Borderline (1950)
An undercover federal agent and an LAPD detective, each posing as criminals without realizing who the other really is, get tangled up together while infiltrating a narcotics-smuggling ring running drugs across the Mexican border. Mutual suspicion and mistaken identity complicate their mission as the real smugglers close in.
Borderline hedges between hardboiled noir and screwball comedy, pairing Fred MacMurray against type as a mysterious undercover operative opposite Claire Trevor, with a young Raymond Burr — seven years before Perry Mason — cast as the smooth, menacing smuggling boss.
Background
Borderline was directed by William A. Seiter and released in 1950. Fred MacMurray and Claire Trevor star as two undercover operatives who are each posing as criminals without knowing the other’s identity, with Raymond Burr as the smuggling boss. The film was made during the postwar period, when Hollywood produced many crime dramas about narcotics and border crime. Its premise, in which two agents from different agencies become entangled, gives the story both its suspense and its comic engine.
What to watch for
The film’s appeal lies in its mix of genres, moving between hardboiled noir and screwball-style mistaken identity. MacMurray plays against his usual image as a mysterious operative, and Trevor provides the sharpest exchanges. Watch the scenes in which the two leads realize who the other is, since the comedy depends on their mutual suspicion. Raymond Burr’s smuggling boss supplies the menace, and the closing scenes return the story to the danger of the drug ring. The Mexican border setting and the crisp studio photography of the era help define the film’s tone.
