This movie has a reasonable approval rating among the reviews submitted so far, but I found it to be rather heavy handed and silly. I'm generally pretty forgiving with 'noirs' because I love them all but this one is mostly annoying from start to finish.
Robert Bray would have made a pretty good Mike Hammer but is held back by an appalling script and implausible story. He's 'over the top' angry and 'over the top' gritty and his blind quest for justice for a dead hooker he met briefly in a cafe is not a reasonable or appropriate reaction.
The private dick and his cop friend at odds across a table is pure comedy theater and ends up diminishing the on-screen relationship for the viewers rather than nourishing it.
Some things to watch, though... loads of 1950s Los Angeles scenery (both indoors and outside) to soak in. The girls are pretty, too and Donald Randolph makes the most of his lines with a maniacal rendering of the Colonel Holloway role.
But that aside - there's really nothing here to see. The story is long and drawn out with several scenes extended for periods of time with no dialog and seemingly no purpose. Watch it if you must... but don't say I didn't warn you!
Robert Bray would have made a pretty good Mike Hammer but is held back by an appalling script and implausible story. He's 'over the top' angry and 'over the top' gritty and his blind quest for justice for a dead hooker he met briefly in a cafe is not a reasonable or appropriate reaction.
The private dick and his cop friend at odds across a table is pure comedy theater and ends up diminishing the on-screen relationship for the viewers rather than nourishing it.
Some things to watch, though... loads of 1950s Los Angeles scenery (both indoors and outside) to soak in. The girls are pretty, too and Donald Randolph makes the most of his lines with a maniacal rendering of the Colonel Holloway role.
But that aside - there's really nothing here to see. The story is long and drawn out with several scenes extended for periods of time with no dialog and seemingly no purpose. Watch it if you must... but don't say I didn't warn you!