T-Men, Anthony Mann (U.S., 1948)

Introduction/Max Alvarez 
Archival Print!

Max Alvarez is an independent film scholar based in New York and author of the new bookThe Crime Films of Anthony Mann, a limited number of which will be available for purchase at the screening.

The only thing fake in this documentary-styled noir is the dough, 100% counterfeit. To shut down a funny-money ring, two U.S. Treasury Agents, Dennis O’Brien and Tony Genaro (Dennis O’Keefe and Alfred Ryder), go underground, where cop and counterfeiter are opposite sides of the same bogus bill. A dryly droll voice-over propels this policier forward while cinematographer Alton adds swathes of lurking light to construct a dangerous, dreamlike underworld—most notable is Wallace Ford’s demise in a Turkish bath where menace lingers in the steam. Ironically, Mann’s fast-paced film about forgery was often copied.

—Steve Seid

• Written by John C. Higgins, from a story by Virginia Kellogg, based on files of the U.S. Treasury Department. Photographed by John Alton. With Dennis O’Keefe, Alfred Ryder, Mary Meade, Wallace Ford. (92 mins, B&W, 35mm, From the Library of Congress)