Five Things I Love About Decoy (1946)
If you know your noir, you’re unquestionably familiar with iconic films like The Maltese Falcon (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), Laura (1944), and Out of the Past (1947) – goes without saying, right?
But do you know about Decoy (1946)? You should. You only owe it to yourself.
For this month’s Noir Nook, I’m taking a Decoy deep dive and serving up the five things I love about this shadowy, low-budget, but oh-so-scrumptious noir. (And if you haven’t seen it, I recommend that you check it out before proceeding – it’s available for free on YouTube – spoilers are up ahead . . . you’ve been warned!)
The Noir Tropes
Believe you me, I don’t need familiar characteristics in order to enjoy a noir – it can be in Technicolor, set in the middle of a wheat field, with nary a rain-slick street or Venetian blind shadow in sight, and if it’s got a noirish tone and mood, I’ll still love it. But Decoy is chock full of everything you’d want in a noir: flashbacks, voiceover narration, an unforgettable femme fatale (more on her in a bit), a weak-willed sucker, and enough chiaroscuro lighting to make John Alton give three cheers! One of the many interesting aspects of noir, for my money, is the debates it generates regarding whether certain films should be categorized as noir – but Decoy doesn’t fall in that group; its attributes ensure there’s no question that Decoy is pure noir.
The Opening
In the first shot, a small wooden box appears beneath the film’s title; after the title dissolves, a bullet is fired into the box and a gun is tossed into the frame. We may not understand what it all means, but we know there’s no frothy musical or rollicking comedy in store. The next image is a blood-stained bathroom sink and similarly tainted hands attempting to wash the blood away. When the camera pans up to reveal the owner of those hands, his haunted face is reflected in a shard of broken mirror. Just a couple of minutes have passed, and you’re already on the proverbial edge of your seat, primed for what’s to come.
The Plot
Decoy’s five main characters are Margot Shelby (Jean Gillie, in her big-screen debut); her boyfriend, Frankie Olins (Robert Armstrong); Frankie’s right-hand man Jim Vincent (Edward Norris); upstanding local doctor, Lloyd Craig (Rudley), who also happens to be the aforementioned man in the mirror; and Sgt. Joe Portugal (Sheldon Leonard), described by one character as “the best-dressed flatfoot in town.” The story involving this quintet is absolutely nuts, and really, one of my favorite plots in all noirdom – and it goes a little something like this: Frankie Olins is a convicted felon sitting on Death Row for killing an armored car driver and making off with a cool 400 grand. Before his capture, Frankie buried his ill-gotten gains, but he’s being less than forthcoming about their whereabouts – he’s not giving up this info unless Margot and Jim can get him out of prison. This is no easy feat, especially when all of Frankie’s appeals are exhausted and he’s unavoidably bound for the electric chair. But Margot uses her considerable wiles to convince Dr. Craig – who works at the prison – to help her BRING HER BOYFRIEND BACK TO LIFE after he’s executed. And really, do you need to know anything else?
The Femme Fatale
I adore a good femme fatale, and Miss Margot Shelby ranks right up there with the best of them (or the worst, as the case may be). There’s something unique about Margot; she’s the whole bad girl package. She’s physically attractive, of course, but it’s not just her sexiness that lures men like thirsty coyotes to a cool stream; there’s also a refinement and sophistication that make her seem almost unattainable, causing her attentions to feel that much more prized by those lucky enough to receive them. She possesses a sharp intelligence – she’s the one who discovers the drug (Methylene Blue) that, when used quickly enough, can be used to revive the dead, and she’s the mastermind behind the intricate plan to spirit Frankie from prison after his execution. Best of all, she’s completely ruthless – she has every man in her sphere irrevocably obsessed, but her own heart is never touched, not even for a second. She’ll do whatever it takes to achieve her gold-digging goals; like Scarlett O’Hara, she’ll lie, steal, cheat, or kill (and kill, and kill again), and won’t bat a single eyelash in the process.
The Ending
There’s not a wasted moment in this 76-minute feature – it’s riveting from start to finish, and the last few seconds deliver a satisfyingly unexpected conclusion that makes me smile every time I see it. Just in case you didn’t heed my earlier suggestion and you haven’t yet seen this gem, I won’t spoil the details. Suffice it to say that it involves laughter, a dollar bill, and a callback to an earlier line of Margot’s: “Simple arithmetic. That’s all it was.”
Treat yourself to a side trip into the realm of Decoy – whether you’ve revisited it again and again, or you’re discovering it for the first time, you’ll find it to be a darkly delicious, unforgettable noir confection.
Trust me.
…
– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub
You can read all of Karen’s Noir Nook articles here.
Karen Burroughs Hannsberry is the author of the Shadows and Satin blog, which focuses on movies and performers from the film noir and pre-Code eras, and the editor-in-chief of The Dark Pages, a bimonthly newsletter devoted to all things film noir. Karen is also the author of two books on film noir – Femme Noir: The Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. You can follow Karen on Twitter at @TheDarkPages.
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