Odds Against Tomorrow (Screen 1)

1959 - 96 mins - Director: Robert Wise - Cast: Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan - b&w - DCPDisgraced ex-NYC cop Dave Burke (Ed Begley) masterminds a piece-of-cake bank robbery, but to pull it off, he requires the cooperation of two dangerously mismatched cohorts: hot-headed war veteran Earle Slater (Robert Ryan) and gambling-addict jazzman Johnny Ingram (Harry Belafonte). Their racist antagonism threatens to thwart a seemingly foolproof plan. Odds Against Tomorrow is an all-time classic heist thriller--and much more.Silent producer Belafonte hired blacklisted screenwriter Abraham Polonsky (Force of Evil) to adapt William P. McGivern's (The Big Heat) novel, specifically to subvert the sanctimony of The Defiant Ones (1958), a feel good movie about racism. Robert Wise's direction is as fresh and expressive as anything being done by the French New Wave of the period, and the score by John Lewis's Modern Jazz Quartet is innovative and exhilarating. The film features vivid supporting performances by Shelley Winters, Kim Hamilton, and Gloria Grahame.CREDITSDirector: Robert WiseCast: Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters, Ed Begley, Gloria Grahame, Kim HamiltonScreenplay: Abraham Polonsky, Nelson GiddingCinematographer: Joseph C. BrunMusic: John LewisProduction: HarBel Productions
Original Distributor: United ArtistsPresentation: DCP / b&w / 1.85: 1