jbacks3 I'd like to nominate Backfire as having the most overbearing, obnoxious musical score in the history of motion pictures. Every scene features ominous music to the point of distraction (1947's Angel & the Badman stands on a plateau just below Backfire... but sounds like Wayne & Co. simply recycled a serial soundtrack to save money). Backfire's music undermines every scene, creating the nauseating feeling that every frame is bursting with suspense... essentially validating Ivan Triesault's (as the director Von Ellstein) complaint (paraphrased) in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) that every scene cannot be climactic. This is a textbook example of how less is more in film noir.

mauricebarringer I was quite impressed with the thoughtful, knowledgeable and humorous comments written by so many classic film experts and their keen insights of such a detailed and complicated plot Since this wonderful noir has been dissected so thoroughly I only have one item to analyze and one other comment to make.In the beginning of this film Edmund O'Brien jumped out of a window and ran away. The police shot one bullet at him before Ed Begley told the other officer not to take any more shots and risk hitting a taxpayer.O'Brien was ONLY a person of interest at best and a suspect at worst, but there was NO evidence of any type that he had anything to do with a murder. Why did the police take a shot at him? P.S. Virginia Mayo did get to star in many musicals, adventure and comedy films during her career, especially from the late 1940s on but probably her 2 best known films were ones in which she played bad girls, "The Best Years of Our Lives" and "White Heat."

MartinHafer It's interesting that Gordon MacRae received 5th or 6th billing in this film as he's clearly the star. I think it's because MacRae's Hollywood career had yet to really take off plus he was known as a singing star--not a film noir hero. Heck, Dane Clark and Edmond O'Brien were billed higher than him and they were barely even in the movie. It's also interesting because Gordon's real-life wife, Sheila, is in the film--and they even have a scene together.The film begins at a VA Hospital. A guy (Gordon MacRae) has been there for a long time following the war and has been undergoing a lot of surgeries due to a spinal injury. It looks like he FINALLY is about to be released and his final operation is nearing. So, he and his friend (Edmund O'Brien) are making plans for MacRae's release. But, just before the surgery, an odd foreign woman shows up and begins telling him a confusing story about his friend being severely injured. MacRae has been anesthetized, however, and can't understand her at all. When he tells the hospital staff about this odd night visitor, they insist that this did not happen. It gets weirder, though, as when MacRae is released, he finds out his friend is missing--and wanted for murder! So, MacRae and his nurse/girlfriend (Virginia Mayo) decide to investigate for themselves and piece together exactly has has occurred.The missing friend plot is not that unusual--I've seen a few films like this. However, it's sure handled well--with lots of very good supporting actors (such as Ed Begley) and the dialog is quite nice. Now I called this a film noir film and it is, but it is not quite as gritty and dark as typical noir. In addition, it's a bit too polished and lacks the odd camera angles and shadows you might expect in noir. Now these are NOT complaints--more just observations about the film's style. Quite enjoyable and worth seeing--it's a good Warner Brothers effort.Best line in the film? When the Chinese servant dies while the police are interrogating him, the doctor says "The next person he'll talk to will be one of his ancestors"! Priceless. Best moment? When the baddie is shooting it out with the cops and he CLEARLY has run out of bullets. So what do the cops do? Yep, they fill 'em full of lead!

dougandwin Caught this movie on TCM, and never having heard anything about it, I watched it mainly because of the principal actors. However, the story line was quite a good one, but unfortunately, it was very poorly executed. Film noir - I don't feel so, it was really a B-Grade Whodunit?, and was disappointing when you think of some of the Actors. Edmond O'Brien (usually very good, but had some terrible lines to say), Virginia Mayo (lovely, and actually very good as a good girl!), Dane Clark (really hammed it up late in the movie), Gordon MacRae (should have stayed in Oklahoma), Viveca Lindfors ( really bad, and she sang worse). Ed Begley, a great actor, was badly miscast, and amongst the unknowns I saw John Ridgely ( a staple in many warner films), but all in all, very much a programmer.