So much average

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The acting in this movie is really good.

After borrowing $20 from his employer's cash register, an auto mechanic is plunged into a series of increasingly disastrous circumstances which rapidly spiral out of his control.Directed by Irving Pichel shortly before he was blacklisted for suspected Communist activities, the film has been described as "film noir in a teacup... a pretty nifty little picture" in which Rooney "cast himself against his Andy Hardy goody goody image." Rooney stills comes across as a mostly harmless, innocent man in this film, but it may be a bit shadier than people had seen before.Rooney co-financed "Quicksand" with Peter Lorre, but their shares of the profits were reportedly left unpaid by a third partner. Most of the film was shot on location in Santa Monica, California, with exterior scenes at the old Santa Monica Pier. Jazz cornetist Red Nichols with His Five Pennies group are seen and heard in a nightclub scene.Peter Lorre's fellow actors in "Quicksand" were impressed with his performances on the set. Commenting on the film in a later interview, Jeanne Cagney observed the following about Lorre: "He did it with all his might. Even though the picture was not a top drawer film he still approached it as if it were the 'A' picture of all 'A' pictures." Indeed, with all due respect to Rooney, Lorre is the real star and the reason this film remains worth seeing today (2017).

Mickey Rooney plays Dan. Dan is a thinks he's a ladies man... wants to be with all the pretty girls and has one of them in-love with him but he hardly notices her. There's a new blonde in town Dan falls for - but chick is the expensive type and only cares about herself. Dan manages to land a date with her but forgot that he's broke and won't get paid until the next day. He steals 20 bucks from his cash register at work and plans on paying it back the next day. But that stolen 20 dollars for a date with an expensive blonde costed him more than just paying it back and some sweat - it might just land him in prison. It's a film you'll just have to watch to see how 20 dollars and a date turns into more than Dan ever cared to bargain for.This is a pretty good crime film and somewhat interesting - I enjoyed it.8/10

"Dan" (Mickey Rooney) is a nice guy who works as a mechanic at a local garage. One day while at lunch with a couple of friends a new waitress named "Vera" (Jeanne Cagney) walks in and he immediately becomes attracted to her. So he ambles up to the cash register and asks her out on a date for later than night. She eventually accepts. Unfortunately, prior to the date he realizes that he doesn't have any money. So he calls a friend who says he can give him the $20 he borrowed but he will have to wait until the morning. As a result he takes $20 out of the cash register where he works thinking that he can replace the money in the morning without anybody noticing. Big mistake. Anyway, rather than detail the rest of the story and risk ruining the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that events take a sudden turn for the worse from this point on. I liked the performance of Mickey Rooney and even though the movie was clearly dated it still managed to maintain my interest from start to finish. Slightly above average.

Quicksand is directed by Irving Pichel (The Most Dangerous Game/ Destination Moon) and written by Robert Smith. It stars Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Barbara Bates & Peter Lorre. Lionel Lindon photographs it around Santa Monica, California, and Louis Gruenberg scores the music.Auto mechanic Dan Brady (Rooney) fancies himself as a ladies man, so when he sets eyes on sultry looking blonde Vera Novak (Cagney), he just has to date her. Intending to put it back tomorrow, Dan borrows $20 from the till of the garage where he works, the money to be used for the date with Vera. However, with Vera comes baggage, not only in what she wants out of Dan, but in the form of her ex-boss Nick Dramoshag (Lorre), who has designs on Vera too. Pretty soon Dan finds that his life is getting out of control as he gets in deep with robbery and maybe even murder?.Quicksand was received coldly back on its release, a generation of film goers had grown accustomed to Rooney lighting up the screen as Andy Hardy and turning in frothy performances in musicals. Here he goes against type, and the public wasn't ready for it, even tho he arguably gives one of his best career performances. As a film it's a very tight piece. The plot is in the classic noir tradition of having a male protagonist trapped in a downward spiral, no matter what he does, each decision he makes is a wrong one and only worsens his situation. That there's a blonde femme fatale (Cagney is sexy in a powerful way, with shifty glances telling so much) sat at his side as his life goes belly up; still further fuels the darker edges of the film noir feel. There's a devilishly bitter irony hanging over proceedings, too, that Dan could have escaped all this if he had not spurned the attentions of the more homely, but loyal, Helen (an adorable Bates). The film, and tone, is also boosted by Lorre turning in one of his sleazy sloth like performances, while a mention is warranted for Art Smith as Dan's boss, Oren Mackay, the kind of boss you could easily punch for fun.We possibly could have done with some more noirish artistry from Lindon for his photography, but he does OK, with a parking lot/back alley pursuit well shot. While Gruenberg's score is right in tone, especially the theme tune piece, which has a distinctly Cape Fear edge to it. It would come as no surprise to me to find that Bernard Herrmann had watched and listened to Quicksand prior to scoring the Mitchum & Peck classic. Look out too for Red Nichols and His Five Pennies band during a club scene, it's a nice touch that adds a bit of period detail. Clocking in at nearly 80 minutes, Quicksand doesn't hang around, it's briskly paced and suspenseful into the bargain. Certainly it's minor film noir, but all things considered, it's one of the better B's from this most wonderful of genres. 7.5/10