Absolutely Fantastic

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

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

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This noir features Wendell Corey as a very creepy psycho in a plot that brings instantly to mind a much more famous movie, "Cape Fear." Corey is sent to prison for aiding a bank robbery. He escapes and comes after the detective that put him there in the first place, played reliably by Joseph Cotten. But Corey's way of realizing his vengeance on Cotten is by threatening Cotten's wife, played by Rhonda Fleming.Corey plays the killer very quietly and emotionlessly, which makes him much scarier than if he had resorted to histrionics, and it makes the killings in the film, which are actually fairly shocking, much more effective because of their cold bloodedness. The film is dripping in a sweaty, tense atmosphere, and it's got a nail-biter of an ending. Women aren't going to be much pleased by the portrayal of the female characters and the way the film either disposes of them or has them do foolish things that service the movie's plot, but this was the 1950s, so we can't expect too much.Grade: A-

I was happy to discover this because I hadn't heard of this, and unlike most movies that I haven't heard of, this wasn't a dog. It had a few redeeming features: better than average b/w cinematography, including rain sequences (in LA!); location photography which fascinated me, as I tried to identify street corners; better than average acting for a low-budget mid 50s b/w post-studio heyday film; and Wendell Corey who, believe or not, I've always loved; and an always-reliable Joseph Cotten. The downsides: a script that defies credulity over and over, from Corey being a psychopath, to his escape when he is close to parole, to the actions of Fleming at the end, to Fleming's unconvincing performance and casting, to the bland storyline, to the cops' ineptness, to the hackneyed storyline of a cop's wife's frustration. But the good moments are still treats, and 1950s undiscovered treats are obviously increasingly hard to find. Thank goodness for Netflix's streaming of a bunch of unknown B noirs.

A bank robber escapes from prison and seeks out the cop who sent him up. Boetticher made this just before making his mark with a series of fine Westerns starring Randolph Scott. He really found his calling in Westerns, making only one non-Western after this one. He does OK in this short crime drama, but can't overcome the mediocre script. Cotten is earnest as the cop. Corey is effective as the disturbed, cold-blooded killer who targets Fleming, Cotten's wife, because the latter accidentally killed Corey's wife. Also playing cops are Hale (Skipper of "Gilligan's Island") and Beradino (long-time star of soap "General Hospital").

I watched this film purely because the plot sounded interesting; but unfortunately, it wasn't justified with an involving film and the result is a thriller that has little to recommend it for. The plot is rather simple and stays pretty streamlined for the duration. A robber's wife is accidentally killed by a cop; and on the way to jail, the robber promises the cop that he will 'settle the score' for killing his wife. Two and a half years down the line, the robber has become a model prisoner and is moved to a minimum security prison; where he escapes and goes on the run, with the cop's wife in his sights. The most remarkable thing about this film is the lead performance from Wendell Corey. He provides a different kind of villain to what most people will be used to seeing; he's calm, cool and collected and clearly only intending to kill the cop's wife because he wants revenge, not because he's a deranged psycho. The film lacks atmosphere and it's far too talky as well, which bring it down and takes the edge off it; leaving the film feeling rather boring. Joseph Cotten never really gets involved with character either, and this performance doesn't ever allow him to flex his acting muscle. At seventy minutes, the film is rather short and I guess it didn't cost much to make either. I don't recommend anyone goes out of their way to see this.