I'm fast becoming an admirer of CHARLES McGRAW who did some nifty B-films in the '40s and '50s, usually as a granite jawed anti-hero with murder and mayhem on his mind. He does some of his best work here as a man whose greedy girlfriend leads him astray from his job as an insurance inspector. It's the sort of film you'd expect from RKO, the studio that seemed adept at turning out these smoothly produced B-films and giving them sharp-edged dialog in true film noir style.
I can't say anything too favorable about the choice of JOAN DIXON as the femme fatale who looks a lot like a cross between Ellen Drew and Ella Raines but lacks Raines' ability to get inside of a role. Dixon is a blank check as an actress. LOWELL GILMORE does a nice job as an equally corrupt man who meets his fate in a fiery car crash engineered by McGraw. It seems almost like overkill since he's not quite the villain the screenplay wants him to be.
But it's McGraw who gives the most truthful performance in this noir type of exercise. His steely gaze and powerful build give him the right kind of charisma for this type of thing. One can easily see him portraying someone like Dick Tracy, on the other side of the law, if the chance ever came. Instead, he spent most of his career as a hardened, bitter type, and as ruthless as he is here.
Summing up: Surprisingly good B-film from RKO that gives McGraw a chance to shine in the type of role he did best.
I can't say anything too favorable about the choice of JOAN DIXON as the femme fatale who looks a lot like a cross between Ellen Drew and Ella Raines but lacks Raines' ability to get inside of a role. Dixon is a blank check as an actress. LOWELL GILMORE does a nice job as an equally corrupt man who meets his fate in a fiery car crash engineered by McGraw. It seems almost like overkill since he's not quite the villain the screenplay wants him to be.
But it's McGraw who gives the most truthful performance in this noir type of exercise. His steely gaze and powerful build give him the right kind of charisma for this type of thing. One can easily see him portraying someone like Dick Tracy, on the other side of the law, if the chance ever came. Instead, he spent most of his career as a hardened, bitter type, and as ruthless as he is here.
Summing up: Surprisingly good B-film from RKO that gives McGraw a chance to shine in the type of role he did best.