The Long Dial
AIMDb Rating
35K
Your Rating
Popularity
4
“The truth was on the air. So was the killer.”
A Los Angeles private detective is hired to recover a stolen radio transcription disc said to contain a senator's private confession. Tracking it through the city's after-hours world of jazz clubs, rooming houses, and corrupt precincts, he discovers the senator is far from the only person willing to kill for it. The voice on the disc, when he finally hears it, is the one he least expected.
- Director
- Walter Krauss
- Writers
- Walter Krauss · Vivian Tate
- Stars
- Dean Galbraith · Marjorie Vane · Edgar Roach ›
Top Cast (5)
Dean Galbraith
Det. Sam Foley
Marjorie Vane
Lillian Trace
Edgar Roach
Capt. Halberg
Lyle Burnham
Phil Dancer
Jean Costello
Eileen
User Reviews
5 reviewsA second-tier noir worth elevating
by classics_only
Krauss directs with confidence and restraint. Galbraith plays his detective tired in a way that feels lived-in rather than performed. The transcription disc as a MacGuffin is genuinely clever.
Marjorie Vane is electric
by matinee_archive
She isn't on screen for long but every scene she's in tilts the whole picture sideways. The script gives her exactly one extraordinary monologue and she does the rest with her eyes.
Pleasant enough programmer
by casual_classics
Solid 1944 noir checklist. Wet streets, smoky offices, dame with a secret. Nothing surprises but nothing lets you down either. Worth a Saturday afternoon.
Looks great, sounds dated
by modernist_picks
The cinematography is gorgeous in the restored print but the dialogue creaks under modern ears. Some of the supporting performances are pure radio-play stock.
Tighter than its budget
by detective_lit
Republic Crown didn't have RKO money and you can tell, but Krauss compensates by trusting his cast and his shadows. The climax at the radio station is a genuine setpiece.
Details
- Release date
- August 11, 1944 (United States)
- Country of origin
- United States
- Language
- English
- Also known as
- El Dial Largo · Le Cadran Long · Lange Wellenlänge
- Filming locations
- Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA · Bunker Hill, Los Angeles, California, USA · RKO Forty Acres, Culver City, California, USA
- Production companies
- Republic Crown Pictures · Galway-Sutton Productions
Box office
- Budget
- $380,000 (estimated)
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $124,000
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,840,000
- Gross worldwide
- $2,840,000
Technical specs
- Runtime
- 1h 32m
- Color
- Color
- Sound mix
- Dolby Digital
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
