As most people already know, this was Charlton Heston's very first Hollywood film at Paramount. He's very thin, very young, and very good in it. I think the story has an excellent premise-- it's a noir version of Agatha Christie's AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, where a killer is picking off a group of cons one by one. But the script is a bit padded in the middle. It did not need 97 minutes running time...it could have been told adequately in 75 minutes. And one has to wonder which city is darker-- Chicago, Los Angeles, or Las Vegas (since the action occurs in all three places).
Lizabeth Scott is good in all her dramatic scenes but sorry to say her lip syncing is pretty phony when she is trying to get over the illusion she's a singer. Don DeFore does a great job as a doomed gambler, and so does Ed Begley Sr. In his memoirs, Heston called this a good B film. I'm not sure producer Hal Wallis would have labeled it such. It's an A film that doesn't quite live up to its potential, but the moments of greatness in it (and there are some) do outshine the parts that don't work.
Lizabeth Scott is good in all her dramatic scenes but sorry to say her lip syncing is pretty phony when she is trying to get over the illusion she's a singer. Don DeFore does a great job as a doomed gambler, and so does Ed Begley Sr. In his memoirs, Heston called this a good B film. I'm not sure producer Hal Wallis would have labeled it such. It's an A film that doesn't quite live up to its potential, but the moments of greatness in it (and there are some) do outshine the parts that don't work.