Provided you can ignore the plot holes here and there in the film, then this is an enjoyable and exciting film. While I noticed that now this film is being marketed in a Film Noir multi-pack by MGM, I really don't think I'd consider this film Noir. It does have many aspects of this, but a story about illegal Mexican migrant workers and the scum who traffic in them is hardly the stuff of Noir, though there is some gritty action and violence that is definitely influenced by this style film.
The movie stars George Murphy and Ricardo Montalban. While Murphy never became a huge star, he was pretty good in this movie. However, for Montalban who only occasionally got a chance to act in films that were non-musicals, it was a very welcome role.
The film itself is a fairly entertaining and straight forward tale about some scum who smuggle illegal immigrants into America and then use them as slave labor or even kill them when it's no longer convenient to keep them! Because of their brutality, a joint Mexican and American task force is created to infiltrate. Despite the complexity and evil of this gang, two agents (Murphy and Montalban) are sent in with no real backup! And, once Montalban begins his journey into the US an a supposed illegal, Murphy's tailing techniques are incredibly shabby and so he's naturally caught but manages to escape.
The rest of the film concerns Montalban as well as a later infiltration by Murphy when he poses as a man who has stolen a large supply of legal identity cards that he attempts to sell to the scum running the gang from the American side of the border. Some of the film is excellent, as Charles McGraw and Howard Da Silva make great heavies (particularly McGraw) and what occurs with Murphy once he's in the gang was quite a surprise. Also, like Noir the film is unflinching and brutal. But unfortunately, several times throughout the film the heroes and their forces didn't seem all that bright and at times the only thing that saved them was the sloppiness of the criminals! Additionally, the narration (particularly at the end) is very heavy-handed and hokey. This isn't a great film but it is exciting and worth a look.
PS---While George Murphy wasn't the greatest actor that ever lived and this film doesn't change my opinion of this. However, try reading him IMDb biography--it really is fascinating and has many parallels to Ronald Reagan's.
The movie stars George Murphy and Ricardo Montalban. While Murphy never became a huge star, he was pretty good in this movie. However, for Montalban who only occasionally got a chance to act in films that were non-musicals, it was a very welcome role.
The film itself is a fairly entertaining and straight forward tale about some scum who smuggle illegal immigrants into America and then use them as slave labor or even kill them when it's no longer convenient to keep them! Because of their brutality, a joint Mexican and American task force is created to infiltrate. Despite the complexity and evil of this gang, two agents (Murphy and Montalban) are sent in with no real backup! And, once Montalban begins his journey into the US an a supposed illegal, Murphy's tailing techniques are incredibly shabby and so he's naturally caught but manages to escape.
The rest of the film concerns Montalban as well as a later infiltration by Murphy when he poses as a man who has stolen a large supply of legal identity cards that he attempts to sell to the scum running the gang from the American side of the border. Some of the film is excellent, as Charles McGraw and Howard Da Silva make great heavies (particularly McGraw) and what occurs with Murphy once he's in the gang was quite a surprise. Also, like Noir the film is unflinching and brutal. But unfortunately, several times throughout the film the heroes and their forces didn't seem all that bright and at times the only thing that saved them was the sloppiness of the criminals! Additionally, the narration (particularly at the end) is very heavy-handed and hokey. This isn't a great film but it is exciting and worth a look.
PS---While George Murphy wasn't the greatest actor that ever lived and this film doesn't change my opinion of this. However, try reading him IMDb biography--it really is fascinating and has many parallels to Ronald Reagan's.