T-Men (1947)

When the American Treasure Department finds that a gang in Los Angeles is making false currency, agents Dennis O'Brien (Dennis O'Keefe) and Tony Genaro (Alfred Ryder) are assigned to investigate the counterfeit gang using the identities of Vannie Harrigan and Tony Galvani in Detroit. Along their investigation they join the gang of mobsters trying to discover who the boss behind the scheme is."T-Men" is a great thriller labelled of film-noir. The documentary style is interesting and there are surprising twists along the story. The performances are great and the direction of Anthony Mann is top notch. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Moeda Falsa" ("False Coin")

The documentary style film was popular after the war, with a serious voice narrating the action. A lot of these films had to do with crime, sometimes where the government was involved. In this film, "T-Men," Dennis O'Keefe, Alfred Ryder, and Wallace Ford star. O'Keefe and Ryder go undercover to break a gang of counterfeiters.As a noir, this holds up well. For one thing, it's directed by Anthony Mann, who had a great feel for this type of film. Shot in black and white, it's gritty, it's violent, and it makes great use of light and shadow, courtesy of cinematographer John Alton, another master at this type of film.The acting is okay, with Wallace Ford having a showier role than the two treasury agents.My mother always liked Alfred Ryder on the many television shows in which he appeared; in the '80s, he and his sister, Olive Deering, an actress beloved by Tennessee Willias, often ate at the same restaurant I did. Alfred wasn't crazy about the service. He once said, "There are no more real waiters. Only actors." Since he worked until he died, I'd say he was one of the lucky ones who never saw a table he had to wait on.

This dark thriller is a powerful documentary-style drama which is justifiably recognised as a film noir classic. Its combination of gritty realism, an intriguing story and plenty of suspense, makes it utterly compelling to watch and its striking visual style is simply awesome.Dennis O'Brien (Dennis O'Keefe) and Tony Genaro (Alfred Ryder) are U.S. Treasury agents (T-Men) who are assigned to a case which involves them in going undercover to infiltrate a gang of counterfeiters. Working under assumed names, they go to Detroit and pose as the only surviving members of a well known gang and are accepted by local mob boss Carlo Vantucci (Anton Costa) who employs them to work on his counterfeit liquor stamps racket.It soon becomes apparent that a man called "The Schemer" (Wallace Ford) is the gang's L.A. connection and O'Brien immediately leaves for L.A. to follow up this lead. His subsequent contact with "The Schemer" helps him to meet people at progressively higher positions in the organisation as he tries to find out the identity of the man in charge.After Genaro has joined O'Brien in L.A. the boss of the gang arrives by ship from China and O'Brien meets Diana Simpson (Jane Randolph) who is second in command of the organisation. She distrusts "The Schemer" and ruthlessly arranges to have him killed. "The Schemer", however, had kept a written record of the gang's activities and the discovery of his notebook eventually enables the Treasury Department to ascertain all the knowledge they require to bring the gang's work to an end.The story is based on records of actual Treasury Deapartment investigations and its authenticity is emphasised by the movie's very formal introduction which is spoken by a Treasury official. The two agents are incredibly dedicated and endure tremendous hardships as they pursue their investigation. They suffer great physical violence, the constant fear of being exposed as T-Men and both find themselves in situations where they have to severely repress their natural feelings and reactions to events because to do otherwise would blow their cover. These men fit into their criminal roles with a level of ease and enthusiasm which suggests that their aptitude for the work might well be rooted in some darker recesses of their psychological make up than even they are able to recognise.The skillful work of director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton is exemplary. The camera-work is incredibly inventive with some great low angle shots which work really well, including one in which the audience see the action from floor level whilst looking up through a table lamp. The use of close ups contributes to the tension generated in some scenes and creative use of steam, smoke and chiaroscuro lighting reinforce the overall atmosphere of the piece."T-Men" is an exciting and sometimes violent film with particularly good performances from the actors in the lead roles and some rather tense sequences in which O'Brien and Genaro find themselves in very dangerous predicaments.

Agents from the Treasury Department go undercover as mobsters to expose a counterfeiting ring. Told in a documentary style that had become popular in late 1940s, this one is a mixed bag. The first third of the film has nearly non-stop voice-over narration, which is quite annoying as the narration is mostly superfluous, seemingly being done for the visually impaired. Once the narrator stops babbling, the film picks up some steam, although it rarely rises above mediocrity despite the crisp film noir cinematography. Mann does a competent job of overcoming the weaknesses in the script, including a chilling murder scene in a steam bath.