IMDb RATING
6.2/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
An alcoholic ex-cop, now the house detective at a scuzzy hotel in an even scuzzier part of town, stumbles through New York City's sleazy underworld searching for his kidnapped son.An alcoholic ex-cop, now the house detective at a scuzzy hotel in an even scuzzier part of town, stumbles through New York City's sleazy underworld searching for his kidnapped son.An alcoholic ex-cop, now the house detective at a scuzzy hotel in an even scuzzier part of town, stumbles through New York City's sleazy underworld searching for his kidnapped son.
Elliott Sullivan
- Stitch Olivera
- (as Elliot Sullivan)
Dennis Patrick
- Fred Mace
- (as Dennis Harrison)
Lester Lonergan
- Morgue Doctor
- (as Lester Lonergran)
Maurice Gosfield
- Guard on Bridge
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe subway station scene was filmed in the then-closed Court Street IND station. It was taken out service in 1946 and since 1976 is the home of the NYC Transit Museum.
- GoofsThere are two different wall calendars visible at the hotel, one for May and one for July. Whichever of those months it is supposed to be in the story, it is not consistent with the opening scene when it is dark at 7:00 pm. Sunset in Brooklyn on May 1st isn't until 7:52 pm. It would be even later in July.
- Quotes
Max Thursday: [title card] People are people- there is strength in the weakest of us. Max Thursday
Featured review
Noir ain't what it used to be.
I originally saw this movie on TV back in the fifties. I was in my teens and up until then my primary interest in films was for Disney and big budget Hollywood musicals, lots of flash and flair. After seeing Guilty Bystander I soon began to turn on to films like The Maltese Falcon, Woman in the Window and Angel Face. These films did not give me that happy feeling but rather kept me leaning forward in my chair. When they were over I didn't feel gratified and satisfied; I felt unsettled but mentally stimulated. Noir films are about people in trouble. The hero, or rather the protagonist, is deeply flawed. He is not a nice guy. However, he is kind of admirable. He overcomes his flaws and sets things to right. In Guilty Bystander the hero is an ex-cop named Max Thursday. He is an alcoholic who could not stand up to the demands of being a police officer and quit to become a private eye but couldn't handle that either. When his ex-wife informs him that their son has apparently been kidnapped, he is forced to come to grips with some very unpleasant truths about himself and people he thought he knew. The film checks a lot of the boxes to qualify as noir but it also has a number of failings. There are plots holes and much of the acting is clumsy. Scott as Thursday occasionally embarrasses himself but mostly projects well as a man trying hard to play a bad hand while not fully understanding the game. The film is based on the first of six novels featuring Thursday. The author was Wade Miller, a pseudonym for two guys who wrote a lot of noir crime fiction beside those six. They were probably as good as Raymond Chandler and his Phillip Marlowe character but never were as big a name, nor as well known today. I don't know if this film had anything to do with their lack of success in Hollywood or not but it's a pity that we don't have as much of Thursday as we do of Marlowe.
helpful•200
- cheathamg
- Dec 30, 2018
- How long is Guilty Bystander?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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