Review of High Tide

After a very intriguing start, this movie centres on a newspaper that is getting threats from the local organised crime gang due to its reports on its activities - even printing an imaginary picture of the local kingpin behind bars. This raises his ire - but that is not the only threat to the owner; his editor Hugh Fresney (a crusty Lee Tracey) and his investigative reporter/'special investigator' Tim Slade (a dashing Don Castle) are at loggerheads as a result of their ambition to have more influence at the paper. The owner's wife and secretary both seem interested in PI Slade as do the mob and the police - given his rebellious streak in the face of everyone. There is a general air of suspicion hanging over all the players, and the motives of various characters are deliberately kept uncertain, which helps the plotting. However, the film seems half chopped away; more scenes would help to remove the necessity for exposition spiels here and there, and flesh out some of the characters and their motivations. Moreover, the music seems like it could accompany any noir - and sometimes does not really match with what is on-screen. Still, the acting is serviceable and gets the job done, and there are a couple of minor roles or short-screen-time characters that are really gritty, with a few nicely snappy lines that raised a smile here and there. The lighting and camera work are standard fare with an occasional pleasing shot. I can't rate it terribly highly, especially given the number of contorted contrivances in the story, but at just 72 mins - it is a decent B-movie noir.