1) Dead Reckoning explores themes of male identity crisis and suppressed homosexuality through the relationship between Captain Murdock and his partner Johnny Drake. Murdock projects his feelings for Johnny onto other characters after Johnny's death. 2) The film uses subtle subtext and camera techniques to suggest a homosexual relationship between Murdock and Johnny. Their intimate dialogue hints at feelings beyond friendship. 3) Chandler acts as a femme fatale, subjugating male authority. Murdock regains control by capturing the criminals and rejecting Chandler's plans. He projects his love for Johnny onto her as she dies.

1. Dead Reckoning
Homosexuality in early Cinema.
Dark dreary and damp, Dead Reckoning opens into a street scene displaying the 40’s after-war slump; ”get your
Sunday morning paper here!” is heard repetitively in the background. Murdock is introduced framed in the almost grotesque
light of a shop window, police chasing him. After a run from authority, Murdock escapes into a church. The story truly
starts in a flashback while Murdock talks to the “Jumping Padre”, a Para trooping priest. In just this opening scene, this first
4 minutes, we are introduced to many of the core concepts of Film Noir; Fleeing from authority, anti-hero demeanor, voice
over, dark rainy setting, flashback, male crisis of identity and more. This powerhouse of a film contains so many concepts
attributed to Film Noir that one cannot hope to analyze it all in only 7 pages, allow me to concentrate your attention to one
specific concept, The male crisis of identity and the subjugation of male authority verging on homosexuality.
Humphrey Bogart plays Captain Murdock, a paratrooper that has a strong relationship to his partner, Johnny Drake.
This relationship starts off as you would expect any military relationship to start. Through bonding In World War II and the
act of surviving it. With this stranglehold on their feelings Murdock projects his ideal qualities onto Drake. This projection
is just the beginning of a film so full of projectors that you'd think you can hear them rolling, Drake in turn projects his
animosity and loneliness onto the lovely miss Chandler.
The dialogue in the train scene between Rip and Johnny is a terrific example of their intimate relationship:
“Houses with roofs on them, women with nylons, kids that eat, I can't believe it!” “Say when you get on
again as a professor at some college and I'm back running my cabs in Saint Louis send me up a problem in
algebra once in a while?” “a blond or brunette?” “Redhead in a Sloppy Joe sweater.” “I think you're a
great guy too Rip, if that's what this conversation's about ”.
Though they are talking about Women, the conversation apparently has a subtext of complementation. Between the lines
Murdock is actually talking about Johnny, not some “redhead in a sloppy Joe sweater”.
The introductory train scene holds some of the tensest moments of identity crisis, with Murdock's projection
symbolized in the mirror while they talk in the doorway of the bathroom, this is also an awesomely composed shot, with

2. Murdock out of focus in the foreground and Johnny's reflection looking at him while he looks in the mirror. The subtext
hidden throughout the film hints at a somewhat homosexual relationship especially after Johnny dies. This identity crisis is
further emphasized by the camera's use of perspective in the phone booth scene. Looking up at the woman waiting to be let
in, it sets Murdock lower than her, symbolizing his male crisis, he averts this with snappy dialogue in an attempt to win
back some of his masculinity with on quip on women.
Throughout Dead Reckoning there are lain hints and clues about the “maleness” of the characters, whether it be
Murdock calling on the Johnny's bartender friend, “Oh come here sweetheart”, or how his nickname for Chandler was
“Mike”. This befuddlement of the sexes acts as subtext for the homosexual theme projected onto different characters, male
waiter as “sweetheart” and female Chandler as “mike”. By projecting opposites on these sexes he is able to transfer his love
of Johnny onto his male projection of Chandler. This transference of love is a powerful factor in this film, both forming the
relationship between Murdock and Chandler and showcasing the performance of each character.
“What man has done Murdock can do”, this quote from the casino scene best reflects the feelings Murdock has of
himself. In a crisis of identity, Murdock categorizes himself not as a Man, but as a separate individual, he is able to both
attract the projection of Females while putting his own projection on whomsoever holds his interest. With Johnny, his best
friend and wartime partner, dead and gone, Murdock must project his love of Johnny onto Chandler, the girl Johnny loved.
Therefore his Love for Johnny has transferred onto “Mike”, Murdock's projection onto Chandler.
Transference of love comes up again after Murdoch wakes up from being drugged at the sanctuary club and has a
rude awakening to the dead body of Louis in the bed next to him. After he deals with the cops that come to check up on an
anonymous tip, he phones Chandler and with the distinctive name “Dusty” checks up on her. By calling her “Dusty”, the
name that Johnny used in his love for her, Murdock forces “Mike” to replace Johnny with him. This replacement is seen in
the perspective shots of the dance and dinner table scene at the club. Every time Chandler looks at Murdock the camera
switches to her perspective and an idealized shot of Murdock.
Male authority is subjugated several times throughout the film, adding to the homosexual themes by fetishizing
male submission or lack of male authority. The most powerful way male authority is subjugated in Film Noir is often the
Femme Fatale, the female anti-hero, who acts as a counter to the male lead. Chandler, in my opinion, is one of the most
subversive instances of Femme Fatale in Film Noir, after clubbing Murdock at the club; she loots the safe and looks for the
gun in order to save herself from jail, or worse.
When Murdock arrives at “Mikes” house he says “I heard of a girl once kissing a guy and stabbed him in the back
at the same time” “Rip?!” “And I heard of another girl who kissed a guy and blackjacked him with... the smell of jasmine in

