The Fat Man (film)

The Fat Man
Directed byWilliam Castle
Screenplay byHarry Essex
Leonard Lee
Story byLeonard Lee
Based onradio series created by Dashiell Hammett
Produced byAubrey Schenck
StarringJ. Scott Smart
CinematographyIrving Glassberg
Edited byEdward Curtiss
Color processBlack and white
Production
company
Universal Pictures
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • May 24, 1951 (1951-05-24) (New York)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Fat Man is a 1951 American crime film noir directed by William Castle and starring J. Scott Smart, Rock Hudson, Julie London, Clinton Sundberg and Emmett Kelly. It is based on a radio drama of the same name, with Smart reprising his role as portly detective Brad Runyan.

Originally released by Universal Pictures, the film is now in the public domain in the United States.

Castle later called the film "a potboiler of little merit, except that I was able to cast Rock Hudson ... and to use Emmett Kelly, the Ringling Brothers clown, as the villain."