Jail Bars and Exposure in ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW

a beautiful bit of lighting and camera choreography for fun and foreshadowing

This scene from Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) uses two long takes to follow a man down a street . . . with a twist.

Instead of tracking down with the food delivery man, the shot is from the vantage point of the ‘bad guys’ casing the joint; it isn’t a POV (as we’re over their shoulder to start) but it is roughly what they’re seeing, and exactly what they’re thinking and discussing as they trace the messenger’s steps and discuss their stickup plans. 

The timing is carefully aligned with the voiceover; eg at 1:00 just as Slater says “that side door is the key to the whole job” the top-lit door comes into view as the delivery man reaches it.

Look at this moment! (034-0:37) All inky blacks on the left and brightness on the right, while the gape in the blinds ‘frames’ the delivery man in its diamond, him all in white while the extra (whose motion helps draw our focus) is contrasted in all-black.

My favourite part is how the window blinds are used in a direct reverse of the usual noir 'projecting jail bar imagery’ onto faces — as the bad guys peek through the slats, we see their silhouettes instead of their faces, and all shadows are on the street. But the scene makes clear the slats are foreshadowing indeed, including starting on a slow five seconds of them opening.

Working with the lighting and exposure of inside/outside with the slats opening and being spread and then dolly-pans looking into the lit street must have been an almighty bit of work and tinkering, but it was more than worth it.

You can’t argue with iconic results!