3. her hair”. Referencing her backstabbing nature this quote peels away at the facade Chandler puts up throughout the film, the
vision is smudged once again as she quickly regains control of Murdock using her wo”man”ly charm. After calling the
police to try and prove she isn't putting up an act Murdock finally gives in, letting “Mike” spew a story full of lies and spite,
the same lies she used to woo Johnny, her cursed lover. After falling for her facade, Murdock finally faints onto her couch.
Upon Murdock's awakening, he puts up his own act, telling “Mike” that he'll do whatever she wants and kisses her.
Gaining back his male authority, he refuses her plan and sets his sights on redeeming Johnny's honor. His male dominance
is further established when the officer arrives and is tied up and put in the closet. The tension when Murdock tells the officer
to turn around and get on his belly is palpable. After taking control of the Officer, Murdock continues his rampage of
manhood by capturing Martinelli and Krause with the help of his Femme Fatale.
Another terrific example of the Femme Fatale and her evolution is her murder of Martinelli and the subsequent
scene in the car. Like a rat backed into a corner, the Femme Fatale finally reveals her true self when confronted with
Murdock and his new knowledge of her involvement of her husbands murder and her attempted murder of Murdock
himself. Telling her “there's one other thing, I loved him more” Murdock emphasizes his stronger love for his male
counterpart than for her. In a last ditch effort for authority “Mike” pulls a gun on Murdock while being driven away from
the club; Murdock foils this woman’s last attempt at control. Reacting with his own authoritative gesture, he accelerates the
car to full speed with the threat “you shoot, baby, you'll smear us all over the highway”. She shoots. The car veers for a few
seconds in a blind loss of control until colliding with a tree.
With Murdock's projection shattered, Chandler, not “Mike”, lies exposed on a hospital table calling for him. Every
Act gone, the performance is over and we get to see her without the mask of the Femme Fatale. Finally recognized for his
actual military authority, “Captain” Murdock speaks to Washington about Johnny, the Officer's look as Murdock leaves the
room is one of confusion mixed with admiration as he himself has a small moment of male crisis of identity. Talking to
Chandler, Murdock projects once again his love for Johnny onto her as she's dying, allowing him to say goodbye to Johnny
through her. With a final “Geronimo” Chandler final fades into the abyss, ending the movie with a fade into a paratrooper
floating down
Dead reckoning is a film chalk full of classic Film Noir themes and subtexts. Filmed in a time when anything
Homosexual was censored from the masses, this film explores sexuality through deep subtext and subtle themes having to
do with male authority and the “performance” between characters. By bringing up homosexual themes in combination with
classic Film Noir themes such as subversion of male authority and male crisis of identity, Dead Reckoning hides within its
subtext a theme that for most films lay behind a wall of censorship. Much like the Spanish films made during the Francoist

4. regime, the authority of the government (or male hood in the case of Dead Reckoning), was strongly subverted with subtext
hidden throughout the films. By making it through censorship with this hidden subversion, both types of films, Film Noir
and Spanish cinema helped add a deeper level of interpretation to films.
To conclude, while Dead Reckoning is full of many of the major themes in Film Noir, it strikes me for its use of
subtext and subtle subversion of different authorities. Bogart has always been known to be a “manly”, “tough guy”
character; it's refreshing to see him so in love someone of the same sex, the “two man team”, and the perfect couple. Filled
with projection from almost every character's perspective, this film is full of actors playing a character in a “performance”.
With this level of depth I can easily see how Film Noir and films such as Dead Reckoning influenced future films and entire
industries.