Edge of Doom, for which you see a nice promo poster above, was based on a novel by Leo Brady. We showed you the cover art for that not long ago. AFI.com categorizes this as a drama, not a film noir, though most sites label it the latter. The story begins with a noir staple—the framing narration, as two priests, one young and faltering, is told by the other, older and stalwart, how he was brought closer to God through his interaction with a man accused of murder. Dana Andrews plays the experienced priest, while Farley Granger plays the troubled subject of Andrews’ voiceover.
Granger’s issues begin when his dear old ma dies and he needs money to bury her in style. He goes to his ma’s rectory, but the priest there had previously refused to bury Granger’s dear old pa in consecrated ground. Granger asks the priest for a nice funeral for his dear old ma, but the priest refuses to promise anything but a pine box and a fare-thee-well, so Granger flies into a rage and ends up bludgeoning the pompous old skinflint into the hereafter. The murder ushers Andrews into the scenario—he’s next in line at the rectory, so he’ll inherit the dead priest’s job. That soon brings him into contact with Granger, and the rest is easy to figure.
Granger plays nervous and unstable here quite well. He’d later perfect the disturbed young man role with Strangers on a Train. Andrews does far less—he plays his priest as low key and ready with an aphorism, which is where most actors went with that type of role back then. Within those parameters, he’s fine. As to whether Edge of Doom is a film noir, it lacks most of the non-visual requirements—notably the hard-boiled cynic we all love so much. However, the noir visuals are so incessant that it’s impossible not to include this movie in the grouping, in our opinion. Edge of Doom premiered in the U.S. today in 1950.
