The-Social-Introvert Crime Wave is an excellent example of film noir. Right from the opening shot it has noir written all over it from cinematographer Bert Glennon. And like most noir, you get straight into it – the film's opening holdup/murder scene at the gas station lets you know you're going to be in for a rough ride. Speaking of rough, Sterling Hayden was perfectly cast as the hard-headed, tough cop. The rest of the cast (which includes an eye-catching Charles Bronson) were pretty good as well. At times I thought Gene Nelson could show a bit more enthusiasm, but he did his job nonetheless.Scenes were filmed on location, which was impressive. As was the fact that the movie was filmed in 13 days. Wow. The story isn't fresh, but you get stuck in right away and are with Steve Lacey as he struggles to keep himself and his wife away from the criminals who drag him into their plans for a bank robbery. The dialogue is classic noir. It's a shame that this movie is another forgotten noir film. I mean, it's not The Maltese Falcon but it sure as hell is worth watching.Crime Wave is a minor film but one worth watching – it is surprisingly well shot, paced and interestingly cut. An excellent example of the low- budget crime dramas that Hollywood churned out during the 50's, I was a little underwhelmed by the ending. The cop just kind of has a complete switch of character when he tells the husband and wife duo that they are free and won't be bothered with. It seemed like a typical rushed ending that we get from a lot of B movie noirs.My Rating: 7/10Final Word: SatisfactoryFull Review: http://cineranter.wordpress.com/2014/08/24/movie-review- crime-wave/

dougdoepke Aces all around. Too bad this crime drama came along in the twilight of B b&w because it's in the best tradition—fast, tough, and unsentimental. Director deToth is a perfect shaper with his cynical European style. So why do three city slickers stick-up a penny ante filling station, and kill a cop in the process. Because they're prison escapees, it turns out, and on their way to a big score in LA. But first, they have to conscript an ex-con as their flyboy getaway. Meanwhile, of course, the LAPD takes a dim view of such goings on.Can't help thinking Kubrick caught this flick since so much of the cast, story and LA locations show up in his classic heister, The Killing (1956). Speaking of not getting their due, Hayden is one of the most unusual presences of the period. With his gaunt features, shambling gait, and world-weary air, he towers over movies of the period. Without saying a word, he's clearly not a cop to fool with. But, oddly, it's really Jay Novello who gets a rare chance to shine. A familiar milk-toast presence from a hundred different shows, he rifles the pockets of the dead here, a slimy character until he lovingly takes care of the sick doggie—too bad it's too late for both.Then there's that combo out of some movie inferno— the real life lunatic Timothy Carey mugging it up mercilessly, along with real life hard case Charlie Bronson getting some practice in. The real life nightmare, however, is leaving your wife with a drooling nut case like Carey as happens here. Now what sane guy would do that. Speaking of girls, I'm wondering where I can find one like the sweater-wearing cutie, Phyllis Kirk. No wonder Carey is drooling.Anyhow, it's a heckuva good little crime meller with all kinds of colorful touches. I'm just glad deToth held his ground against the studio. Putting stars like Bogart and Ava Gardner in this would have meant the star treatment and not the gritty little sleeper B-movie fans so treasure.

tieman64 "The City Is Dark" opens with its best scene. A trio of gunmen hold up a gas station, murder a motorcycle cop and disappear into the night. What follows is a pretty routine noir plot, in which an ex con is caught between helping these murderers and helping a police detective, played by actor Sterling Hayden.The film is what I call a "second tier noir", not as good as the classics, but possessing enough interesting sequences to make the ride worth it. Essentially a Fritz Lang noir on a budget, the film is elevated by LA location shoots, director Andre De Toth's atmospheric aesthetic - which emphasises inky shadows and harsh fluorescents - and a couple interesting performances by actors Timothy Carey and Sterling Hayden.Like most of these films, the tone is "hard boiled" and thoroughly tough. The characters are all ex cons, bitter cops, disgraced doctors, violent crooks and tight lipped dames. With a world so harsh, it's the small mercies which are savoured, De Toth treating us to brief moments in which detectives savour cigarettes and lovers share quick hugs.The film would prove an influence on Stanley Kubrick and Michael Mann. Toff's sense of human vulnerability against hard architecture, and his moody close ups of hands holding onto each other, suggest the fragility of connection and the fleetingness of compassion in a world of hardboiled routine, and would be lifted almost wholesale by Mann in films like "Heat" and "Miami Vice".Kubrick also seems to have been influenced by this flick, as his "The Killing" also stars Timothy Carey and Sterling Hayden. Kubrick was so fond of Carey, he fought to have him on "Paths of Glory", despite actor Kirk Douglas' disapproval. Douglas wanted Carey fired because the eccentric actor kept upstaging him, whilst Kubrick, delighted to see Douglas fuming, encouraged Carey to chew scenery.Of course Carey's always been a deliciously offbeat actor, but he's positively amazing in "The City Is Dark". Though appearing in only two scenes, and though cast as only a small time crook, Carey steals the show with his unusual speech patterns, his odd mannerisms, his toothy grins and disturbing leering. He comes across as a psychotic clown."Once you've done a crime, nobody leaves you alone," the film's central character says at one point, but the film eventually revokes noir fatalism in favour for a more sentimental ending, noir fate thwarted and everyone living happily ever after. Toth's final shot suggests that even Sterling Hayden's cranky exterior merely covers a soft, mushy, heart of gold.7.9/10 – The film features a young Charles Bronson. Worth one viewing.

MartinHafer "Crime Wave" is a very good example of a forgotten film noir picture that deserves to be seen. Its strengths are its directness--it is compactly told, brutally violent and lacking in the glamor and glitz you find in some of the 'pretty' examples of noir. Heck, to me noir pictures should NOT be pretty--they need ugly actors, dark camera work and relatively modest production values--not the flashy Hollywood type of actors or sets. In this sense, the film is quite a success--with the most notable actor being the rugged but far from pretty Sterling Hayden (a veteran of noir) and the rather obscure Gene Nelson.The story itself is pretty simple. A gang of vicious robbers commit a strong-arm robbery and kill a cop. One of the gang is mortally wounded in the robbery but manages to make it to the home of an ex-con who lives nearby. The con has gone straight and wants nothing to do with crime--he's happily married and has a decent job. But, when the other two gang members later show up as well and demand he become the new third member of the gang or they'll kill his wife, he's stuck. Should he help them or go to the cops? As for Hayden, he plays an amazingly cynical cop who's tough to like. He is in many ways a jerk--and a lot less likable than the ex-con. I like that juxtaposition and the film is exciting throughout--making it well worth your time.By the way, while not long enough, there's a nice making of DVD extra included with this film as well as the movie "Decoy" on the same disk.