William Talman by Jake HInkson
Courtesy of The Criminal Element
We've recently featured a post on the noir career of Raymond Burr. Although he’s best remembered today as the stalwart defense attorney Perry Mason, Burr spent much of the 40s and 50s playing demented psychos and cold-eyed masterminds in film noir. It’s interesting to note, then, that William Talman—who played Perry Mason’s loyal opposition, district attorney Hamilton Burger—was himself one of noir’s premier goons. Not just that, Talman specialized in playing full-tilt nutjobs.
He was born in Detroit in 1915, the eldest son of a successful
industrial electronics executive, and as a young man he thrived in
sports—especially boxing. He went to college at Dartmouth but left after one
year when he was involved in a joyride that ended in the death of a friend. He
tried his hand at acting, but then the war stopped everything. Talman was
drafted into the Army and served in the US Signal Corps, eventually rising to
the rank of Major.
After the war, he began working in movies and from the start he
was typecast as thugs with a demented streak. Talman had a strange face with
weathered features (even as a young man), a severe mouth and off center eyes.
His gravelly voice added to a demeanor that made him perfect for characters
with bad intentions.
After his time in noir, Talman moved into television, landed the
plum role of Perry Mason’s hapless antagonist in 1957 and promptly began losing
cases on a weekly basis. Although DA Burger managed to hold on to his job
despite losing virtually every case he ever argued, Talman himself came very
close to losing his place on the show when he was caught up in a scandal in
1960. Police raided a home in Hollywood on March 13th and found Talman
and seven other people “nude or partly nude” and “high on marijuana.” Papers
reported Talman as saying that he had just stopped by for a drink. “There must
be some kind of mistake,” he told reporters. “This could ruin me.”
It nearly did ruin him. Producers kicked him off the show for a
while, but the rest of the cast and crew (including his loyal friend Burr)
fought for him, and once the tabloid headlines died down, the public asked for
him to be reinstated. DA Burger returned and picked up where he’d left
off—getting his ass kicked every week by Perry Mason.
Talman died of lung cancer (after filming an anti-smoking ad for
the American Cancer Society) in 1969 at the age of 53. Though his place is
secure in the history of television, he should be bettered remembered for his
excellent work in the crime films of the 40s and 50s. His is a name you’re
always happy to see in the credits, and he was an absolutely indispensable
member of the noir goon squad.
Essential Talman Noir
1. The Woman On Pier 13 (AKA I Married
a Communist) (1949) — This is redbaiter propaganda at it’s best, with evil
Commie agents out to destroy America just for the sheer fun of it. Talman has a
small role as a twitchy thug who takes guys out to the pier…and the guys don’t
come back. A ridiculous movie, yes, but fun.
2. Armored Car Robbery (1950) — Only one year
into the business and Talman was already playing a mastermind. In this film,
he’s the brains behind—what else?—an armored car robbery. He pairs off against
cop Charles McGraw and the results (orchestrated by the great noir director Richard
Fleischer) are riveting. Talman proves that he can play smart as well as mean.
3. The Racket (1951) — One of noir’s most
famous disasters. The film is a would-be crime epic starring three of the
genre’s greatest actors—Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, and Lizabeth Scott—but it
was destroyed by RKO studio chief Howard Hughes (already losing his hold on
reality) who ordered it rewritten/reshot/reedited so many times it seems to
have been created inside a hurricane. It’s notable, though, because Talman gets
to play a good guy for a change—an honest cop helping to bring down a crime
lord.
5. City That Never Sleeps (1953) Talman was
bumped back down to supporting psycho for this Chicago crime flick, but he’s as
good as ever in a superior production that’s notable for the gorgeous location
cinematography of John Russell.
6. Crashout (1955) — Lewis R. Foster’s
underrated prison break drama is as hard-edged as this stuff gets. Talman has
one of his best roles asa knife-throwing Jesus freak named Luther Remsen AKA
“Reverend Remington” who is in jail for the “celebrated soul-saving murder” of
a church organist. In one of the strangest scenes in film noir, Talman baptizes
a wounded man in a muddy drainage pool, trying to drown the guy in the process.
Jake Hinkson, The Night Editor, is the
author of The Posthumous
Manand Saint Homicide.
1 comment:
I particularly like Talman in CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS in a part that seems to grow in stature as the (rather sappy) story progresses. Besides the film has the look of an old BATMAMN comic.
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