"Red Light" is a film noir picture with some good and, unfortunately, some bad. It easily could have earned an 8, as it has an amazing good villain (Raymond Burr) and an interesting plot. But it is also VERY preachy and has about as much subtlety as a stripper showing up at a Baptist picnic!
When the story begins, you see two mugs in prison chatting about revenge. One of them, Nick (Burr) is talking about wanting to settle accounts with his old boss, Joe Torno (George Raft). It seems Nick was embezzling and he expected his boss to save him when auditors discovered this. Not surprisingly, Joe let him go to prison. So, now that you hear this, you KNOW who is going to be hurting Joe...there is absolutely no suspense because of this.
Soon, you see that Joe is very proud of his younger brother, a priest. But when the priest is murdered, Joe goes looking for the killer....bent on dispensing his own brand of justice. All he has to go on are his dying brother's words....about something that is written in a Bible.
Most of the film is good and Raft is better than usual. But continuously having strains of "Ave Maria" throughout the film and the very preachy ending really hurt the movie. I would have given it much more than a 6 (it was entertaining) but the preachiness and lack of a mystery ruin an otherwise very good film....making it more a time-passer as a result.
When the story begins, you see two mugs in prison chatting about revenge. One of them, Nick (Burr) is talking about wanting to settle accounts with his old boss, Joe Torno (George Raft). It seems Nick was embezzling and he expected his boss to save him when auditors discovered this. Not surprisingly, Joe let him go to prison. So, now that you hear this, you KNOW who is going to be hurting Joe...there is absolutely no suspense because of this.
Soon, you see that Joe is very proud of his younger brother, a priest. But when the priest is murdered, Joe goes looking for the killer....bent on dispensing his own brand of justice. All he has to go on are his dying brother's words....about something that is written in a Bible.
Most of the film is good and Raft is better than usual. But continuously having strains of "Ave Maria" throughout the film and the very preachy ending really hurt the movie. I would have given it much more than a 6 (it was entertaining) but the preachiness and lack of a mystery ruin an otherwise very good film....making it more a time-passer as a result.