''The Devil's Henchman'' is a 1949 American

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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

featuring

Warner Baxter Warner Leroy Baxter (March 29, 1889 – May 7, 1951) was an American film actor from the 1910s to the 1940s. Baxter is known for his role as the Cisco Kid in the 1928 film ''In Old Arizona'', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor at ...

Mary Beth Hughes Mary Elizabeth Hughes (November 13, 1919 Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. . P. 586. – August 27, 1995) was an American film, television, a ...

Mike Mazurki Mike Mazurki (December 25, 1907 – December 9, 1990) was a Ukrainian-American actor and professional wrestler who appeared in more than 142 films. His 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) presence and face had him typecast as often brainless athletes ...

, and

Regis Toomey John Francis Regis Toomey (August 13, 1898October 12, 1991) was an American film and television actor. Early life Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was one of four children of Francis X. and Mary Ellen Toomey, and attended Peabody High Sc ...

. The film was written by Eric Taylor and directed by

Seymour Friedman Seymour Friedman (August 17, 1917 – April 2, 2003) was an American film director. He later worked as a Unit production manager, production manager in television. Friedman began his career as an assistant director, before enlisting for military s ...

Plot

The daytime insurance agent Jess Arno (

), moonlights as an undercover salvager at night. He sells the loot he finds to a seedy man named Tip Banning. Arno has long time suspected that Tip is in fact the leader of a gang of waterfront smugglers. Later in the evening, down at the docks in Connie's waterfront tavern, Arno witnesses Tip meeting with Arno's beautiful companion Silky (

), accompanied by Bill Falls ( Paul Marion), third mate on a ship that is currently docked in the harbor. Arno hears Bill complain about the size of his cut, and that Silky offers to take him to the head of the organization. They leave the tavern together and Arno follows them. The party goes into a plumbing store, and when Arno steps in after them a while later, he finds Bill's cap on the floor. He is discovered by a giant of a man, the simple-minded Rhino (

), who works for the smuggler gang and stops him from investigating further. Rhino takes a liking to Arno and they go back to Connie's tavern to drink and socialize. They get along so well that Rhono invites Arno to share a room with him. Connie (Peggy Converse), the owner of the tavern, tells Tip that night that she wants money to continue keeping quiet about his shady meetings with ship mates at her place. the next day Arno finds a body floating in the bay, and recognizes it as Bill. He calls the police and is questioned by detective Whalen (

Ken Christy Robert Kenneth Christy (November 23, 1894 – July 23, 1962) was an American television, film, and radio character actor. Early life Born Robert Kenneth Christy, he was the second of three children of Alice Christy and Olivier B. Christy. ...

) about his finding, but he doesn't reveal that he had witnessed Bill's meeting with Tip two nights before. Tip realises that Arno has kept his mouth shut, and as a reward he offers Arno a job in his operation. Arno accepts the offer and later in the day, after escaping from the friendly Rhino, he meets with his government contact. Arno and the contact investigates a box from Bill's warehouse and discovers that it is empty instead of containing furs as declared. They suspect that the furs have been removed at sea and never entered the dock, but they cannot determine how the stolen cargo was then delivered to shore to be apprehended by Tip. Arno returns to Connie's in the evening and a regular at the bar, a retired old sea captain ( Harry Shannon), recognizes Arno. Arno, however, does not reveal any information about who he is. Later Arno slips Rhino a drink with knockout drops, and goes to investigate the plumber's shop. There he discovers a hidden trap door that leads down to the water. The morning after, Tip tells Arno and Rhino that they will be doing a job that night. He warns them not to leave each other's sight. Through information from his regular contact, an organ grinder (Julian Rivero), Arno sends a message to the authorities to tell about what is going down, but Connie somehow intercepts it. Rhino and Arno meet with the boss of the smuggler gang, who is revealed to be the old sea captain Arno met the night before. All the men take a row boat out to the ship and steal a shipment of furs that have been packaged together. They bring the furs by boat in on the water under the plumbing store and pass the bales up through the trap door. The police are waiting in the store to arrest the gang, since Connie has tipped them off after getting Arno's message. Later, Connie tells Arno that she had been trying to capture the murderers of her husband, the captain of a freighter. All the time she suspected that Arno was no real criminal because "he danced too well for a dock rat."

Cast

as Jess Arno *

as Silky *

as Rhino *

as Tip Banning *

Peggy Converse Peggy Converse (April 3, 1905, Oregon City, Oregon – March 2, 2001, Los Angeles, California) was an American stage, film, and television actress whose lengthy career spanned seven decades. She began acting at the age of 16 in Los Angeles. ...

as Connie * Harry Shannon as Captain *

James Flavin James William Flavin Jr. (May 14, 1906 – April 23, 1976) was an American character actor whose career lasted for nearly half a century. Early life The son of a hotel waiter of Canadian-English descent,Flavin's obituary, distributed by United ...

as Sergeant Briggs *

Julian Rivero Julian Rivero (July 25, 1890 – February 24, 1976) was an American actor whose career spanned seven decades. He made his film debut in the 1923 silent melodrama, ''The Bright Shawl'', which starred Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Gish, William Powe ...

as Organ grinder *

as Detective Whalen * William Forrest as Anderson *Alan Bridge as Elmer Hood * Paul Marion as Bill Falls

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devils Henchman, The 1949 films 1949 crime drama films American crime drama films Columbia Pictures films Films directed by Seymour Friedman American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films