Review of Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) by Oliver S — 31 May 2010

A decent noir, or perhaps an early neo-noir, starring Robert Ryan and Harry Belafonte as two members of a trio planning a bank robbery who are at odds over race. Ryan plays a racist ex-con whose distrust of Belafonte because he is black brings their plan to ruins.

The visual style of the film is excellent and it is set to a good jazz score. It portrayal of racism contains interesting features, such as Ryan's inability to sustain the independence that is part and parel of his attitude toward Belafonte, but it is also at times overly melodramatic, which lends itself to a somewhat shallow critique.