Michael O'Keefe
Years have past since Detective Sam Wagner(Joseph Cotton)brought bank robber Leon 'Foggy' Poole(Wendell Corey)to justice and in the crossfire accidentally killed the crook's wife. When the once mild mannered convict escapes jail, he is crazed with just one thing on his mind and it is to get revenge by killing Wagner's wife Lila(Rhonda Fleming). The cops want 'Foggy' back behind bars and the idea comes up to use the beautiful Lila as bait. Wagner is not happy with the situation and is stressed with protecting his wife.Corey is at his best in this role. Fleming proves her acting abilities in this Film-Noir. The usual stoic Cotton actually has emotions. The supporting cast includes: Alan Hale Jr., John Larch, John Beradino, Dee J. Thompson, Michael Pate and Don Beddoe.
LeonLouisRicci
By the Mid 1950's the Stylish, Expressionistic, and Piercing Pictures called Film-Noir were Out of Favor because of the Less Pessimistic Persona of a Suburban Saturated Society that began to heavily Influence American Pop Culture.The Urban Environment was becoming increasingly more Lower Class and that generally is unattractive to Movie Audiences of the Main Stream who were now, more than ever, Isolating Themselves in a Coating of a Prefabricated Paradise.This Film was one that Transplanted the Noir Sensibility out of the City and in to Nice Homes with Lawns and Shiny Kitchen Appliances, TV sets, and Marital Myopia. But Uh-Oh, Not as Safe as it Seems. "The Killer is Loose" and He is about to Upset "Utopia".The Director's (Budd Bottechier) Edgy Style combined with a very Convincing Cross-Dressing, Catatonic who Talks to Himself and Viciously and Violently acts in a Detached, very Modern Serial-Killer Sociopathic Trance is Disturbingly Delivered and the Shadows in the Post-Modern Soul cannot be Illuminated by the Brightly Lit "Fenced" Community and all of its Electric Eccentricities.A Tale of Things to Come.
HeathCliff-2
I was happy to discover this because I hadn't heard of this, and unlike most movies that I haven't heard of, this wasn't a dog. It had a few redeeming features: better than average b/w cinematography, including rain sequences (in LA!); location photography which fascinated me, as I tried to identify street corners; better than average acting for a low-budget mid 50s b/w post-studio heyday film; and Wendell Corey who, believe or not, I've always loved; and an always-reliable Joseph Cotten. The downsides: a script that defies credulity over and over, from Corey being a psychopath, to his escape when he is close to parole, to the actions of Fleming at the end, to Fleming's unconvincing performance and casting, to the bland storyline, to the cops' ineptness, to the hackneyed storyline of a cop's wife's frustration. But the good moments are still treats, and 1950s undiscovered treats are obviously increasingly hard to find. Thank goodness for Netflix's streaming of a bunch of unknown B noirs.
Bucs1960
Are you kidding me? Wendell Corey usually played the boring, uptight second lead in his film roles so his character in this little "B" noir is a huge surprise. I never thought he was much of an actor but he really lets loose here as the bank clerk who goes off the rails and comes out killing everyone in sight. He is out for revenge on Joseph Cotten who sent him up the river for his participation as the "inside man" in a bank heist which resulted in Corey's wife being killed accidentally. After his escape from an Honor Farm where he was serving the remainder of his sentence, he starts stalking Cotten and his wife (Rhonda Fleming) with a few incidental murders along the way. The film ends as you would expect......it's not a complicated film but is somehow believable. A great addition to your noir library.
AD
