Charles McGrawing

Either gravel or glass he's been gnawing
Guys and gals he likes blasting or pawing
He's a sap-wielding brute
In a snap brim and suit,
With a talent for jutting and jawing.



As a crook or a cop, rock-jawed Charles McGraw was tough as they come. Here he is roughing up Dennis O'Keefe in T-Men (top), and David Clarke in The Narrow Margin (above).

He Walked His Dog By Night

What joy they might have, oh what fun!
Avoiding the light of the sun,
By night they will walk,
Their gizmos to hawk,
A boy and his dog and a gun.

Criminal inventor Richard Basehart and his two best friends--his pooch and his piece--in He Walked By Night (Alfred Werker & Anthony Mann, 1948). Back into the gutter for another week of noir nuttiness.

McGraw Talent

He's been gargling whisky for days
And his voice rasps like gravel ablaze
With a pile-driver chin
Made of granite, not skin
All life wilts 'neath his terrible gaze.

David Cairns



Actor Charles McGraw lent his gravelly gravitas to many a noir. Here he's letting off steam in Narrow Margin (Richard Fleischer, 1952) and T-Men (Anthony Mann, 1947), with Wallace Ford as "The Schemer". Stick around as we crawl into the back alley for a week of film noir.

Have Gun, Kill Travel

I drive with a gun to my head
Through stop signs and red lights I've sped
I'll crash from the speeding
or shot, die from bleeding...
and both ways I end up as dead

James Craig forces Farley Granger down a Side Street (Anthony Mann, 1950). Here's an earlier lim on Side Street.

Side Ways

I went for a walk on the side
where sin and temptation reside
I did something rash
I'm loaded with cash
and running with nowhere to hide


Side Street (Anthony Mann, 1950) reunited Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell from They Live By Night, and co-starred James Craig as a memorably oily and vicious thug.

Hughes Muse

Such pulchritude, let us peruse
It's worthy of multiple views
Those lips, pretty-pleasing
Our trigger she's squeezing
Here's looking at Mary Beth Hughes


Top and above: From Noir of the Week, Mary Beth Hughes fondles Erich Von Stroheim's gun and he takes a shot at her in The Great Flamarion (Anthony Mann, 1945); Below: Early 50s publicity photo courtesy of Brian's Drive-in Theater. Mary Elizabeth Hughes was born in Alton, Illinois. She starred in such low-budgeters as Free, Blonde and 21, Men on Her Mind, I Accuse My Parents, The Lady Confesses and Inner Sanctum, and appeared further down the credits in the upscale The Ox-Bow Incident and Young Man With a Horn. This one's for pal and Mary Beth fan, Andrew Pepoy.

Quick Draw Charles McGraw

With jaw in a jut on his mug,
through noirs he would strut, a big lug.
For boss, Robespierre
he lacked savoir-faire,
and tortured poor Frenchman, le thug!*



*In The Black Book, aka Reign Of Terror (Anthony Mann, 1949), McGraw (above, far left, with Robert Cummings and Arlene Dahl) plays a henchman of Robespierrre during the French Revolution. To view an earlier McGraw limerick, click here

Raw Deal Breaker

Escaping from stir, on the run
a guy's got two gals and a gun
His sick pyro boss
pulled slick double-cross
and still isn't done having fun

The guy on the lam is no punk
In fact he's a good-looking hunk
He's Dennis O'Keefe
and he's got a beef:
To get Raymond Burr, the fat skunk!

See, Burr has a thing for flambés
The ladies he likes, but to braise
This hood gets his kicks
with lighter he flicks
and setting his victims ablaze

Raw Deal is one of the tough film noirs that Anthony Mann directed in the late 40s, shot by the great John Alton.

A Man’s Mann

In noirs, tough and taut, made his mark
Their look, lensed by Alton, is dark
These Bs, harsh and bleak
With cruel, nasty streak
Depict world of crime that is stark

His Westerns show men under strain

Enduring both torment and pain

James Stewart as star

Bore many a scar

The West was Mann’s fertile terrain

For vengeance his heroes will quest

In combat, their honor, they'll test

While at them will gnaw

A doubt or a flaw

Dark secrets held close to their vest

For a short overview of the Westerns of
Anthony Mann by Robin Wood, click here