A cop is drawn rather inexplicably into an apparent suicide, leading him into a meandering investigation.
Despite a promising start, the movie descends into a lackluster crime drama with little to salvage it from the celluloid wastebasket. The plot's neither tight nor coherent, plodding along in uninspired fashion, with the usual bruising fist fights where no one gets marked up and a wounded hero who quickly recovers in true Hollywood fashion. In a better movie, these clichés could be overlooked, but here they simply add to the general contrivance. What surprises me is that this is a studio production (Warner Bros.). I could understand the slipshod results coming from a cheap indie outfit, but not from the gangster experts at Warners. Still, no film with that great tough-talking slattern Esther Howard (the landlady) can be a total loss. My suggestion-- catch the movie if the only alternative is a political speech.
Despite a promising start, the movie descends into a lackluster crime drama with little to salvage it from the celluloid wastebasket. The plot's neither tight nor coherent, plodding along in uninspired fashion, with the usual bruising fist fights where no one gets marked up and a wounded hero who quickly recovers in true Hollywood fashion. In a better movie, these clichés could be overlooked, but here they simply add to the general contrivance. What surprises me is that this is a studio production (Warner Bros.). I could understand the slipshod results coming from a cheap indie outfit, but not from the gangster experts at Warners. Still, no film with that great tough-talking slattern Esther Howard (the landlady) can be a total loss. My suggestion-- catch the movie if the only alternative is a political speech.