Alan Beckwith owes a large gambling debt to gangster Andrew North. Alan agrees to take on an $100k life insurance policy. He also agrees to marry Beverly who is under North's control. After the mandatory one year wait, he will kill himself and leave the money to Beverly. North assigns Squint Dugan to watch over the couple.
This is a pre-Code crime drama from RKO. The staging is a bit play-like. It's early filmmaking. I do like the premise. It has potential to go down differing paths. There is an obvious flaw with North's plan. Alan is a gambler and he's got nothing to lose as he gets closer to the one year mark. He's going to gamble. If he makes a lot of money, he's going to try to buy his way out. If he loses a lot of money, it doesn't matter to him anyways. The comedic touches don't really work. After a slow-moving two thirds, the movie does rise up in tension culminating into a good fast-pace car chase.
This is a pre-Code crime drama from RKO. The staging is a bit play-like. It's early filmmaking. I do like the premise. It has potential to go down differing paths. There is an obvious flaw with North's plan. Alan is a gambler and he's got nothing to lose as he gets closer to the one year mark. He's going to gamble. If he makes a lot of money, he's going to try to buy his way out. If he loses a lot of money, it doesn't matter to him anyways. The comedic touches don't really work. After a slow-moving two thirds, the movie does rise up in tension culminating into a good fast-pace car chase.