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The Narrow Margin

The Narrow Margin

Thriller · Crime · 1952

A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Movie details

The Narrow Margin

“A Fortune If They Seal Her Lips!...A Bullet If They Fail!”

1952 Thriller · Crime 1h 11m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Narrow Margin?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Killer's Kiss

Killer's Kiss

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Pushover

Pushover

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A police detective falls for the bank robber's girlfriend he is supposed to be tailing.

White Heat

White Heat

Crime · 1949

A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After the heist, events take a crazy turn.

The Seven-Ups

The Seven-Ups

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Notorious

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Foreign Correspondent

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American crime reporter John Jones is reassigned to Europe as a foreign correspondent to cover the imminent war. When he walks into the middle of an assassination and stumbles on a spy ring, he seeks help from a beautiful politician’s daughter and an urbane English journalist to uncover the truth.

Black Widow

Black Widow

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Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple identities, Alexandra can't prove anything with conventional detective work. With no other option, she goes undercover, pursuing the same man as Catherine, and hoping that Catherine will slip up and reveal her true identity.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Richard Fleischer

Written by

Earl Felton · Martin Goldsmith · Jack Leonard

Charles McGraw

Charles McGraw

Det. Sgt. Walter Brown

Marie Windsor

Marie Windsor

Mrs. Frankie Neall

Jacqueline White

Jacqueline White

Ann Sinclair

G

Gordon Gebert

Tommy Sinclair

Queenie Leonard

Queenie Leonard

Mrs. Troll

David Clarke

David Clarke

Joseph Kemp

P

Peter Virgo

Densel

Court is in session

Put The Narrow Margin on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.