Jerome Ziegel The decades of '40 and '50 (actually, the middles of these decades, 1945- 1955) was the golden age of film noir. During that period, Hollywood gave us a series of movies that was dark, disturbing and atmospheric. "Call Northside 777" is, simply, one the finest noir ever made. The lightning, the acting, the script and the story are superb, all in a movie that grows up in suspense and drama as long as the minutes go on. This is not among the most famous films noir of the golden age, but sure is one of the greatest!!!!! An obscure gem that deserves be watching several times. James Stewart is GREAT, as always, and Henry Hathaway does a good job in direction, with his solid and classic way of work. Don't miss it.

James Hitchcock According to this film, there were 365 murders in Chicago in 1932, "one for every day of the year". (Actually, someone seems to have forgotten that 1932 was a leap year. Was nobody killed on 29th February?) Presumably people in 1948 were supposed to find that figure particularly appalling, a shocking reminder of just how high the crime rate was in the Bad Old Days of Prohibition, but today it would be a very low one. In 2013 there were 415 murders in Chicago, and this was the lowest figure since the mid-sixties. On several occasions during the seventies, eighties and nineties the annual figure rose to nearly a thousand. "Call Northside 777" tells the story of one of those killings, that of Police Officer William Lundy. Two young Polish-Americans named Joseph Majczek and Theodore Marcinkiewicz were convicted of the crime and sentenced to 99 years in prison, but doubts remained as to their guilt. The film is based on the facts of the case, but the names of the parties involved are changed. The dead officer becomes John Bundy and the two convicted men Frank Wiecek and Tomek Zaleska. In 1944, eleven years after the convictions of Wiecek and Zaleska, the city editor of the Chicago Times notices a classified advertisement in his newspaper offering a $5,000 reward for information about Bundy's killers. He assigns a reporter named Jim McNeal (based on a real journalist named Jim McGuire) to investigate. McNeal discovers that the ad has been placed by Wiecek's elderly mother who believes strongly in her son's innocence. (The ad asks people with information to "call Northside 777" which is her telephone number). McNeal is initially sceptical, believing Wiecek to be guilty, but as he uncovers more evidence he changes his mind, and the paper launches a campaign to prove the innocence of the two men. The police and the state attorney's office, however, are unwilling to admit that a miscarriage of justice has taken place, and try to cover up any evidence which might establish their innocence. The film ends with Wiecek (based on Majczek) triumphantly vindicated but Zaleska (based on Marcinkiewicz) remains in jail, seemingly forgotten. The reason was that by 1948, when the film was made, Majczek had been released from jail but Marcinkiewicz had not as the authorities were not yet satisfied that he had played no part in the murder. (He was eventually cleared of the crime and released in 1950). Although the real-life events upon which the film was based had occurred only a few years before it was made, meaning that most people would have been aware of Majczek's release, director Henry Hathaway nevertheless provides a tense, thriller-style ending in which McNeal, Wiecek's lawyer and the members of the parole board anxiously await the arrival of a key piece of evidence which might prove his innocence. The film is sometimes described as a film noir, but I am not sure that it really belongs in that category. I sometimes think that the genre might more accurately have been called "film gris". The great noirs may have been made using black-and-white photography- Hathaway was later to make "Niagara", one of the very few colour examples- but morally they tended to avoid black-and-white absolutes, painting everything in various shades of grey. In "Call Northside 777" there are plenty of black-and-white absolutes- more film noir-et-blanc than film noir. Wiecek is a noble character unjustly wronged by the system, McNeal is a tireless crusader for justice. Those who seek to impede McNeal's investigations for self-serving reasons are contemptible. Later in his career, particularly in some of the Westerns he made with Anthony Mann in the fifties, James Stewart showed that he was an actor who could deal very well with moral ambiguity and shades of grey, but in the forties he was more associated with straightforward "Mr Nice Guy" characters, and gives a fine performance as the determined and selfless McNeal. Another good contribution comes from Lee J. Cobb as his editor Brian Kelly. "Call Northside 777" is made in a semi-documentary style, closely following the facts of the Majczek and Marcinkiewicz case. It is an efficient mixture of documentary and crime thriller, paving the way for later films based upon real-life miscarriages (or alleged miscarriages) of justice such as "I Want to Live!" and the British-made "Yield to the Night". 7/10

Dalbert Pringle Released in 1948 - This intense, well-scripted Crime/Drama, starring James Stewart and Richard Conte, was greatly enhanced by excellent location shooting in and around Chicago.Apparently based on actual events, this b&w gem from the glorious 40s was partially shot in a semi-documentary format.Call Northside 777 tells the in-depth tale of hard-nosed news-reporter, P.J. McNeal, at the Chicago Times, who eventually proves that a man who was sentenced to life in prison for shooting down a police officer 11 years earlier was wrongly convicted.As the evidence of this man's innocence begins to slowly take shape, McNeal's skepticism soon turns around as he finds himself going well out of his way in search for justice for this man.This first-rate motion picture was directed by Henry Hathaway whose other notable films include - The Dark Corner, Niagara, and True Grit.

cowboyandvampire Call Northside 777 is half documentary, half ode to newspaper men and half noir thriller and — yes, it's completely oblivious to basic math. In fact, it socks math right on the nose gives it the bum's rush right into the gutter. The movie — ostensibly based on a true story — follows the case of two men sent to prison for allegedly killing a policeman who'd stopped in for a wee dram at a speakeasy during the Prohibition era.Fast forward 11 years — everyone is happily soused again while the pair of cop-killers are rotting in prison. But then the editor of the Chicago paper happens to see a curious classified ad: "$5,000 reward for information leading the exoneration of the one of the men. Call Northside 777 for details." The hard-bitten and probably boozy newshound smells a story and assigns his ace reporter P.J. McNeal — played by Jimmy Stewart playing the part of Jimmy Stewart. And of course, P.J. doesn't want to touch the story. But something doesn't smell quite right, like the fact that the mother of one of the convicts (played by the earnest Richard Conte) has been scrubbing floors and saving her dimes for a decade to put up the reward.This just in: human interest stories can move papers. Pretty soon, P.J. has his typewriter limbered up and he's clacking out stories that have all of Chicago sitting up and taking notice, including the flatfoots who would like to avoid any embarrassment of potentially incarcerating innocent men for a decade.The action is slow, at least compared to many noir movies, but it does provide an intense look at Chicago back in the day when newspapers still mattered. And for two possibly innocent men, the newspaper really mattered.The scenes between Jimmy Stewart and his wife (played by Helen Walker) are especially charming — "You look nice. Will you marry me?" "I did." "Oh yeah, that's right. Thanks." — but Wanda Skutnik is a character who shall live on in infamy.