Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t list many reviews from the era (most are from this century, looking back on the movie), so its 100% rating is admittedly not as impressive as a movie with 100-plus reviews. But “The Narrow Margin” did have one big-name defender: Francois Truffaut, a film critic who eventually became one of the key directors behind the French New Wave. In his essay “From A to Z,” which analyzes “South Sea Sinner” and “The Narrow Margin,” he writes that the latter “is charged with very moral nitroglycerine but confers a grace that any sweaty driver of a heavy, slow-moving vehicle might envy.” But more modern critics obviously appreciate the film, too: In fact, it ended up on /Film’s list of underrated film noir movies just a few years ago.
This is the type of film I love to recommend to people who are curious about older movies, but aren’t sure where to start. Sure, it’s important to check out the classics, but movies like this one — incredibly well-constructed thrillers without a hint of aspiration beyond their means — are what’s kept this industry running for over a hundred years. There’s something special about a simple B-movie with a humble budget executed to perfection, with characters who make smart decisions trying to out-wit each other and survive in tight quarters with a metaphorical ticking clock counting down the whole time. (The whole film was shot in just 13 days.) And without giving anything away, there ends up being a little more to “The Narrow Margin” than initially meets the eye, which makes it even more satisfying than a straightforward version of this story might’ve been. I know there are hundreds of memorable train-centric films, many of them big and flashy, but this unassuming little thriller is one of the very best Hollywood ever produced.
I spoke a little about the film on today’s episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:
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