mark.waltz Some people refer to PRC films as "Pretty Rotten Cinema", but like Monogram, in spite of its historical place on the ranks of "Z" Grade movie studios, it had a very interesting output of entertaining movies that are now coming to the light of day thanks to such DVD distributors such as Alpha and Kino. "Railroaded" is a typical post-war Film Noir where someone is accused of a crime they did not commit and the law must find the culprit with the help of various types of characters. At the beginning of the film, we meet the typically cynical film noir femme fatale, blonde Jane Randolph. She is a beautician who runs a bookie joint in the back room of her salon, and when it is robbed, a cop is killed after hearing one of Randolph's co-workers scream. A young man (Ed Kelly) is identified as the killer, even though Randolph's co-worker insisted the killer had a different hair color. Kelly is booked after he is fingered by the wounded robber (shot horrifyingly in the throat!), and his sister (Sheila Ryan) vows to prove his innocence. She begins to work with cop Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver again in one of his typical film roles) as well as villainous John Ireland, who is involved with the shady Randolph and has kept her under wraps from the cops ever since the shooting. In a short span of 71 minutes, we see the shooting, the accusation, and the investigation, which leads to a rather typical conclusion. It's what happens during the investigation that is interesting and unique. The photography is definitely typical film noir, dark and moody, and filled with some twists that are both frightening and riveting. It's also fun to watch Randolph sink from wise-cracking and hardened to drunken desperation, one of the few times a femme fatale is allowed to crack enough early in the film to see what's underneath their hardboiled surface. She is great. It's pretty obvious throughout who the guilty party is and that they'll get their come-uppance, but how it happens is fun to watch. There is one sequence that did occur to me as senseless. That is when someone is shot at close range and manages to pull out the shooter's handkerchief which will identify them. The shooter had plenty of time to notice this, but steps over the body and leaves even though the handkerchief is lying plainly in site. Other than that and other predictable moments, it gets a higher rating thanks to crisp dialog, great photography, and rip-roaringly faced pacing.

MartinHafer This is just the sort of Film Noir film I love--one that features realism and gritty dialog PLUS some dynamite actors who are anything but what you'd expect to be starring in a Hollywood film! Like many of the great Noir characters, John Ireland is menacing, kind of ugly as well as cruel and unrepentant. The way he slaps around his girl and the darkness of his soul made him a great leading thug in this movie. His nemesis is Hugh Beaumont (yes, that's the Beaver's dad) and he did a decent job overall as the lead investigator except for one very, very brief moment when he planted a very clumsy kiss on the leading lady--this just didn't make much sense and didn't fit at all into the film.The bottom line is that this is a good detective film--much like the original DRAGNET movie or T-Men. While you don't see the familiar Noir stars (such as Edmund O'Brien), it does deliver in regard to mood, snappy dialog and intensely gritty realism.

ccthemovieman-1 Once I got into collecting film-noir movies, I had to have this one, so I paid big bucks for the VHS. I say that because it added to my disappointment. The film is okay, but if you have really high expectations before seeing this, you'll probably be let down, as I was. I liked this more on the second viewing when I knew what to expect.In the beginning, it dwells too long on the innocent man-being arrested theme but after that part is over, it picks up, but then bogs down again. For people who grew up watching "Leave It To Beaver" on TV, this film offers Hugh Beaumont as a main character. Since I did, I always find it interesting to see Beaumont in different roles. I also enjoyed ogling a pretty brunette, "Rosie," played by Sheila Ryan. The climax to this story was good, and it was surprisingly realistic. There was some decent film-noir photography in spots, too. Overall, okay but not what it's cracked up to be.

David (Handlinghandel) Anthony Mann directed some of the very best noirs of the 1940s and early 1950s.This one is brutal, hard-hitting, and unrelenting till its Hollywood ended. (The ending may have been tacked on. I don't know. But it works organically with the whole, unlike many others.)The problem for me with some of his movies, this one included, is that they are so dark they're almost impossible to see at times. Yes, it's atmospheric. But it's also frustrating.The literal noir in some -- not all -- of his movies reminds me of the staging of Wagner at the Metropolitan Opera. Yes, it's brooding and intense. But it's also really hard to see.