One of the first films M. Rooney did after all his andy hardy films. Co-stars Jeanne Cagney (james' sister!) and Barbara Bates. Rooney would make "All Ashore" with Bates a couple years later. Dan (Rooney) borrows money from the company till and it all goes downhill from there. and of course, keep an eye out for the talented but odd Peter Lorre (Nick). He has some weird relationship with Dan's girl Vera, and it just gets more awkward from there. Rooney narrates his own story, and it's a pretty sad tale. Seems to have been financed by Rooney and Lorre. It's just okay. Could have been so much better, but it looks like Rooney did the whole deal himself. I guess it's interesting for historical value, since it has Rooney, Lorre, and a couple others. Directed by Irving Pichel... one of the last things he did. only made a couple more after this. Currently showing on Midnight Movie channel. meh.

Pop culture treats some of its icons better than others, and "Quicksand" demonstrates convincingly that Mickey Rooney is unjustly underrated as a "real" actor (and not just "Andy Hardy" or a guest cameo appearance in a movie or TV show where he plays himself.) Rooney is absolutely believable here going somewhat against type as a likable, but not-especially-bright (or honest) working stiff whose life completely unravels after he gives into temptation to swipe/borrow $20 from the office cash register until he can tap his friends for the money they owe him.($20 was a good chunk of change back in a day when lunch at a diner cost 40 cents, though). In fact, the performances here range from pretty good to very good indeed, especially Peter Lorre, who manages to be disreputable and pathetic at the same time and whose every line oozes weariness and bleak humor. Also of special interest was Jeanne Cagney's role as "the Blonde" (who of course leads our protagonist down the road to ruin)- for the first minute she was on camera, I just couldn't see how she was going to fill that role, and then her hard features lit up and transformed into something altogether more interesting and appealing.And that transformation happened often and reliably enough that I began looking forward to seeing it.The plot is tightly constructed, although it relies too much on coincidence at a couple points, as Rooney's character keeps making more bad decisions and his crimes escalate from petty theft to robbery to burglary and Grand Theft Auto, to assault and murder and kidnapping...but in every case, it's not something the character wants to do, and so somehow he manages to remain a sympathetic figure. (He even feels bad about the way he treats the good woman who is in love with him). The subtext for the screen-play is even more interesting than the actual events of the film; early on it becomes obvious that everything in modern day society is stacked against "the little guy", and straying from the approved path brings punishment swift and sure...even if the little guy didn't mean any harm. It ends the way it must (since this is Rooney's film, it couldn't possibly end in any other way), which makes me wonder why they wanted to do a noir film in the first place rather than a straight melodrama...but there's plenty of solid, enjoyable film-making here, enough that anyone with a taste for this genre would find it worth their time.

This is a very good movie in which one small dishonest deed leads an everyday Joe down the slippery slope of crime. "Quicksand" is unusual in that the male lead narrates the story at intervals; and we see him presented with opportunities to jump off his downward slide. Finally, he gets his chance for redemption at the end. Mickey Roonie stars in this crime drama that borders on film noir. He plays a 26-year old automobile mechanic, named Dan. At age 30, he was beyond his high school and college-age performances, but he still had his boyish looks. His co-star was Jeanne Cagney, younger sister of actor James Cagney, who plays Vera. Peter Lorre gives a good performance as Nick. Art Smith is very good as Mackey and Barbara Bates does fine as Helen, the decent girlfriend. Bates was a promising actress who suffered with emotional ups and downs through her short-lived career. Her career ended in the mid-1950s, and in 1963, she committed suicide at age 43. At the time of my writing these comments – March, 2014, Mickey Rooney was still alive and having fun at Oscar parties in Hollywood at age 93. As long as there are movie reruns on TV, Rooney will probably be remembered most for two early career movie strings. The first was the Andy Hardy series – a run of 15 films from 1937 to 1946. The second was a string of films with co-star Judy Garland, especially the song and dance series from 1939 to 1943. The two were paired in 10 movies, half of which overlapped with the Hardy films. But in the musicals, Rooney got to show his considerable entertainment talent. He could sing, dance, play the piano and drums, and do great comedy. Most likely, because of his short stature (5 feet, 2 inches) and boyish looks well into middle age, Rooney wasn't cut out for romantic leads. But he was an excellent actor who could play a diverse range of roles. He could do drama, mystery, war, comedy and musicals equally well. And, yes, he did the lighter side of romance in his comedies and some dramas. He never won an Oscar, but he was nominated for four roles that range across film genres. He did win two Golden Globes and one Emmy. Rooney was born Ninian Joseph Yule Jr., in Brooklyn, NY. He may have the all-time record of film appearances. IMDb lists him with 340 credits as of March, 2014, and he's still doing parts in movies. As with many other movie stars with very heavy early productions, Rooney had a difficult personal life. He was married eight times by age 58 – all troubled marriages and one ending with a homicide-suicide scandal in 1966.

A young mechanic borrows $20 from the till to take a dame out on the town, setting in motion an escalating series of crimes. This is a really enjoyable "out of the frying pan, into the fire" situation as Mickey Rooney digs himself in deeper and deeper. Maybe not as hard-edged as I usually prefer my noir, but the story moves at a rapid clip and never slows down. And I don't mean to imply it's light-hearted, although there is some amusement in how incompetent the protagonist is at committing crimes. It's also kinda funny to see the diminutive Rooney square off against the equally diminutive Peter Lorre (sadly, not a large role, but his presence is welcome). I'm only familiar with the "Andy Hardy" Rooney by reputation, but as a noir actor he's growing on me more and more. There's a simplistic but entertaining good girl/bad girl dichotomy with Barbara Bates (a little too earnest, but cute) and Jeanne Cagney (Jimmy's sister, and a delightful performance). Some beautiful lighting and shot composition as well. Exciting, fun, and memorable... I'm buying a copy of this one for my collection.