Dave Burke is looking to hire two men to assist him in a bank raid: Earl Slater, an white ex-convict, and Johnny Ingram, a black gambler. Both are reluctant; but Burke arranges for Ingram’s creditors to put pressure on him, while Slater feels humiliated by his failure to provide for his girl-friend; they eventually accept. But Slater loathes and despises blacks, and the tensions in the gang rapidly mount.

Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
  • Rating: (1,339 votes)
  • Taglines:By All Odds... It Stands Big And Breathless At The Top Of The List! » He knew where $50,000 lay begging to be STOLEN! »
  • Runtime:96 minutes
  • Director: Robert Wise
  • Country:USA
  • Actors:
    Johnny Ingram
    Harry Belafonte
    Earle Slater
    Robert Ryan
    Lorry
    Shelley Winters
    Dave Burke
    Ed Begley
    Helen
    Gloria Grahame
    Bacco
    Will Kuluva
    Ruth Ingram
    Kim Hamilton
    Annie
    Mae Barnes
    Coco
    Richard Bright
    Kittie
    Carmen De Lavallade
  • Genres:Crime, Drama, Thriller
  • Producers:
    Phil Stein
    associate producer  
    Robert Wise
    producer  
    Harry Belafonte
    co-producer (uncredited)  
  • Plot: Dave Burke is looking to hire two men to assist him in a bank raid: Earl Slater, a white ex-convict, and Johnny Ingram, a black gambler. Both are reluctant; but Burke arranges for Ingram's creditors to put pressure on him, while Slater feels humiliated by his failure to provide for his girlfriend; they eventually accept. But Slater loathes and despises blacks, and the tensions in the gang rapidly mount. Written by David Levene <D.S.Levene@durham.ac.uk>
Odds Against Tomorrow
  • User's comment: by kinolieber

    Good low budget heist film. Ryan's character is one of the ugliest portrayals of a white racist in film. Belafonte's character is one of the most multi-faceted and complex potrayals of an African American up until that time, and the performance doesn't date at all. Wise keeps the pacing taut and the suspense high. There's great black and white location shooting in New York City and upstate in Hudson, New York. Other things of interest: it's written by black-listed Abraham Polonsky under a pseudonym (check out his great "Force of Evil"); Cicely Tyson appears in a bit part; Richard Bright portrays a pretty overt homosexual for the time; early use of a zoom lens and infrared photography; edited by Dede Allen; some interiors shot at the old Gold Medal Studios in the Bronx.


  • Quotes: Earl Slater: What you doin' with such a big ol' dog in New York? Dave Burke: Never had a wife. Kittie: [after kissing Johnny] That's good. But it was better when you wanted it.
  • Also known as: Wenig Chancen für morgen (Austria), Wenig Chancen für morgen (West Germany), Apuestas contra el mañana (Spain - imdb display title), Forbrydelsens lavine (Denmark), He pakenivat huomispäivää (Finland), Le coup de l'escalier (France), Mot alla odds (Sweden), Oi lykoi metaxy tous (Greece - transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title), Strategia di una rapina (Italy),

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