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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 302

Quicksand

195079 minUnited States
Film noirDramaCrime
Video edition
YouTube
Original language
English
This copy runs
79:10
Subtitles
English

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Synopsis

A young mechanic takes twenty dollars from his employer's till, expecting to replace it before anyone notices. Paying the money back proves harder than taking it. One hurried solution creates another debt, and a date with a glamorous waitress draws him into blackmail, theft and a narrowing circle of bad choices.

Cast

DirectorsIrving Pichel

Behind the scenes

Mickey Rooney and Peter Lorre helped finance the film, which used Santa Monica locations and the city's pier. Rooney's anxious, compromised mechanic gave him a darker role than the youthful characters associated with his MGM career. Cornetist Red Nichols and his band also appear in a nightclub sequence.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceInternet Archive — catalogue recordPublic-domain film catalogue — rights cross-referencePublic-domain film catalogue — rights cross-referencePublic-domain film catalogue — rights cross-reference

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

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Availability checked on September 10, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

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