Mexican PJF investigator Pablo Rodriguez (Ricardo Montalban) and US immigration inspector Jack Bearnes (George Murphy) join forces to investigate the murders of illegals at the crossings. Pablo infiltrates illegals posing as a bracero or farmhand. He befriends bracero Juan. Pablo's soft hands almost give him away but he convinces them that while he's not a bracero. He's actually wanted by the police. Meanwhile Jack follows Pablo and then tries to infiltrate the other side of the transaction masterminded by farmer Owen Parkson.I like Montalban as he infiltrated the smuggling gang. George Murphy really sticks out like a sore thumb in Mexico. I also don't like his plan to infiltrate the other side of the border. It seems ill-conceived from the very start. I would rather not have Bearnes' side of the infiltration and just have him coordinate the police. The story ends up with too many coincidences and too many questionable moves by the bad guys. It's great to have this crime drama which is well done for the era and its genre.

/Border Incident/ is successful both as a tale and as a window into 1949.The drama takes us to unusual places and situations. It has a fine range of characters. Following the number one good guy, we visit Calexico, California, a border town, we follow a truckload of illegal workers, and in their barracks we see them ponder their low pay and abusive treatment. Following the number two good guy, we see the world of deals in fake ids, management of the flow of illegals, and, ta daaa, a ring of thieves that kills illegals returning to Mexico for the wad of bills each has in his pocket.The opening exposition is straightforward, almost pedestrian. Typically 1949. Once the stage is set, "BI" changes from documentary to drama, moving forward like a play.It bothered me that the number one good guy, (Ricardo Montalban), sometimes goes out of character to augment the exposition. Would a government agent, undercover as a bracero, speak up when one of his group needs medical attention? Hardly. Would he be the one to politicize the workers in the bunkhouse? Hardly. More likely he'd keep his head down and his mouth shut. Still, the lines get delivered; the audience gets to hear them. Not ideal, but it works. As a drama I rate it: five stars.As a window on the past, Border Incident is quite fascinating. They didn't have cell phones! Both governments were against the illegal flow of workers! Ah, the good old days. NAFTA had not displaced a flood of subsistence farmers. The Mexican government had not published the infamous "Guide For The Mexican Migrant", the pamphlet which helps one cross illegally (take lots of water) and live in the US inconspicuously (avoid domestic violence -- picture of a man slugging his wife).In 1949, according to BI, US law enforcement officers were honorable people who made an honest effort to do their jobs! Mexican, the same! The cynicism (realism?) of 2009 is not present. Plenty of food for thought in the time travel aspect of Border Incident. Eight stars.Overall, 6 stars.

A film older than I am and a top as fresh as the cable news this evening.This Anthony Mann directed film noir about those on both sides of the border who prey on illegal immigrants is deftly done with a director that has extensive experience in westerns and crime movies; his greatest achievement to come a decade later - El Cid.We lost Ricardo Montalban this year, but seeing him at 28 years old was a treat. he had a dozen and a half films by that time, and he was already a good actor.Not the usual film noir in dark alleys, but in the bright Mexican desert. The scene with the quicksand was especially heinous.

How could a film dealing with illegal Mexican immigrants being robbed and beaten over the border be dull? Well, "Border Incident" is.No wonder that song and dance man George Murphy's career ended not long after this terrible film came out. Politics was certainly a way out for this future senator who dies a horrible death in this slowly paced film. The film stereotypes the typical Mexican migrant farmer worker as dimwitted and awfully dull.The film only picks up in intensity once the identities of Murphy and Ricardo Montalban have been discovered as federal agents for the U.S. and Mexico respectively.Disappointing at best, we see similar problems in our very own society today.