Liked it a lot better than the previous Hugo Haas offering on Noir Alley, "Hit And Run". I agree with Eddie Muller that the light hearted, but not syrupy, ending to a fairly dark film is most welcome. It is also not easy to pull off without becoming jarringly discordant, but Haas manages it quite well. I also agree with Eddie that it is good, for a change, to see the femme fatale get away with her misdeeds... and flip Howland Chamberlain the raspberry in the process. Don't know how Haas managed to slip this by the censors. Maybe they did not deign to view such poverty row, B picture stuff all that acutely. In any case, it's refreshing. Give it a B minus and it would have been higher if Beverly Michaels weren't such a mediocre actress. Her range goes from sneering to snarling and back again to sneering. Or maybe that's just how Haas and his co scenarist, Arnold Phillips, wrote her character. And her paramour, Alan Nixon, is not a whole lot better! All of which shows to go you that in el cheapo productions like this the first casualty is usually the acting.
PS...An exception to the general "meh-ness" of the performers is Chamberlain who is sadly likable as a vag who steals books to read them. A most eccentric concept. This guy probably would have been one of Hollywood's best character actors had it not been for old man Blacklist.
PS...An exception to the general "meh-ness" of the performers is Chamberlain who is sadly likable as a vag who steals books to read them. A most eccentric concept. This guy probably would have been one of Hollywood's best character actors had it not been for old man Blacklist.