Karl Ericsson The buddy film was not invented with Newman and Redford. Long Before, these two actors hit it off together splendidly. As far as I know, they sadly never repeated the experience. What a pity! The plot takes second seat in all this. You really root for these two guys. Maybe Gordon Douglas drew a Little from his experience with Laurel and Hardy - I don't know but the Chemistry between O'Keefe and Hayward works to such delight. The film is otherwise the usual cloak-and-dagger in which the heroes are in reality the villains and the other way around. Don't bother about that.

bsmith5552 Prior to and during the Second World War, Hollywood was preoccupied with the Nazis infiltrating American industry and stealing secrets. Following the war, the focus shifted to the threat of communism."Walk a Crooked Mile" was one of the first, if not the first Hollywood film to deal with the so-called "red menace". Produced by Edward Small and directed by Gordon Douglas, the film is presented in a docu-drama style complete with voice over narration (by Reed Hadley). You could call it a film-noir but although it contains many elements of that genre, it is really more of spy mystery.Atomic secrets are being stolen and smuggled out of the country by communist interests from the Atomic plant at Lakeview, California. Secret formulas are turning up embedded in paintings abroad. One such painting turns up in Great Britain and Scotland Yard sends Inspector "Scotty" Grayson (Louis Hayward) to America to work with the FBI to ferret out the spies, where the FBI team is headed up by Agent Daniel O'Hara (Dennis O'Keefe).After an FBI agent is murdered, O'Hara and Grayson discover foreign agent Anton Radcheck (Philip Van Zandt) might be involved. After Radcheck is murdered they learn that the artist painting the suspect pictures is foreign agent Igor Braun (Onslow Stevens). Because the secret formulas are turning up "hot off the press" as it were, the boys deduce that there must me a mole planted within the atomic plant.The suspects include the Board members of the plant headed by Dr. Townsend (Art Baker). The others include the alluring Dr. Toni Neva (Louise Allbritton), ex German scientist Dr. von Stolb (Carl Esmond), Dr. Forrest (Lowell Gilmore) and Dr. Allen (Charles Evans).After a working over by the brutish Krebbs (Raymond Burr) the boys escape and are able unmask the internal spy.Although the foreign interest isn't named, we can deduce from the names of the villains that the U.S.S.R. was the likely culprit.Dennis O'Keefe had just appeared in two excellent films directed by Anthony Mann, "T-Men (1947)" and "Raw Deal (1948)" and was the real star of this film. Hayward, in my opinion, was not convincing enough as the Scotland Yard detective. He was more at home as a swashbuckler. Since there is no "femme fatale" love interest, Louise Allbritton is sadly wasted as a scientist. A slim Raymond Burr though, turns in another of his many pre-Perry Mason brutal villain roles."Walk a Crooked Mile" would signal the beginning of Hollywood's anti-communist era.

HEFILM The bland narration and flag waving don't take up too much time but get the film off to a bland start and wrap things up with equal blandness. Inbetween the equally bland resolution and set up, director Gordon Douglas unleashes some nasty violence, an agent is shot in the heat right on screen, you see the blood spot hit his head, a nasty dead body here and there later on one scene obviously trimmed down of a dying man spitting blood out of his mouth. Unfortunately the 91 minutes pass pretty slowly in the, now boring, G man procedural details of how a recording device or a one way mirror works. Not the film's fault at the time but a dated dull element now. The one thing the film does do a decent job of is trying to keep you guessing about who the real spy is. Though you don't know unfortunately it's hard to care. Again time has removed the background needed. That background being that "RED" agents did steal the secrets of the Atomic Bomb and stole America's control of Atomic weapons. That was a big deal and helped kick off wild "red" fears. There were a number of "red scare" movies, this one holds up as credible and well made, but there isn't enough real drama or characterization in the writing to give it any real personality or interest, the good guys are pretty dully drawn and only competently acted. One scene stands out with a land lady that has both flag waving and some real drama to it. That, and the few moments of still somewhat shocking violence, still work. The rest is pretty dull. Well done but without enough flair to overcome being pretty forgettable. Lack of a music score help add to the leaden feel.

gene-86 Walk a Crooked Mile was filmed almost entirely on location. FBI agent Dan O'Hara (Dennis O'Keefe) and Scotland Yard operative Philip Grayson (Louis Hayward) team up to investigate a security leak at a Southern California atomic plant. The investigation takes place in San Francisco, where a communist spy ring flourishes. Actors as Raymond Burr and Philip Van Zandt play the communist agents. The documentary technique gives a factual gloss to the melodramatic format. Action moves back and forth between San Francisco and the atomic plant in southern California. Gordon Douglas' knowledgeable directing keeps the film moving forward. He manages to build suspense through misdirection. The method used to take information out of the atomic plant is well protected thus keeping you guessing. The movie is typical 40s and early 50s film noir.