The Clay Pigeon

The Clay Pigeon

A man awakens from a coma to discover he's accused of treason.

NR 1949 · 63 min · ★ 5.7 · Thriller, Crime

Jim Fletcher, waking up from a coma, finds he is to be given a court martial for treason and charged with informing on fellow inmates in a Japanese prison camp during WWII. Escaping from the hospital he tries to clear himself by enlisting the aid of Martha Gregory, widow of a service buddy he was accused of informing on. Helped also by Ted Niles, a surviving fellow prisoner, he gets closer to finding the answers he needs, and becomes ensnared in a grandiose scheme involving his Japanese ex-prison guard, $10,000,000 of US currency forged by the Japanese and a burgeoning crime network poised to wreak havoc throughout southern California.

Directed by Richard Fleischer · Written by Carl Foreman

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Rent or Buy

Cast

Bill Williams Jim Fletcher
Barbara Hale Martha Gregory
Richard Quine Ted Niles
Richard Loo Ken Tokoyama
Frank Fenton Prentice
Frank Wilcox Navy Hospital Doctor
Marya Marco Helen Minoto
Robert Bray Gunsel Blake
Martha Hyer Miss Harwick
Harold Landon Blind Veteran
James Craven John Wheeler
Grandon Rhodes Naval Intelligence Agent Clark

Make it a double feature

2h 14m together

The Clay Pigeon

The Narrow Margin

Both from Richard Fleischer.

More from Richard FleischerSee all →

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Who Framed Roger Rabbit · 1988

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

MovieFantasyAnimation

Toon star Roger is worried that his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else, so the studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stakes are quickly raised when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect.

The Narrow Margin

The Narrow Margin · 1952

The Narrow Margin

MovieThrillerCrime

A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.

10 Rillington Place

10 Rillington Place · 1971

10 Rillington Place

MovieCrimeThriller

The story of British serial killer John Christie, who committed most or all of his crimes in the titular terraced house, and the miscarriage of justice involving Timothy Evans.

Tora! Tora! Tora!

Tora! Tora! Tora! · 1970

Tora! Tora! Tora!

MovieWarHistory

In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.

Compulsion

Compulsion · 1959

MovieCrimeDrama

Two close friends' plan to execute a flawless crime is crushed when one of them inadvertently leaves his glasses at the crime scene.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea · 1954

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

MovieAdventureScience Fiction

A ship sent to investigate a wave of mysterious sinkings encounters the advanced submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by Captain Nemo.

The Vikings

The Vikings · 1958

MovieAdventureHistory

Einar, brutal son of the viking Ragnar and future heir to his throne, tangles with clever slave Eric, for the hand of a beautiful English maiden.

Barabbas

Barabbas · 1961

MovieHistoryDrama

Epic account of the thief Barabbas, who was pardoned for his crimes and spared crucifixion when Pilate offered the Israelites a choice to pardon Barabbas or Jesus. Struggling with his spirituality, Barabbas goes through many ordeals leading him to the gladiatorial arena, where he tries to win his freedom and confront his inner demons, ultimately becoming a follower of the man who was crucified in his place.

Soylent Green

Soylent Green · 1973

MovieScience FictionCrime

In the year 2022, overcrowding, pollution, and resource depletion have reduced society’s leaders to finding food for the teeming masses. The answer is Soylent Green.

His Kind of Woman

His Kind of Woman · 1951

His Kind of Woman

MovieCrimeComedy

Career gambler Dan Milner agrees to a $50,000 deal to leave the USA for Mexico, only to find himself entangled with fellow guests at a luxurious resort and suspecting that the man who hired him may be the deported crime boss Nick Ferraro aiming to re-enter to the USA.

Fantastic Voyage

Fantastic Voyage · 1966

Fantastic Voyage

MovieScience FictionAdventure

In order to save an assassinated scientist, a submarine and its crew are shrunk to microscopic size and injected into his bloodstream.

The Spikes Gang

The Spikes Gang · 1974

The Spikes Gang

MovieWesternAction

Three teenage farm boys stumble upon Harry Spikes, a local bandit wounded in a gun battle. While Harry is recuperating, he regales the young men with stories of his exciting past. The adventurous tales inspire them to start a gang of their own. Failing at their first attempt to rob a bank, the boys convince the gruff Spikes to teach them the ways of the desperado.

Mandingo

Mandingo · 1975

MovieRomanceDrama

Warren Maxwell, the owner of a run-down plantation, pressures his son, Hammond, to marry and produce an heir to inherit the plantation. Hammond settles on his own cousin, Blanche, but purchases a sex slave when he returns from the honeymoon. He also buys his father a new Mandingo slave named Mede to breed and train as a prize-fighter.

The Boston Strangler

The Boston Strangler · 1968

The Boston Strangler

MovieDramaCrime

Boston is being terrorized by a series of seemingly random murders of women. Based on the true story, the film follows the investigators path through several leads before introducing the Strangler as a character. It is seen almost exclusively from the point of view of the investigators who have very few clues to build a case upon.

