The Big Operator (1959 film)

The Big Operator
Directed by	Charles F. Haas
Produced by	Albert Zugsmith; Red Doff
Written by	Paul Gallico; Allen Rivkin; Robert Smith
Starring	Mickey Rooney; Steve Cochran; Mamie Van Doren; Ray Danton; Mel Tormé
Music by	Van Alexander
Cinematography	Walter Castle
Edited by	Ben Lewis
Production; company	Albert Zugsmith Productions; Fryman Productions
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	August 1959;
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$527,000[1]
Box office	$680,000[1]

The Big Operator (a.k.a. Anatomy of the Syndicate) is a 1959 crime/drama film starring Mickey Rooney as a corrupt union boss, with Steve Cochran, Mel Torme and Mamie Van Doren as co-stars. The film is a remake of Joe Smith, American (1942) with labor union thugs replacing Axis spies.

Plot

Ruthless labor official "Little Joe" Braun is about to face questioning from a Senate committee. The night before, he sends a hit man, Oscar "The Executioner" Wetzel, to kill a witness named Tragg and steal incriminating documents in Tragg's possession at a factory.

Plant workers and friends Bill Gibson and Fred McAfee are accidental eyewitnesses to Wetzel's presence at the crime scene. Braun pleads the Fifth Amendment during his Senate testimony and vehemently denies knowing the mob enforcer Wetzel. But with a perjury charge facing him, Braun is made aware that Gibson and McAfee could potentially put him behind bars.

A reign of terror against the two men begins. They are harassed at work and then fired on false grounds. McAfee is set afire and nearly dies from the burns. Gibson and wife Mary panic after their son Timmy is taken captive.

Gibson, who had been blindfolded in Braun's car, recreates and retraces with great difficulty the way to a hideout where Timmy is being held. He and the authorities can't find Braun or the boy and are about to give up when they spot Braun's cigar, still burning in an ashtray. They find him cowering in a closet with the boy, then drag him away to jail.

Cast

Mickey Rooney as Little Joe Braun
Steve Cochran as Bill Gibson
Mamie Van Doren as Mary Gibson
Ray Danton as Oscar 'The Executioner' Wetzel
Mel Tormé as Fred McAfee
Ray Anthony as Slim Clayburn
Jim Backus as Cliff Heldon
Jackie Coogan as Ed Brannell
Joey Forman as Ray Bailey
Charles Chaplin, Jr. as Bill Tragg
Vampira as Gina
Jay North as Timmy Gibson

Box office

The film earned $330,000 in the US and Canada and $350,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $253,000.[1]

gollark: Also, it compiles to native code → quite fast.

gollark: Anyway, nim can compile to JS so you could something something something javascriptoidal forms.

gollark: quintopia.

gollark: See, ABR says so → do.

gollark: ++choose "implement iterated prisoner's dilemma thing" "do not implement iterated prisoner's dilemma thing"

References

The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.

External links

The Big Operator on IMDb
The Big Operator at the TCM Movie Database

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[Mannix-1] The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.