The Racket

The Racket is a 1951 black-and-white film noir drama directed by John Cromwell with uncredited directing help from Nicholas Ray, Tay Garnett, and Mel Ferrer. The production features Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, and William Conrad. Future Perry Mason regular cast members William Talman and Ray Collins appear in key roles. The film, a remake of the 1928 film The Racket, is indirectly based on a play by Bartlett Cormack. (Edward G. Robinson played the racketeer in the original Broadway production.) Plot The plot is very close to the original play and the 1928 movie. Racketeer and mobster Nick Scanlon has managed to buy several of the local government and law-enforcement officials of a large midwestern American city. However, he can't seem to touch the incorruptible police captain Tom McQuigg, who refuses all attempts at bribery. The city's prosecuting attorney, Welsh, and a state police detective, Turk, are crooked and make McQuigg's job as an honest officer nearly impossible. McQuigg persuades sexy nightclub singer Irene Hayes to testify against Scanlon, which marks her for death. McQuigg not only wants to nail Scanlon, but also stop all the mob corruption in the city –- without getting himself or his witness killed. A bomb explodes near McQuigg's home, frightening his wife, Mary.