This noir has a most unusual protagonist - an electronics expert (Edmund O'Brien as Mal Granger) working for the telephone company, griping about his low wages, who gets introduced to a gangster running a bookie operation as somebody who can upgrade his infrastructure and thus boost profits. And that he does. Like Little Caesar, he eventually takes over that operation by virtue of the fact that the lead guy can't operate without his knowledge or equipment. By virtue of a random violent act, he actually gets the title too.
But then he gets greedy, and tries to take too big a percentage and grows too prosperous, getting the attention of the tougher outfits back east. Up to now, Mal has just been greedy, but once hooked up with the syndicate back east he thinks he can outsmart the smarter hoods, and even get away with murder. And what really precipitates his downfall is of all things - a woman. Not unusual in a noir, but unusual since up to the point when he meets this classy damsel in distress, he has always been saying that no woman will get her hooks into him. But there are more ways than just walking down an aisle to get hooked by a woman, and here he is. What is odd about the woman, played by Joanna Dru, is that she seems like a somewhat straight arrow. She says the right things, seems to not want Mal to go down a violent risky path. But she seems to protest not too loudly and in the end is with him every step of the way.
This is a long movie for its time period at two hours, but it is always moving, always keeping you guessing, with the great Otto Kruger as a syndicate guy so smooth and polite he is scary. In this film not getting the wool pulled over his eyes is a magnificent obsession. Highly recommended.
But then he gets greedy, and tries to take too big a percentage and grows too prosperous, getting the attention of the tougher outfits back east. Up to now, Mal has just been greedy, but once hooked up with the syndicate back east he thinks he can outsmart the smarter hoods, and even get away with murder. And what really precipitates his downfall is of all things - a woman. Not unusual in a noir, but unusual since up to the point when he meets this classy damsel in distress, he has always been saying that no woman will get her hooks into him. But there are more ways than just walking down an aisle to get hooked by a woman, and here he is. What is odd about the woman, played by Joanna Dru, is that she seems like a somewhat straight arrow. She says the right things, seems to not want Mal to go down a violent risky path. But she seems to protest not too loudly and in the end is with him every step of the way.
This is a long movie for its time period at two hours, but it is always moving, always keeping you guessing, with the great Otto Kruger as a syndicate guy so smooth and polite he is scary. In this film not getting the wool pulled over his eyes is a magnificent obsession. Highly recommended.