Odds Against Tomorrow

Available for over a year

Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) is late but essential film noir. Unusual for many reasons not least that it starred and was executive produced by Harry Belafonte. It also beat the Hollywood blacklist with a script from Abraham Polonsky. As Francine Stock uncovers, with a previously unheard Polonsky interview, the film forms part of an unofficial trilogy of radical noirs. Beginning with the acclaimed John Garfield boxing romance Body & Soul in 1947, deepening with the poetic indictment of capitalism in Force of Evil and ending with the bleak, destructive racism of Odds Against Tomorrow. The three films form a noir route map through the stars, possibilities and politics of films out of the shadows of American life. With the voices of Edward Dymtryk, Foster Hirsch, Fritz Lang & Abraham Polonsky. Producer: Mark Burman