Pushover (1954)

The MPAA Production Code enforced throughout much of the Golden Age of Hollywood included a list of subjects that must be treated with special care, including "...titles or scenes having to do with law enforcement or law enforcing officers." For that reason, corrupt police officers were rarely seen in American movies for much of the era. By the late 1940s, the Production Code had begun to weaken, so crooked cops began to appear much more frequently in movies, especially in film noir. Pushover (1954) was among those movies to feature a corrupt police officer, What is surprising is that the police officer was played by Fred MacMurray, who usually played good guys (Double Indemnity and The Apartment being notable exceptions).

Pushover (1954) begins with a bank robbery in which one of the robbers Harry Wheeler (Paul Richards) not only makes off with $250,000 but kills a bank guard in the process. Among the police officers charged with bringing Wheeler to justice and getting the money back is detective Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray). The cops then stake out the apartment of Wheeler's girlfriend, Lorna McLane (Kim Novak), in hopes that she will lead them to Wheeler and the loot. Unfortunately, Paul Sheridan takes a bit too much of an interest in Lorna McLane.

Pushover (1954) began with producer Philip Waxman, who had earlier produced the 1951 film noir The Big Night for United Artists. Mr. Waxman bought the rights to the novel The Night Watch by Thomas Walsh, which had been serialized in The Saturday Evening Post. It was adapted as a screenplay by Orin Jennings and Stanley Ellin. Philip Waxman then sold the screenplay to Columbia Pictures. While Philip Waxman remained an associate producer on the movie, Columbia assigned Pushover (1954) to producer Jules Schermer, who had earlier produced such movies as Framed (1947), Union Station (1950), The Pride of St. Louis (1952), and Pickup on South Street (1953).

It was at Columbia that, Pushover (1954) would take inspiration from another novel besides The Night Watch. The film took the idea of a corrupt cop who wants the money from a bank heist. From the novel Rafferty by William S. Ballinger Pushover (1954) took the idea of a detective becoming obsessed with a woman he was observing during a stakeout. The new screenplay was written by Roy Huggins. Roy Huggins had written the novels The Double Take, Too Late for Tears, and Lovely Lady, Pity Me, as well as the screenplay for 1948's I Love Trouble (based on his novel The Double Take), Too Late for Tears (based on his novel of the same name), The Good Humor Man (1950), and other films. Today he may be best known as the creator of the show Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, The Fugitive, and The Rockford Files.

One change would be made from Roy Huggins's screenplay that he did not particularly care for. Producer Jules Schermer did not particularly like the ending of Mr. Huggins's screenplay, so he took elements from an earlier film he had produced, Framed (1947), starring Glenn Ford. When Roy Huggins saw a rough cut of Pushover (1954), he commented to the producer, "You've ruined my picture. Pushover (1954) would go through the working titles The Killer Wore a Badge (the title under which The Night Watch had been serialized in The Saturday Evening Post), 322 French Street, and The Night Watch.


Pushover (1954) went into limited release on July 14 1954 and then wide release on August 6 1954. The film received generally positive, if not overly enthusiastic reviews. The review from the July 28 1954 issue of Variety read, "Pushover is a cops-n-robbers meller whose suspense holds up despite its mite too long 88 minutes running time." The New York Times review from July 31 1954 was modestly positive, noting the resemblance of Fred MacMurray's role to that in Double Indemnity while at the same time noting, "Viewed strictly on its own, as it should be, this modest Columbia melodrama is a creditable job for about half the time." The critic from The Chicago Tribune wrote, "MacMurray is blunt and believable, and young Phil Carey does very well as his partner. The film has been previously produced, but it's not bad, as crime melodramas go." Audiences liked the movie, as Pushover (1954) did well at the box office.

Of course, Pushover (!954) is notable for giving Kim Novak her first starring role as Lorna McLane. Even at this point in her career, Miss Novak seemed to be every inch a movie star. Fred McMurray, even then known for more wholesome roles, does a good job of playing corrupt cop Paul Sheridan, who is obsessed with Lorna. The rest of the cast is notable as well. Philip Carey does a good job of playing Rick McAllister, the young police officer who realizes that Sheridan is not what he should be. Dorothy Malone gives a good performance as McAllister's love interest, Ann Stewart. E. G. Marshall plays Police Lieutenant Karl Eckstrom.

While Pushover does owe a good deal to other film noirs, Roy Huggins's screenplay is very well done, allowing suspense to build at a moderate pace. Richard Quine also provided the film with appropriately taut direction. Starting an acting career as a child actor in films from Cavalcade (1930) to Little Men (1934), Mr. Quine had taken up directing with the movie Leather Gloves (1948). After Pushover (1954), he would go on to direct such movies as My Sister Eileen (1955), The World of Suzie Wong (1960), The Notorious Landlady (1962), and Sex and the Single Girl (1964).

While Pushover (1954) does not rank among the most famous films noirs, it would be one of the influences on d Jean-Luc Godard's film Breathless, alongside such fellow films noirs as Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) and Gun Crazy (1950).  It is understandable why Mr. Godard would have been impressed with Pushover. While somewhat derivative of other films, it is a tense film noir with several good performances and a plot that will keep viewers hooked for the entirety of its running time.

"Baby Love" by The Supremes

Today is cold and extremely windy and I feel under the weather, so this evening I will leave you with one of my favourite songs. "Baby Love" would be one of the earliest and biggest hits for The Supremes. It was written by the songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, who wrote and produced many of The Supremes' hits, as well as hits for Martha and The Vandellas and The Four Tops.

