The Narrow Margin (1952)

Few film noirs are as tight as The Narrow Margin. Originally produced as a low-budget programmer for RKO, the 1952 thriller directed by Richard Fleischer became an unexpected critical and commercial success and is now widely regarded as a noir classic. Running a lean 71 minutes, it wastes no time establishing LAPD Sgt Walter Brown (Charles McGraw), who must escort a mobster’s widow (Marie Windsor) on the Golden West Limited from Chicago to Los Angeles, where she is set to testify against organized crime — all while evading the killers hidden among the train’s passengers.