet The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical music, classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. For most of its history the Quartet consisted of John Lewis (pianist), John Lewis (piano), ...

. The soundtrack album was released on the

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

label in 1959. To realize his score, Lewis assembled a 22-piece orchestra, which included MJQ bandmates

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...

on vibraphone,

Percy Heath Percy Heath (April 30, 1923 – April 28, 2005) was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout ...

on bass,

Connie Kay Conrad Henry Kirnon (April 27, 1927 – November 30, 1994) known professionally as Connie Kay, was an American jazz and R&B drummer, who was a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Self-taught on drums, he began performing in Los Angeles in the mid ...

on drums,

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

on piano and Jim Hall on guitar. AllMusic's Bruce Eder noted "This superb jazz score by John Lewis was later turned into a hit by The Modern Jazz Quartet. It's dark and dynamic, and a classic." The Modern Jazz Quartet's album of Lewis' themes, ''

Music from Odds Against Tomorrow ''Music from Odds Against Tomorrow'' (also released as ''Patterns'') is an album by American jazz group the Modern Jazz Quartet featuring interpretations of the soundtrack score for the 1959 motion picture ''Odds Against Tomorrow''. It was release ...

'', was recorded in October 1959. The track "Skating in Central Park" became a permanent part of the MJQ's repertoire. It was reused for a similar scene in the 1971 film ''

Little Murders ''Little Murders'' is a 1971 American black comedy film directed by Alan Arkin, in his feature film directorial debut, and starring Elliott Gould and Marcia Rodd. Based on the stage play of the same name by Jules Feiffer, it is the story of a wo ...

''.

Track listing

''All compositions by John Lewis'' # "Prelude to Odds Against Tomorrow" - 1:44 # "A Cold Wind Is Blowing" - 1:20 # "Five Figure People Crossing Paths" - 1:40 # "How to Frame Pigeons" - 1:04 # "Morning Trip to Melton" - 3:09 # "Looking at the Caper" - 2:01 # "Johnny Ingram's Possessions" - 1:08 # "The Carousel Incident" - 1:44 # "Skating in Central Park" - 3:29 # "No Happiness for Slater" - 3:56 # "Main Theme: Odds Against Tomorrow" - 3:24 # "Games" - 2:17 # "Social Call" - 3:53 # "The Impractical Man - 3:00 # Advance on Melton"- 1:58 # "Waiting Around the River" - 3:51 # "Distractions" - 1:25 # "The Caper Failure" - 1:23 # "Postlude" - 0:45

Personnel

- arrange, conducto *

Bernie Glow Bernie Glow (February 6, 1926 – May 8, 1982) was an American trumpet player who specialized in jazz and commercial lead trumpet from the 1940s to 1970s. Glow's early career was on the road with Artie Shaw, Woody Herman and others during the las ...

Joe Wilder Joseph Benjamin Wilder (February 22, 1922 – May 9, 2014) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Wilder was awarded the Temple University Jazz Master's Hall of Fame Award in 2006. The National Endowment for the Arts honored h ...

, John Ware, Melvyn Broiles - trumpet *John Clark,

Tom McIntosh Thomas S. "Tom" McIntosh (February 6, 1927 - July 26, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, arranger, and conductor. McIntosh was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the eldest of six siblings. He also had an elder half-sibling by his fath ...

- trombone *Al Richman,

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City, ...

, Paul Ingram, Ray Alonge - French horn *

Harvey Phillips Harvey Gene Phillips, Sr. (December 2, 1929 – October 20, 2010) was an American tuba player. He served as the Distinguished Professor of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington (from 1971 to 1994) and was dedicated advocate ...

- tuba *Robert DiDomenica - flute *Harvey Shapiro, Joseph Tekula - cello *Ruth Berman - harp *

- vibraphone *

- piano * Jim Hall - guitar *

- bass *

- drums] *Richard Horowitz - timpani *Walter Rosenberger - percussion

Reception

Critical response

The film has an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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 ...

of the ''New York Times'' described Wise's direction as "tight and strong" and the film as a "sharp, hard, suspenseful melodrama," with a "sheer dramatic build-up...of an artistic caliber that is rarely achieved on the screen." ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine wrote:

The tension builds well to the climax—thanks partly to Director Robert Wise (''
I Want to Live! ''I Want to Live!'' is a 1958 American biographical film noir directed by Robert Wise and starring Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent and Theodore Bikel. It follows the life of Barbara Graham, a prostitute and habitual criminal w ...
''), partly to an able Negro scriptwriter named John O. Killens, but mostly to Actor Ryan, a menace who can look bullets and smile sulphuric acid. But the tension is released too soon—and much too trickily. The spectator is left with a feeling that is aptly expressed in the final frame of the film, when the camera focuses on a street sign that reads: STOP—DEAD END.

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "On one level, ''Odds against Tomorrow'' is a taut crime melodrama. On another, it is an allegory about racism, greed and man's propensity for self-destruction. Not altogether successful in the second category, it still succeeds on its first." Forty years after the film's release, critic

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

called it "sadly overlooked."

Awards

The film was nominated for a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

award for Motion Picture Promoting International Understanding.

Books

A book of the screenplay titled ''Odds Against Tomorrow: A Critical Edition'' () was published in 1999 by the Center for Telecommunication Studies, sponsored by the Radio-Television-Film department at California State University, Northridge. The book includes the film's complete script, blending the shooting and continuity scripts, and a critical analysis written by CSUN professor John Schultheiss, who conducted interviews with Wise, Belafonte and Polonsky.

Home media

''Odds Against Tomorrow'' was released on DVD by MGM Home Video on December 2, 2003 as a Region 1 full-frame DVD. The film was released on Blu-ray disc by Olive Films on May 29, 2018.

References

External links

* * *
''Odds Against Tomorrow''
photo gallery at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

''Odds Against Tomorrow''
essay, "Robert Ryan: Letting the Demons Out" by Jeff Stafford at

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...

's Movie Morlocks
''Odds Against Tomorrow''
film trailer at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{Robert Wise 1959 films 1959 crime drama films 1950s English-language films 1950s heist films American black-and-white films American crime drama films American heist films Film noir Films about bank robbery Films about racism Films based on American novels Films based on crime novels Films directed by Robert Wise Films scored by John Lewis Films set in New York (state) Films set in New York City Films shot in New York (state) Films shot in New York City United Artists films 1950s American films Films produced by Robert Wise