Border Incident, Anthony Mann (U.S., 1949)

Originally titled Wetbacks, this still-timely noir follows two government agents, one a Federale (Ricardo Montalban), the other from the U.S. Immigration Service (Senator-to-be George Murphy), who infiltrate the sleazy business of smuggling braceros across the border. Along this rough-and-tumble track, bandits prey on the immigrants, just the first imperious peril leading to the Imperial Valley. Like the Westerns that would soon follow, Mann puts the landscape to dramatic use, but Alton’s claustrophobic camera drains all openness from the wide-open spaces. Border Incident is particularly sympathetic to the plight of the vulnerable workers, whose innocence is destroyed by the harsh cruelty of human traffickers.

—Steve Seid

• Written by John C. Higgins, based on a story by Higgins, George Zuckerman. Photographed by John Alton. With Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Howard Da Silva, James Mitchell. (92 mins, B&W, 35mm, From Warner Bros.)