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Too much of everything

To me, this movie is perfection.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

This is possibly and probably the best film of journalism ever made, with Humphrey Bogart at the peak of his powers waging everything as an editor to save the life of his newspaper against impossible odds, seconded by his many times divorced wife Kim Hunter, Ethel Barrymore as a moral heavyweight, and editor-assistant Ed Begley among many others. This is actually a requiem for a newspaper based on a true story but written and directed by Richard Brooks in what is probably his best film. Everything in it is perfect and especially the dialogue, which keeps you breathless throughout the film - it never slows down but is always pertinent, witty and important - not a word is wasted in this torrent of argument. Although there are thriller elements, since the main theme is battling corruption with the quest for truth as the main instrument, it's at the same time hilariously entertaining, but especially enjoyable to those who relish an intelligent argument.

Humphrey Bogart tries to avert The Day, the paper he is head of, from being sold. The film brings out the importance of competition within newspapers as The Day tries to expose the gangster Rienzi, nicely portrayed by Martin Gabel. Had the latter's part be enlarged, Bogart could have easily played that part.Why did Ethel Barrymore, who plays Mrs. Garrison, the widow of the owner of the paper, change her mind about selling the paper. She had two selfish daughters who only saw the gaining of money in the scheme of things.Rienzi is ruthless and will go to any length to keep his crooked enterprises thriving. This includes murdering his mistress when her own brother turns her in to the mob, and then he makes sure to eliminate the brother. Their poor elderly mother defies this gangster and gets the newspaper to print its final edition with her diary being used by the paper.The picture really brings out the tragedy of when a newspaper is sold and the new owner has the intentions of running it to the ground.We have an excellent cast here supporting Bogart. Kim Hunter is effective as his ex-wife, who still loves him. Ed Begley and Audrey Christie, both of whom would appear together 12 years later in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," are appealing as dedicated staff members, as does Jim Backus and others.

***SPOILER ALERT*** Solid newspaper drama that has a two tier storyline involving the hard hitting no nonsense managing editor Ed Hutcheson, Humphrey Bogart, of the big city newspaper "The Day". Hutcheson is involved in a number of crisis in the 87 minute film including his wife Nora, Kim Hunter, leaving him for another man her boss at the advertising agency Lewis Shaefer, Phillip Terry, with his newspaper about to be bought up with it's 1,500 employees.Hutcheson himself is also giving the pink slip and at the same time, with time running out, tries to get the goods on big time mobster Thomas Rienzi, Martin Gable. Rienzi had his estranged girlfriend former fashion model Sally Schmidt, Ann McCrea, murdered as well as have his thugs work over Hutcheson's star reporter George Borrows, Warren Stevens, who was about to break to case wide open. Knowing that there's little or no chance to save his newspaper "The Day" editor Hutcheson takes on a local murder case as the papers last headline story that in the end leads straight to city Mafiso chief Thomas Rienzi. Sally Schmidt, known as Bessie Gardner, had a falling out with her hoodlum boyfriend and was later found floating in the river. Sally had secretly put some $200,000.00 of Rienzi's hot money away in a bank safe deposit box that he was to use in fixing the city and state elections.Given the story Day reporter George Borrows ends up badly beaten by the Rienzi Mob which has Hutcheson go all out to get the mob chief at the expense of his own life and safety. With the help of a number of contacts in the State Boxing Commission Hutcheson gets to smoke out Sally's brother Herman, Joe de Santis,who unwittingly set poor Sally up for a mob hit. Rienzi in an effort to shut Herman up has a number of his hoods impersonate policemen as they kidnap Herman right out of the Day editor room and have him gunned down, and falling to his death on the news printing machines, as he tried to escape.With nothing on Thomas Rienzi Hutcheson is about to close the paper after the last and final edition but it's then when elderly Mrs. Schmidt, Kasia Orzazewski, Sally and Herman's mom shows up at the Day offices with enough evidence, that Sally secretly left her, to put the grinning and feeling secure Thomas Rienzi and his gang away for the rest of their lives.One of Humphrey Bogart's most underrated and forgotten films. "Deadline USA" is by far one, if not, the best motion picture about not only the newspaper business but free speech ever to come out of Hollywood in the last 50 or so years. We see in the film how the news is handled, by trying to ascertain and then confirm it, by a top and respected city daily. it was very sad to see ****SPOILER***that in the end Hutcheson lost his battle to keep "The Day" from going under by it being swallowed up by it's competition the tabloid newspaper "The Standard". Hutchenson getting the big mob boss Thomas Rienzi put out of action and behind bars was more then worth his courageous but losing effort.

Deadline - U.S.A. has Humphrey Bogart as the editor of a big city newspaper that is in the process of being sold to a Rupert Murdoch like chain that publishes scandal sheets. His paper is in the process at the same time of doing an expose of notorious racketeer Martin Gabel.And if that ain't enough for Bogey his wife Kim Hunter is splitting from him. It's the usual story, she can't stand having him married to her and the paper as well.Growing up in New York in the Fifties we had several newspapers, each vying for a smaller readership. I remember we had the Times, News, Post, Herald Tribune, World-Telegram&Sun, Journal-American, and the Daily Mirror. Some of those you can see are the products of consolidation, there were more in the past. After a printer's strike in the sixties most of them went out of business. The papers were competing for a shrinking share of readership. In the previous generation, radio competed with the print media and I grew up with that new phenomenon of television. Today we are seeing the effects of the Internet as the individual's primary source for news.The gangster part of the plot gets started with the discovery of the body of a Virginia Hill like moll, the former mistress of Martin Gabel. While some of the scandal sheets cover the sensational aspects of the murder of a glamor girl, Bogey's paper does some serious investigative reporting and uncovers a lot of evidence. Their work also has consequences including the maiming of young reporter Warren Stevens.In the meantime the heirs of the newspaper's original founder are looking to sell the paper. Opposing it is their mother, Ethel Barrymore and she has a fine part and is obviously the model for the widow publisher played by Nancy Marchand in Lou Grant. She has one classic scene with Humphrey Bogart where they commiserate over their mutual problems.Deadline - U.S.A. is a realistic look at the life of a big city paper in days gone by. It's a gritty piece of nostalgia, as timely in its day as The Front Page was in the Twenties. Cast members like Paul Stewart, Jim Backus, and Ed Begley look and feel right at home at their jobs.The film is recommended particularly for younger viewers who are glued to their computers and television to see how a newspaper functioned back in the day.