Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Gig Young stars with Lynne Roberts, Mary Anderson, and Gerald Mohr in "Hunt the Man Down," a 1950 B film.James Anderson is an escaped criminal who makes a mistake by stopping a robbery where he is working. His face is shown in the newspaper, and he's immediately recognized by law enforcement as Richard Kincaid, who was on trial for murder and escaped 12 years earlier.Anderson is assigned a public defender, Paul Bennett (Young) who listens to his story carefully. Anderson met some strangers who invited him to a party; he was in an altercation with the husband of a woman he was dancing with; Anderson took a gun away from the man and left, after threatening to kill the man himself. He threw the gun on the bed, though no one admitted seeing it, but later, the husband was found dead. It's a tough story to break, and it falls to Bennett and an old detective (Harry Shannon) to find the witnesses. Twelve years earlier, they had been couples; now, one man (Willard Parker) was blind from the war and believed his wife (Cleo Moore) dead (though she had left him), the victim's wife had remarried a man at the party (Gerald Mohr) who had dated someone else; another had split with his wife and had become an alcoholic.The detective and Bennett realized they were on to something when the witnesses started being attacked and/or killed.Someone on this board said Gig Young made a bland Robert Mitchum type in this noir. The way this was directed was less noir and more documentary, which was a style for crime films around this time. For that style, Young seemed right and very public defender-like.The one thing never addressed was why the wife and her husband, the man killed, slept in separate rooms. I mean, wouldn't someone have asked about that?One character in this film was mentally unstable, but I can't figure out from the cast list which one she was. It's just as well -- her acting was abominable, totally off the wall.This film comes to the defense, as it were, of public defenders, a much maligned group. So often in the media, they are denigrated and shown as the reason people are found guilty.My sister worked for the PD office and would often hear from potential clients, should I use a public defender or a real lawyer? Public defenders in my sister's office won more cases than they lost; they are hard-working people and interested in their clients and in justice, not in money. It's a shame that this wasn't an important film, as it's a point that needs to be driven home.

Jam Packed Little Movie with Probably more Characters than the Budget or the Short Running Time can Encompass. There is much Cynicism in the Fate of the Many "Witnesses" to the Murder at Hand. Some like Mental Illness, Alcoholism, and Class Elitism are quite at home in the World of Film-Noir.The Movie does its best to keep all the Players in Line but it can be somewhat of a Challenge to keep them all Straight. But it makes up for the Complications with some Sharp Cinematography and Deeply Affected Participants. There is the Wrongly Accused Man trying to Unwind the Events that happened Years before, and Gig Young is the Public Defender trying Desperately to Help.The Film is so Full of Interesting Stuff that it Manages to be Entertaining Despite the Confusion. There is more than one Great Scene and some others that are Lurid B-Movie Delights. In the End it just Needed more Breathing Room to Elaborate on some of the Truly Interesting and Off-Beat Characters. But as it Stands there are some really Intriguing Interludes and doesn't Pull Punches as it Relies on some Stylized Realism for its Portrayal of Pulp Fiction.

Calling this movie a noir is drawing a long bow in my opinion but it is a terrific little movie whose compact length keeps it tight and exciting. Gig Young, one of the few "name" stars in this movie, was excellent as a young public attorney, Bennett, who, along with his father, a retired policeman, proceeds to hunt the man (or woman) down as he tries to unravel an eight year old murder mystery.Bill Jackson (James Anderson) a dishwasher at a local bar thwarts a robbery and reluctantly finds himself a hero with his picture in the papers. He has good reason to be reluctant - eight years before, as Richard Kincaid, he escaped from police custody where he was being held for murder. When he is re-arrested he still maintains his innocence and his story of a chance meeting with a group of friends at a bar has a ring of truth. Bennett believes him and attempts to track down the 7 people with varying results. Mr. Popularity (John Kellogg) has turned into a hopeless alcoholic, his adoring wife (Mary Anderson) is still adoring but finds it safer to lead a new life under a different name. The college athlete (Willard Parker) has returned from the war a blinded veteran and is now a book binder and his girl (Cleo Moore) has died - or so he has been told!!! The last couple, the quiet ones - she has moved away and Walter (Gerald Mohr) is now wealthy and his present wife was the young wife of the murdered man. Kincaid was accused by the man of having an affair with his wife and he then hastily left the party before the murder took place.I admit there was a bit of a problem keeping track of who was who. For a start they all actually looked as though they had aged 8 years and because none of the actors and actresses ever became household names it was hard to tell them apart. There were exceptions - Gerald Mohr's resemblance to Humphrey Bogart helped him become a familiar face in 1950s movies and TV, he always played the slick shyster. Cleo Moore started her career as a blonde bombshell in several of the Joe MacDoakes shorts and for a while, in the 50s, had the dubious honour of being Hugo Haas' muse in movies like "Bait", "One Girl's Confession" etc. And if that is not the notorious Lila Leeds as one of the prison visitors, I'll eat my hat!!!

It amazes me when people dismiss a movie because of its short length. I much more appreciate a compact, well written and directed movie than some drivel that drags on and on and makes me wonder what happened to the editor. I watched this movie with low expectations since i had never heard of the director and most of the actors. Despite the number of central characters, the director did an excellent job of quickly defining them and getting to the point of the movie. Any additional footage would have been superfluous and only bogged down the steady pace of the movie. James Anderson was excellent at avoiding the stereotypical unjustly accused victim, he neither ranted about his predicament nor did he come across as the overly likable guy who just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, which is what is normally expected of that type of roll. Though it's hard to imagine a public defender putting as much work into the case as this one did, i thought it was a great bit of writing to make his pivotal discovery an accident despite the pd's dogged pursuit of those involved 12 years earlier. I highly recommend this movie to those who appreciate tightly written and economically directed movies.