Review of Call Northside 777 (1948) by Cyrus B — 13 May 2008

CALL NORTHSIDE 777.

Call Northside 777(Details here), carries with it, all the high expectations that a film starring James Stewart usually does, and this one does not disappoint.

The story centre's around a reporter(James Stewart), who looks into an eleven year old murder case, due to a mother's protest of her son's innocence. He starts off believing the subject is guilty, but as the film progresses, both James Stewart and us as the audience find ourselves rooting for justice and the freedom of the convicted man.

James Stewart gives his usual excellent performance, which to some extent carries the film. The supporting cast come across as cliché from time to time, but when considering this, we remember that this was one of the films responsible for the cliché in the first place, so instead it just seems a little dated.

The pacing of the film begins as a very fast and disorientating journey through the arrest, interrogation and sentencing of the supposed murderer's. A vast change of speed occurs when the reporter is introduced, slowing down the movie into a steady investigation that slowly builds momentum as we get more interested in the characters and the narrative. This successfully emphasizes further, the chaotic and confusing element of the opening stages.

In terms of style, Call Northside 777 opens as a very simple piece, that gradually develops into a brooding noir environment, where each dark and shady corridor leads to an even more sinister room that displays an array of shadows and foreboding sillhouettes. Not the finest example of film noir, but still a beautiful piece of cinema.

Whilst the film may have many assets, it does suffer from from a modern point of veiw, however as it is a period piece, it does manage to evade this criticism, but the lesser cinema fan may be put off.

In summation, this film is not a 'must buy' for all audiences, but for those who enjoy film noir and James Stewart, this film is well worth watching, not to mention it's intelligent editing that shows us more than most filmmakers would, giving us a realistic and three dimensional view of the character. Anyone who appretiates the finer points of cinema would do well to give this film a veiwing, not exceptional, but still a solid film with a great narrative, cinematic style and of course, wonderful lead actor.