The Worst Film Ever

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Decent little programmer. The plot's nothing special, about stolen gold being smuggled out on Martin's schooner, while rival gangsters try to hijack it. Meanwhile, over at the waterfront dive, the brash Martin's joining all the other guys hitting on comely night waitress Helen who refuses to be part of the menu. Too bad she's also on probation, which doesn't make connecting any easier. So how will this all sort out.The visuals really help carry the show, plus the brisk pacing. Suspense is not played up even though the components are there (Helen held captive). Then too, actor Jones in the key role is more jovial than the usual gritty crime fighter. Credit ace photographer Metty for the engaging b&w, and even pedestrian director Landers shows some imagination (shooting artfully through a fish bowl). But the story unfolds more than it builds. Boy, judging form the supporting cast, I was hoping three first-rate thugs would get to tangle —Tony Quinn, Marc Lawrence, and Don (Red) Barry. But unfortunately, their screen time is limited. Anyway, the Bay Area location shots really help make this programmer a watchable time- passer.

... But the movie is pure Lew Landers.Margot Graham is exotic as the title character. Her acting, at least here, isn't very interesting. But she has a tough yet intelligent look.Graham is a woman on parole. She is working as -- yes: a waitress. And in a waterfront dive.The rest is stock criminals. We have a stock romance. We have a boat and an Asian helper. None of the actors in these roles made much impression on me.It isn't really bad. (And some Landers films reality ARE bad.) It's just routine. We've seen essentially the same movie many, many times. But Graham makes this one stand out.

A not bad little programmer directed with flair by Lew Landers about a night waitress, Helen Roberts (Margot Grahame), on probation who is trying to get her life together working in a waterfront dive run by none other than Billy Gilbert, who is virtually wasted in a routine bit part. Seems Helen's new boyfriend, Martin Rhodes (Gordon Jones of "The Green Hornet" fame), is somehow mixed up with gangsters who are after a hidden cargo he has. The result is murder and hot pursuit by both mobsters and police of Helen and Martin. The approximately hour-long second feature moves at a fast pace, filled with excitement and adventure.Keep your eyes open for Anthony Quinn as one of the hoods, Don "Red" Barry as a victim, and Frank Faylen as a policeman, each just beginning his screen career. Gifted comic Willie Best is also seen briefly as a passerby with only one line. The cinematography by Russell Metty captures all the griminess, desolation, and seediness of the San Francisco waterfront. It's fun to hear the seamen sing "The Monkeys Have No Tails in Zamboanga," later popularized by US soldiers in the Pacific in World War II. Many John Wayne fans will recall it being sung by Lee Marvin in John Ford's "Donovan's Reef."

Minor effort with Edward Hopper-like waterfront setting. Margot Grahame and Gordon Jones (did I get the names right?) are interesting leads. Routine crime story has nice touches, its heroine is lower-class and depicted without condescension (quite a rarity for Hollywood). Low budget, interesting art direction, short and sharp action scenes, above average for its type. Anthony Quinn (unbilled) has a few scenes as a gangster.