Loophole (1954 film)

Loophole is a 1954 American film noir crime drama starring Barry Sullivan and Dorothy Malone. The film was directed by former editor Harold D. Schuster. Mary Beth Hughes plays the film's femme fatale. It was shot in black-and-white and produced by Allied Artists Pictures, a company that generally specialized in B-movies.

Plot
A man posing as a bank examiner steals $50,000 from teller Mike Donovan's cash drawer. Because Donovan does not immediately report the shortage after he discovers it, he is accused of theft and fired by the bank.

Donovan is prevented from finding other employment by Gus Slavin, an insurance investigator and former cop who informs each of Donovan's next employers that Donovan is a thief who should be fired. Because of Slavin's intimidation, Donovan loses the few jobs that he is able to obtain, followed by his home and nearly his marriage.

Despite many setbacks, Donovan tries to clear his name, but even his wife does not believe that he will succeed. However, the real culprit is identified and Donovan reclaims his life and his old job.

Cast

 * Barry Sullivan as Mike Donovan
 * Dorothy Malone as Ruthie Donovan
 * Charles McGraw as Gus Slavin
 * Don Haggerty as Neil Sanford
 * Mary Beth Hughes as Vera
 * Don Beddoe as Herman Tate
 * Dayton Lummis as Jim Starling
 * Joanne Jordan as Georgia Hoard
 * John Eldredge as Frank Temple
 * Richard Reeves as Pete Mazurki / Tanner

Film noir analysis
Film critic Dennis Schwartz explains why Loophole is considered a film noir: "The poignancy of the story is in how an innocent, hard-working person like Mike, could have his whole life turned upside-down over an incident where he makes an error in judgment. When he tells his boss (Lummis) about it, he has no explanation why he didn't report it immediately except he couldn't understand how so much money was missing. This slip-up is why Mike becomes a noir protagonist, though he doesn't have the dark side to his character this genre usually calls for...[and] his life turns into hell when, even though he is not charged with anything, the bonding company that must insure him cancels his certification and the bank is forced to fire him. Not only can't he get bonded so he can get another teller's job, but the bond company puts a mean-spirited insurance investigator on his tail, Gus Slavin (Charles McGraw). Slavin is convinced Mike is guilty and tails him everywhere, and when Mike gets a job he informs the boss on him and Mike is always promptly fired."