MartinHafer In the late 1940s and into the 50s, Lawrence Tierney made a niche for himself starring in film noir pictures. His characters were cold, menacing and without remorse...exactly what you'd want in these sorts of movies. Sadly, while Tierney is in "Step By Step", it's not a noir film at all but a rather tired and uninteresting murder mystery involving neo-Nazis.Johnny (Tierney) has recently returned from serving in the US military during WWII. He sees a very pretty lady, Evelyn Smith (Anne Jeffreys) and soon his lust for this woman draws him into a plot involving murder and post-war Nazis! It seems that Smith learned too much and was taken prisoner and they substituted her with another woman...and Johnny recognized the switch. However, he soon is himself accused of murder and he and the real Smith are sent on a wild chase by the authorities. Can goodness, Americanism and niceness prevail?!This is a silly film with some bad clichés (such as the stranger that automatically believes the pair and helps them evade police). Not terrible...but also not very good and completely lacking in grit. Simply a B-movie...a B that came out a year too late considering its Nazi connection!

bkoganbing Even though World War II had ended the previous years and the Axis regimes we fought were also ended, Nazis were still serviceable villains. Step By Step has some Nazis right here in the good old USA regrouping for another chance.But they have to get a list from US Senator Harry Harvey first. He's been doing some investigating and he has a list. You'd think he'd know it by heart, but I digress.Anyway recently discharged former Marine Lawrence Tierney meets Harvey's secretary Anne Jeffreys out on the beach for a swim and later when he inquires, he's told there's no such a person. That starts the whole rigmarole and we discover fifth columnists still doing their nasty wartime stuff.Step By Step should have been left behind for war surplus as the market was glutted with these kinds of films 41 to 45. There are far worse, but a lot better that have stood the test of time. Right at the beginning Harvey says that we've been fighting these people since Bismarck. Really a US Senator ought to know his history better.

kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** With the war over and Nazi Germany in total ruin those crazy and determined Nazis on the lamb in the USA are again planning to restore the Third, now Forth, Reich to it's past glories in a plan step by step to undermine the very nations, lead by the USA, that defeated them. This insane plan is uncovered by US Senator Remmy,Harry Harvey, who's OSS Agent and close friend Blackton, Addison Richards,has by going undercover uncovered it. Not wasting any time the Nazis headed by on the run wanted war criminal Von Dorn, Lowell Gilmore, make short work of Sen. Remmy's plans to expose them by kidnapping Remmy and his sexy blond private secretary of only one day Evelyn Smith, Anne Jefferys, while at the same time offing Blackton in the process.It just happened that just released from the service shell-shocked, from action in the South Pacific, US Marine Sgt. Johnny Christopher, Lawrence Tierney, and his cute and faithful mutt Bazooka happened to drop in dressed only in his boxer shorts, his clothes got locked in his car, to save the day as well as the nation from a Nazi takeover that was in progress. Johnny had gotten very friendly with Evelyn who in fact wouldn't give him the time of day by meeting her on the beach while she was taking a dip in the Pacific Ocean. With both Evelyn and Sen. Remmy kidnapped by the Nazis lead by Von Dron Johnny in looking for her to ask Evelyn out, with only his shorts on, for a date smelled that there was something fishy going on with the more or less plain Jane looking Gretchen, Myrna Dell, impersonating the beautiful Evelyn claiming to be the girl, Evelyn Smith, that he was looking for.***SPOILERS*** It's fast and furious action with Jonny & Evelyn now fugitives from justice in being mistaken as Nazi spies & saboteurs on the run from the police & FBI getting help from the kindly motel owner Capt. Simpson played by George Cleveland ,of later TV "Lassie" fame, who got the drop on Van Dorn by his claiming to have gone fishing in the salt filled Picific Ocean and having caught fresh water fish! Kidnapped beaten and taken for a ride to be deep sixth in the Pacific Ocean Johnny screws the Nazis by using the tail lights of the car their driving to give out an SOS that brought the entire local police state troopers national guard as well as members of the US Navy down on them!

fredcdobbs5 Lawrence Tierney didn't often get to play good guys, and--judging by his performance in this compact, tight little actioner--he's actually pretty good at it. Tierney plays an ex-Marine who inadvertently gets mixed up with a pretty blonde (Anne Jeffreys, looking fetching), German spies and a murdered secret agent. There's more comedy than you usually see in a Tierney picture but there's also the kind of shootouts and fisticuffs you expect in a Tierney picture, and director Phil Rosen expertly blends them all together; in fact, this is probably the best of Rosen's pictures that I've seem (he could usually be found grinding out cheap Bowery Boys programmers for Monogram and shoddy jungle pictures, and worse, for PRC). There's a good supporting cast--John Hamilton, George Cleveland, James Flavin--it's well acted, moves like lightning and everything gets wrapped in just about an hour. Location shooting along the California coast helps greatly. A fun picture, definitely worth an hour of your time.