Jigsaw

1949
Approved
1h 12m

IMDb RATING

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Franchot Tone and Jean Wallace in Jigsaw (1949)

New York Assistant District Attorney Howard Malloy investigates a series of murders and uncovers an extremist group.New York Assistant District Attorney Howard Malloy investigates a series of murders and uncovers an extremist group.New York Assistant District Attorney Howard Malloy investigates a series of murders and uncovers an extremist group.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Marlene Dietrich has a cameo as a guest at the Blue Angel nightclub. One of Dietrich's most famous films is The Blue Angel.

Goofs
Franchot Tone, a New York City assistant district attorney, is angry when he hears that a criminal he arrested a few days earlier has been bailed. He says that he had ordered that the man be held without bail. This would not have been in his power. In New York, bail is decided by a judge - though they would be open to such a suggestion or outright recommendation from Tone's boss, the District Attorney, and "delays" in supplying a court with appropriate "paperwork" and complying with its directives are also common stratagems employed to elude the letter of the law.

Quotes
Charles Riggs: You know, I was born in this city, Howard. In our block, we had guys from practically every race and religion you ever hear of... and a couple you didn't. But we got along pretty well.
Howard Malloy: Well, that's the way it ought to be.
Charles Riggs: In our block, nobody cared what country your parents came from or where they went to church. Nobody called you a nasty name... until you were taught there were nasty names and some people were supposed to be called by them -Micks, Polacks, Wops, Limies, Spics, Hunties.
Howard Malloy: That's part of our history. America always has to melt away the differences between people.
Charles Riggs: Sure and most always you don't understand *why* they're supposed to be different. They're just somebody else's say so, somebody else's influence. Now we got people around who want to make people hate each other, be afraid of each other, just so they can make money out of it. I don't like that.

Connections
References The Blue Angel (1930)

User reviews35

Review

Featured review

A Bit Uneven, But Interesting

Combining elements of a political thriller with elements of a mystery story, "Jigsaw" ends up being somewhat uneven, but certainly interesting enough to make you keep watching. The mystery angle is the part that works the best, keeping you guessing much of the time. Most of the production is strictly B-quality, but the performance of Franchot Tone, some cameo appearances worth watching for, and some interesting plot ideas bring up the overall quality.

The initial story idea is a bit routine, with Tone as an Assistant DA who is concerned about the activities of an extremist political group. While not entirely predictable, this side of it is never all that interesting either. The group remains too vague to seem like more than a small-scale threat. What perks things up is when Tone begins meeting a series of interesting characters from an assortment of backgrounds, with each of them either a potential friend or a potential enemy.

The finale of all this intrigue sets up a very interesting showdown between a number of groups in an art museum. The low production values keep it from being as memorable as it could have been, but it is still a good idea. Likewise, the movie overall never quite comes together as well as it could have, but it does have a number of positive things to offer.