I had to really think things through in listening to an almost unrecognizable Peter Graves narrate this crime saga of a punk and a mobster tied together through fate and both on opposite sides of the law in spite of an obvious detestment of each other. Solid performances by all four leads (Anthony Quinn as a powerful racketeer, Farley Granger as a death row inmate, Anne Bancroft as Quinn's tough sister impregnated by Granger, as well as the aforementioned Graves) guide the story of Quinn's decision o get Granger's conviction for murder overturned so he can marry Bancroft. But these two amoral men are doomed to be in conflict, and it is Graves' job to expose both of their corruptions.
The narration, quite weakly presented, seems so immaturely written in spite of the adult situations. By 1955, this type of structure was almost a cliché for film noir, and while it may have worked had it been written better, it could have been even better totally without it. There's a lot of cleverness to be found, but certain incidents in the film have no real point in being there, such as a murder discovered at the beginning and the discovery of a body in the east river towards the end of the film. Quinn has a floozy mistress that simply disappears from the film, and Granger's hijacking of the truck he drives for Quinn is barely dealt with, either. Bancroft is one of those actresses that shines in everything even though at this time Hollywood producers didn't see her as anything more than a typical stock player.
You pretty much figure out how the film will play out in a key scene halfway through the film, and the conclusion totally forgets about wrapping up what has happened to Granger at that point, which was the major plot of the last quarter. This ends up being a grievous error on the part of all involved in the film's continuity, forgotten without any after thought by the director, writer and ultimately the editor.
The narration, quite weakly presented, seems so immaturely written in spite of the adult situations. By 1955, this type of structure was almost a cliché for film noir, and while it may have worked had it been written better, it could have been even better totally without it. There's a lot of cleverness to be found, but certain incidents in the film have no real point in being there, such as a murder discovered at the beginning and the discovery of a body in the east river towards the end of the film. Quinn has a floozy mistress that simply disappears from the film, and Granger's hijacking of the truck he drives for Quinn is barely dealt with, either. Bancroft is one of those actresses that shines in everything even though at this time Hollywood producers didn't see her as anything more than a typical stock player.
You pretty much figure out how the film will play out in a key scene halfway through the film, and the conclusion totally forgets about wrapping up what has happened to Granger at that point, which was the major plot of the last quarter. This ends up being a grievous error on the part of all involved in the film's continuity, forgotten without any after thought by the director, writer and ultimately the editor.