Too many fans seem to be blown away

Memorable, crazy movie

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

CRIMINALS WITHIN is another forgettable and worthless crime thriller from an era full of such films. It seems like producers didn't let a lack of money or talent put them off churning out B-picture after B-picture and this one is particularly devoid of enthusiasm. The hero is the brother of a mad scientist who gets killed by enemy spies. The hero decides to go hunting the spy ring himself but nefarious elements within the army are working against him. It sounds like it could get thrilling but it never is, going through all of the elements with a distinct lack of relish and featuring below par performances throughout. It's a real dud.

It's one thing to go for laughs and have a comedy team being incompetent while going through basic training, but with a war looming over the United States, writers were very irresponsible in creating the part played by eternal juvenile Eric Linden. Not only does his incompetence get valued papers stolen, but a bunch of scientists (including his own brother) and the spy girl he loves killed. It's all over new explosives, apparently so powerful and deadly that spies will forgo creating their own. Blonde vixen canteen hostess Constance Worth is obviously no good and even when he escapes her (after breaking out of the brig), he gets hooked up with nosy reporter Ann Doran. Even with all the intrigue, I just found this an insipid, unbelievable story. Someone like Linden would be busy peeling potatoes for sure rather than working as a file clerk for a commanding officer. There have been plenty of spy movies where the good guys made boo-boo's, but they were always fixable and never threatened the entire security of the country. It's obvious that Linden will dig himself out somehow, and that's the unkindest cut of all. If this didn't have a cast of American actors, I'd think that this was made on the sly by the enemy to be anti-American propaganda.

I don't mind no frills films if they are intelligent and have an interesting story. But Criminals Within refers to criminal elements in our Army itself working with enemy agents. This one is barely worth a look.Our protagonist is Eric Linden who is the brother of a scientist working on something or other, we never really find out exactly what, at an army base. When the brother is killed Linden goes AWQL looking for the killers. The problem is that the agents know he's looking for them because of spies on the base.The spies work out of a cobbler shop where one of the spies on the base, a real Mata Hari played by Constance Worth sends her shoes to be repaired. He always balks saying he doesn't work on women's shoes, but with a little persuasion because secret information is hidden in them he'll work. Worth is the courier, but who's the boss?No frills I don't mind, but a coherent story is never a frill.

The plot development of this film is very serviceable -- everything is laid out a half reel to a reel before you need to remember who said what -- and there are no cheats, no "bzzz-bzzz" whispered bits to cover plot holes. It all develops very naturally, with a rather outstanding cast of character actors livening up the proceedings.Ben Alexander is one of my favourite gentle actors, and he wowed me here. Dudley Dickerson and Bernice Pilot are enjoyable as comedic servants with a central role in moving the plot forward on several occasions. I. Standofrd Jolley is at his handsomest and most sinister -- a great non-Western role for this versatile villain. Ann Doran is nice too. Oh, and Boyd Irwin is so British as an American colonel -- quite splendid -- and kudos too to the prolific Robert Frazier, always good looking in uniform, and an intriguing actor.The print i saw was remarkably clear and crisp, with good sound quality, something worth mentioning in a PRC picture. The end of the film comes very suddenly -- one wonders if some footage is missing -- and there is no musical score to heighten the drama of some otherwise very tense scenes. In fact, i think that had this film been scored, film critics who like Joseph Lewis' "Gun Crazy" (and who doesn't?) would compare this movie much more favourably to that film noir cult classic than they have. The scenes in which people move from room to room, doors locking and opening behind them, menace just out of sight, are exemplary film-making, but seem dulled a bit due to the complete lack of a score.Well, i may be in the minority, but i liked this film a lot. I wonder why it was held two years, lacks a proper ending (by which i mean the extra two to three minutes of wrap-up dialogue one would expect), and was released with no score.... Something odd about that. Anyway, It is well worth a look.