A convoluted B thriller from Republic at the height of its popularity is a messy tale of a missing business executive, a ton of lies, and a corpse on the rocks. It's a great chance for Stephanie Bachelor and Martin Kosleck to be sinister, and for Mary Currier to be wacko. She's the aunt of pretty Betty Shaw who is searching for her missing father with the help of an ex-con (Michael Browne) who is searching for his newspaper brother. Together they end up on a journey of so many details that it takes a road map to figure out where the party is going, that is until the last real when everything is conveniently wrapped up. It's a handsome looking film, but the script is muddled and the characters vague. The sequence where they come across a corpse covered in ice brings on laughter, not shock. The sophisticated Bachelor, the wicked Kosleck and the bizarre Currier are fascinating, but when you root for the bad guys over the heroes, that makes for an awkward film to watch.
Review of Crime of the Century