"Baby Love" hit no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 31 1964. It was their second number one, after "Where Did Our Love Go?," making them the first Motown group to have more than one number one record. It hit no. 1 on the UK singles chart on November 19 1964, making them the first all-female group to have a number one record on the chart. Across the Pond, it was still at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Hawk: An Obscure Burt Reynolds TV Series

In the Sixties, Burt Reynolds's star was on the rise. Since the late Fifties, he had made several guest appearances on television. Starting in 1962 he played half-Comanche blacksmith Quint Asper on Gunsmoke. In 1966 he starred in the spaghetti Western Navajo Joe. It should have then come as no surprise that Burt Reynolds received his own television series in 1966. Hawk was historic as the first American television show to centre on a Native American in a modern-day setting (it was preceded by Brave Eagle and Broken Arrow, which were both  Westerns).

Hawk starred Burt Reynolds as New York City police lieutenant John Hawk, who was full-blooded Iroquois. Hawk worked as a special investigator for the District Attorney's office. His partner was Dan Carter (Wayne Grice). Bruce Glover played Assistant District Attorney Murray Slaken, while Leon Janney played Assistant District Attorney Ed Gorton.

Hawk was created by Allan Sloane, who had written for such television series as The Big Story, Navy Log, Lamp Unto My Feet, and East Side/West Side. He was among the entertainment professionals who had been listed in the right-wing, anti-Communist pamphlet Red Channels. As a result in November 1952, CBS informed him that it would no longer accept any of his scripts. Fortunately, Mr. Sloane would find his way back to working in the television industry.

Hawk was one of a number of Native American roles Burt Reynolds played in his career, including Quint on Gunsmoke. For much of his career, Burt Reynolds claimed to be Cherokee. In his memoir But Enough About Me, Mr. Reynolds wrote "My dad had Native American blood. By the time it got down to me there wasn't much left, but I was proud of what there was."  Regardless, none of Burt Reynold's ancestry has been verified to have been Native American, despite his claims and the fact that he played many Native Americans throughout his career.

Aside from featuring a lead character who was Native American, Hawk was a bit ahead of its time in other ways. The show was filmed on the streets of New York City. Only a few shows before Hawk, such as Naked City and Route 66 regularly shot on location, with most series during the 1966-1967 season still being shot on studio backlots. Hawk also had a grittier, more realistic feel than many police dramas of its time, and in some ways was closer to such Seventies movies as The French Connection (1971), Serpico (1973), and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974).

Hawk debuted on ABC on September 8 1966. For the most part, the series received positive reviews. Harry Harris of The Philadelphia Inquirer described Hawk as "Taut, suspenseful." Jack Gould wrote in The New York Times, "Enough virtues to suggest the series may find a niche for itself." Terence O'Flaherty called Hawk, "One of the best crafted of the new television programs." While Hawk received positive notices, it did not receive good ratings. Hawk aired on Thursday night at 10:00 Eastern/9:00 Central opposite The Dean Martin Show on NBC (which ranked no. 14 for the season) and The CBS Thursday Night Movie (which ranked no. 29 for the season). Against such competition, Hawk did so poorly that it was cancelled on December 29 1966 after only 17 episodes.

NBC aired repeats of Hawk during the spring of 1976 following Burt Reynolds's success in such movies as Deliverance (1972) and The Longest Yard (1974). In the Eighties, Colex Enterprises syndicated Hawk to local stations. More recently, it has aired on GetTV,

By today's standards Hawk is somewhat problematic. If made today, the question of Burt Reynold's Naive American heritage or lack thereof would make the show controversial. In fact, it seems likely that if Hawk had been made today an enrolled member of a Native American tribe would be cast as John Hawk. As it was for much of the 20th Century it was standard procedure for white people or other ethnicities to be cast as American Indians. On the 1950s television show Brave Eagle, the title character was played by Keith Larsen, who was Scottish, Danish, and Spanish in descent. In the Fifties, Middle-Eastern-born Michael Ansara played lead roles as Native Americans no less than twice, playing Cochise in the TV show Broken Arrow and Deputy Marshal Sam Buckhart in Law of the Plainsman.

Another problem with Hawk is that the show is essentially an assimilationist narrative. While we are told John Hawk is Iroquois, the culture and customs of the tribe play no real role on the show. John Hawk has been thoroughly assimilated into white society. This is in sharp contrast to later shows centred on Native American lawmen. While the star of Nakia, Robert Forster, was English and Italian in descent, the show often acknowledged Navajo traditions and customs. The three adaptations of Tony Hillerman's "Leaphorn and Chee" novels that aired on PBS and the current series Dark Winds (also based on Tony Hillerman's) not only feature Native American actors in the lead roles but go even further in the portrayal of Navajo culture.

While Hawk never dealt with the customs and culture of the Iroquois, the show is notable in dealing with the racism and discrimination that John Hawk faced, both on the streets of New York City and in the District Attorney's Office. While several television Westerns had dealt with racism against American Indians over the years, in the Fifties and Sixties it was rare that discrimination against Native Americans was dealt with in a modern setting.

Of course, as noted above Hawk was the first American show to centred on a Native American in a modern setting. Outside of Westerns, Native Americans were nearly invisible on American television. It was rare that Native Americans appeared in a modern setting. The absence of Native Americans from shows set in the present day for much of American television's history could well give the impression that Native Americans are a thing of the past, that they have gone extinct, or that they are no longer relevant.

The past several years have seen representation of Native Americans in films and on television somewhat improve from what it was. Not only have there been shows starring Native Americans, but shows made by Native Americans as well. This has allowed for much more accurate portrayals of Native life. While Hawk had many flaws, in some ways the show did pave the way for Native American characters on television.