Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

An ex-cop (Ed Begley) recruits two men to pull off a bank heist. One is a black gambler (Harry Belafonte) who is unable to pay off his gambling debts and the other is an ex-con (Robert Ryan) who is also a racist who hates the idea of working with a black man. A gritty noir directed by Robert Wise, the film has a sharp and tense flow and Belafonte and Ryan put out some sparks with each other. Ryan tends to overdo the vicious racist (some subtlety would have gone a long way) but he holds the screen and Begley and Belafonte turn in solid performances. Rare for a 1950s film, Belafonte is allowed to play a complex and highly flawed black character. The film's symbolic fiery finale is a bit too obvious and the film's final shot of a dead end sign is feels like the film makers don't trust us to get it. The film's women don't fare very well. Shelley Winters as Ryan's clinging girlfriend is at her whiniest and that icon of noir femme fatales Gloria Grahame is wasted as a frustrated housewife. The screenplay was co-written by the blacklisted Abraham Polonsky under a pseudonym. The jazz score by John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet is quite effective. With Cicely Tyson, Zohra Lampert, Wayne Rogers and Will Kuluva.