The Narrow Margin (1952)

During the classic film noir era passenger trains were still a popular form of mass transportation. For that reason, trains often figure not only in the plot of film noirs, but many movies in other genres from the 1940s to 1950s. Among the film noirs in which a train plays prominent role is The Narrow Margin (1952), directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor. 

In The Narrow Margin (1952), Detective Sergeant Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) and Detective Sergeant Gus Forbes (Don Beddoe) are assigned to protect Mrs. Frankie Neall (Mrs. Marie Windsor), a mobster's widow who is testifying before a grand jury against the mob. Quite naturally, the mob wants to stop them as they are travelling on a train from Los Angeles to Chicago 

The Narrow Margin (1952) was based on an unpublished story titled "Target" by Mark Goldsmith and Jack Leonard. RKO bought the rights to the story and production began on the film under that title. The Narrow Margin (1952) was produced as a B-movie, with a budget of $230,000. It was shot in only 13 days. Given most of the movie is set aboard a train, the majority of The Narrow Margin (1952) was shot on sets at RKO, with exteriors shot at Union Station in Los Angeles and Santa Fe Railroad Depot in San Bernadino, California. Stock footage was also used in a good deal of the movie (the backgrounds seen through the train's windows). The film used extensive use of hand-held cameras, which was somewhat revolutionary at the time.

Director Richard Fleischer has said that RKO owner Howard Hughes was so enamoured with The Narrow Margin (1952), that he considered reshooting the film with  with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell so that it could be released as an A picture. For whatever reason, this never happened. , William Cameron Menzies did shoot additional scenes to add to the movie's length. For reasons that are none too clear today, The Narrow Margin (1952) was delayed for two years before it was released. 

The Narrow Margin (1952) received largely positive reviews. Howard Thompson of The New York Times wrote in his review, "Using a small cast of comparative unknowns, headed by Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor and Jacqueline White, this inexpensive Stanley Rubin production for R. K. O. is almost a model of electric tension that, at least technically, nudges some of the screen's thriller milestones." The Narrow Margin (1952) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Story. The movie has maintained its reputation ever since. It boasts a 100% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and it is still highly regarded by film historians.

The Narrow Margin (1952) would be a turning point in director Richard Fleischer's career. Prior to The Narrow Margin (1952), he had worked on B-movies, all the while wanting to move to directing A-pictures. When Howard Hughes was unhappy with John Farrow's handling of the A-picture His Kind of Woman (1952), Howard Hughes hired Richard Fleischer to re-write and re-shoot portions of the movie. It was because he was happy with Richard Flesicher's work on His Kind of Woman (1952) that Howard Hughes loaned him to Stanley Kramer to direct The Happy Time (1952). Stanley Kramer would go onto direct such films as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), The Vikings (1958), and Fantastic Voyage (1966). 

The Narrow Margin was remade in 1990 as Narrow Margin, starring Gene Hackman and Anne Archer. Narrow Margin (1990) received mixed reviews upon its release. Since then reviews have grown a bit more positive, although it has never matched the reputation of the original.

Although The Narrow Margin (1950) may not be as well-known as Double Indemnity (1944) or The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), it is certainly one of the quintessential noirs. The train setting with its narrow corridors gives the film a sense of claustrophobia that director Richard Fleischer and cinematographer George E. Diskant both exploited. The characters (cop Brown and gangster's widow Frankie Neall) don't particularly like each other and their dialogue can be particularly "hard-boiled." It is certainly one of the best noirs set on a train and one of the best noirs ever made.