Guilty Bystander (1950)

It's kinda funny when you open with a quote from the main character but then you realize books were more pertinent in the zeitgeist and that Wade Miller did a fair few with him as our disheveled hard drinking lead. I must I admit that I enjoy this genre of sweat soaked…

pirateneckbeard

So this has been on my MUBI list probably since I signed up for the platform months and months ago; something about this little film noir sounded appealing. It really didn't disappoint, though I am a bit baffled this one has 15% on Rotten Tomatoes as while the acting can be…

Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine

An independent, no budget production, Guilty Bystander has a surprisingly capable crew. The film concerns washed up ex-detective Max Thursday (Zachary Scott), a hopeless alcoholic who loves the bottle more than his career, his (now ex) wife and their four year old son. He’s…

Chris Hughes

First, guilty pleasure — Zachary Scott. Second — how did it take Hollywood until 1950 to release a film tilted, “Guilty Bystander?” Talk about low hanging fruit, and it's super pulpy. Guerrilla-filmed on location in the tattered, skid-marked briefs of NYC. Then down into…

Channing Pomeroy

A largely lifeless noir with a convoluted plot as well as a lack of action, Guilty Bystander isn't one of those hidden gem B movies of the 1950s. It starts off decent enough with Max Thursday (Zachary Scott), an alcoholic ex-cop serving as a house detective at a sleazy…

DavidSkolnick

Finally hooptober is over and noirvember is here. Firstly what a great title, implying guilt comes with simply existing. And indeed the film excels at establishing and maintaining a sleazy, *hard*boiled moodiness to match. Many oblique shadows and vertical lines to be found…

jeliben

So sad and desperate with the unreadable plot adding to the stuck without options feeling. Shot like each lamp on the set was one more than the producers could afford, but with a concrete sense of place. If you ever had a hard time kicking a habit, Scott's performance is…

Filipe Furtado

Nice low-budget noir directed by the relatively obscure Joseph Lerner that focuses on a drunk ex-cop with the great name Max Thursday (Zachary Scott). His distraught ex-wife Georgia (Faye Emerson) visits him at his flophouse room and informs them their young son has been…

mumblecorgi

The term "Dipso" needs to make a comeback.

Neill Shaughness