Greed, corruption, deception, femme fatale dame, key elements of a noir thriller that here in totality are deficiently dramatized. Likely the fault of director Richard Quine who failed to infuse the storyline and actors with the necessary passionate momentum. We get Fred MacMurray presenting his usual average American guy this time cast as an undercover police detective. And in this context still not able to fully cancel out his innate milk toast image. Takes what's called suspension of disbelief to buy into the premise this dedicated cop can so easily become a corrupt cop even when the lure is a seductive gangster moll. Even one dished up so tantalizingly by Kim Novak. Kim Novak in her intro featured movie role is 21 years old and carries herself like a woman of the world who at a young age has been around. Has already seen, heard and done plenty. It fits her character well as she manages to flavor her resilient worldliness with the right amount of poignant vulnerability. Dorothy Malone appears here still in her brown haired days before she renovated into a platinum blonde. An image transition that jump started her career and brought her to public attention. All in all, the movie is no great shakes but well worth watching. Has significant entertainment value. Not strictly a B movie but more like a B+.
Review of Pushover
