Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Lack of good storyline.

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Mark Stevens is a bitter ex-cop, fresh out of San Quentin after doing a 3-year term on bogus corruption charges. Aside from being framed, he also lost his wife and kid in a car explosion meant for him. San Fransisco racketeer Douglas Kennedy was said to be responsible for everything and Stevens wants to get even. He turns to another local mobster, Lewis Martin and his right-hand Skip Homeier, for information but they feign ignorance. But Homeier's girl Joan Vohs, informs Stevens that Kennedy moved to Alaska, and Stevens makes his way up north. There Stevens meets bar owner Martha Hyer while trying to find Kennedy, who lives there under a new identity, raising his young daughter, together with his former criminal partner Mort Mills. But when Martin gets wind that Vohs spilled the beans to Stevens, he sends Homeier and Vohs up north as well, to take care of Stevens, Kennedy, and Vohs...I have a soft spot for Mark Stevens ('The Dark Corner'), and this movie, hist first directorial effort, only solidifies that spot even more. He's not a great actor by any means, but at least in his noirs I find him really entertaining to watch. This might even be his finest hour acting-wise that I've seen so far. Despite playing his character bitter to the core, some would even say over-the-top bitter, he does manage to give him some humanity, and there are some touching moments during his interactions with Kennedy's daughter Cheryl Callaway ('The Lineup'), who gives a great performance for a 7-year old girl. In fact, the cast is pretty good overall, with Vohs ('Vice Squad') also standing out as a streetwise girl with a heart of gold who always goes for the bad guy, Homeier ('Black Widow') in this case. Homeier gives his character a nice sadistic streak, while the gorgeous Hyer ('Down Three Dark Streets') plays the strong but empathetic businesswoman well (loved her hairdo here btw, it really made her stand out). But while they have decent chemistry, the romantic angle between Stevens and Hyer feels a bit forced, it happens way too fast.The plot takes more than a few cues from 1953's 'The Big Heat', but it doesn't feel like a carbon copy of that movie. It's not a classic, but Stevens proved himself a solid director. His next movie, 'Time Table', is also a solid noir (which I would love to see in a cleaned up version), and he would also direct, produce and star in the noir-ish TV series 'Big Town'. What sets 'Cry Vengeance' apart tho from other noirs is the location, a small town in Alaska. Despite a lot of interior shots, there is enough on-location/second unit shooting to give this movie its own feel. It's not an out- and-out noir tho, plot-wise it moves away from noir as the movie progresses, and visually DoP William Sickner ('Loophole') doesn't really bring out the shadows either. But I didn't mind really, I actually liked the story arc and the way Stevens slowly regained his humanity. Definitely a movie I will revisit at some point. 7+/10

Mark Stevens was a leading player in B movies, and was an excellent cop in THE STREET WITH NO NAME (1948, see my review) and private eye in THE DARK CORNER (1946, see my review), both excellent noirs. Here he got his first chance chance to direct himself. Although he does well enough as a director in other respects, because he could not see himself he probably did not realize that he looked too grim throughout most of the film, never changing his expression during the early portions. This may have made sense in theory, because he a wronged man seeking vengeance, and grief-stricken at the death of his wife and child. But one cannot have a single expression for nearly an hour like that without it becoming monotonous. Stevens furthermore according to the story had to have a severely scarred side of his face, which meant that he could show very little emotion on his face in any case. The film was largely shot at Ketchikan, Alaska. Alaska was not even a state at that time, but still a Territory. This was an extremely unusual place to set a film in the 1950s. The location footage, especially the aerial footage, is thus of considerable historical interest, not least to the people who live there today. Mark Stevens went on to direct himself again in TIME TABLE (1956) and directed three more feature films and 50 television drama episodes in the nine years between 1956 and 1965. He last appeared as an actor in 1987, and he died in 1994 at the age of 77. This film is not outstanding, but it is nevertheless a contribution to the noir genre.

If the writers had flashed back to the wronged man being convicted of a crime and the evidence which made him believe that mobster Douglas Kennedy was the guilty party revealed, this might have been better structured. However, they choose to start the film where the innocent man (Mark Stevens) is released from prison and sets out to locate Kennedy who is living with another identity in a small Alaska town with his sweet daughter and living a double life. Most of the film is cat and mouse with one of the cats (Kennedy) also the mouse for the psychotic Skip Homieier and Stevens playing mouse for both of them. All Kennedy wants to do is protect his daughter from danger, and while it is obvious that he is still living a life of crime, he's also a model citizen in his community where his past life is unknown.At times, I felt that maybe I had missed an important plot development, but after re-watching the beginning, realized that everything that had come before was exactly what I remembered having seen earlier. At times, the hero is as creepy as Homieier who is playing a variation of the psychopath which Richard Widmark played in "Kiss of Death". Especially disturbing is the sequence where Stevens follows little Cheryl Callaway (as Kennedy's daughter) under a Jedi and she innocently asks the stranger if he'd like to play with her to which he simply hands her firearm ammunition.While there are some definitely gripping moments of suspense, the damage has already been done by the weak narrative. There's really nobody to root for here, even Stevens who was basically done in by the unsympathetic way he's presented here. Martha Hyer adds some perkiness as a barkeeper with an interest in Kennedy but her character really serves no other purpose than to add some adult female to the story.

Well, me being a resident of Ketchikan, Alaska my entire life, am amazed. I just watched this film about 2 weeks ago, and I think it was awesome. The areal shots of the town are really neat. Now, of course, the city has changed quite abit, but its still neat to see historic Ketchikan in a great film. For those of whom that have seen this movie, the house that it was shot in just recently burned down. That was sad, because obviously it was a very historic house. I would suggest that everyone see this film. It was awesomely filmed, and it is very entertaining. Also, if you are ever in the Ketchikan area, hit it up! Anyway, thats all I have to say.