The Last Run

The Last Run · 1971

MovieCrimeThriller

A former mob getaway driver from Chicago has retired to a peaceful life in a Portuguese fishing village. He is asked to pull off one last job - to drive a dangerous crook and his girlfriend to France.

Doctor Dolittle

Doctor Dolittle · 1967

Doctor Dolittle

MovieFamilyComedy

A veterinarian who can communicate with animals travels abroad to search for a giant sea snail.

More Like This

The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs · 1991

The Silence of the Lambs

MovieCrimeThriller

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

To Catch a Thief

To Catch a Thief · 1955

To Catch a Thief

MovieMysteryRomance

When a string of jewel robberies hits the French Riviera, suspicion falls on retired thief John “The Cat” Robie. To clear his name, he sets out to trap the copycat himself—entangling a wealthy widow and her beguiling daughter in a seductive game of pursuit, deception, and desire.

On the Waterfront

On the Waterfront · 1954

On the Waterfront

MovieCrimeDrama

A prizefighter-turned-longshoreman with a conscience goes up against labor leaders to expose corruption, extortion, and murder among the union ranks.

Out of the Past

Out of the Past · 1947

Out of the Past

MovieCrimeThriller

The peaceful life of a gas station owner is disrupted when a man from his past arrives in town and forces him to return to the dark world he had tried to escape.

Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet · 1986

MovieMysteryThriller

The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.

Diabolique

Diabolique · 1955

MovieThrillerMystery

The cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle, is murdered by an unlikely duo -- his meek wife and the mistress he brazenly flaunts. The women become increasingly unhinged by a series of odd occurrences after Delassalle's corpse mysteriously disappears.

MovieDramaThriller

In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.

Strangers on a Train

Strangers on a Train · 1951

Strangers on a Train

MovieCrimeThriller

A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.

The Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect · 2004

The Butterfly Effect

MovieScience FictionThriller

A young man struggles to access sublimated childhood memories. He finds a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, to occupy his childhood body and change history. However, he soon finds that every change he makes has unexpected consequences.

Enough

MovieDramaThriller

Working-class waitress Slim thought she was entering a life of domestic bliss when she married Mitch, the man of her dreams. After the arrival of their first child, her picture perfect life is shattered when she discovers Mitch's hidden possessive dark side, a controlling and abusive alter ego that can turn trust, love and tranquility into terror. Terrified for her child's safety, Slim flees with her daughter. Relentless in his pursuit and enlisting the aid of lethal henchmen, Mitch continually stalks the prey that was once his family.

Shattered

Shattered · 1991

MovieMysteryThriller

Dan Merrick comes out from a shattering car accident with amnesia. He finds that he is married to Judith who is trying to help him start his life again. He keeps getting flashbacks about events and places that he can't remember. He meets pet shop owner and part time private detective Gus Klein who has supposedly done some work for him prior to the accident. Klein helps Merrick to find out more...

Crime of Passion

Crime of Passion · 1956

Crime of Passion

MovieDramaCrime

Kathy leaves the newspaper business to marry homicide detective Bill, but is frustrated by his lack of ambition and the banality of life in the suburbs. Her drive to advance Bill's career soon takes her down a dangerous path.

Angel Face

Angel Face · 1953

MovieDramaCrime

Ambulance driver Frank Jessup is ensnared in the schemes of the sensuous but dangerous Diane Tremayne.

Romeo Is Bleeding

Romeo Is Bleeding · 1993

Romeo Is Bleeding

MovieCrimeDrama

A corrupt cop gets in over his head when he tries to assassinate a beautiful Russian hit-woman.

Desert Saints

Desert Saints · 2002

MovieActionRomance

Banks is a hit man, the best, usually working for Latin American drug cartels. He picks up solitary women, uses them briefly for a job, then kills them. He's in the Southwest, headed toward Mexico, when he picks up Bennie, a woman leaving an abusive marriage, going to Paradise, Arizona. The film follows three tracks: Banks's slow recruitment of Bennie, the set-up for the hit at a swank resort in Mexico, and the FBI's close pursuit of Banks, whom they want alive in hopes he'll rat out his bosses. Bennie may not be who she seems, and there may be a chink in Banks's tough-guy armor. Guns, money, and a chance at Paradise.

Lady in the Lake

Lady in the Lake · 1946

Lady in the Lake

MovieMysteryThriller

Private eye Phillip Marlowe wants to get out of the detective racket and into crime writing. But when he's called to the office of editor Adrienne Fromsett, it's not to talk about his story ideas — she wants him to locate the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby. The assignment quickly becomes complicated when bodies start turning up.

The Long Goodbye

The Long Goodbye · 1973

The Long Goodbye

MovieMysteryCrime

In 1970s Hollywood, Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter