About the only reason to see this poverty row film released by RKO is the fact
that the original story was written by Dashiell Hammett. Even the presence of
leads like Ralph Bellamy, Fay Wray, and Melvyn Douglas can't save it. And
anyone who thinks that they will see The Thin Man, any of the versions of The
Maltese Falcon, or The Dain Curse is in for a rude shock.
A shoddy production with bad editing can even defeat these talented people. Ralph Bellamy is a parolee released from prison and has Fay Wray who is trying to get away from her cad of a lover Melvyn Douglas. Cutting through a lot Douglas frames parolee Bellamy for assault and he has the dubious choice of taking it on the lam or finding out the real story of what happened to Reed Brown, the friend of Douglas that Bellamy is accused of assaulting.
When you watch the aforementioned Dashiell Hammett classics you know how interesting Hammett's supporting characters are. The players do their best but it's like all that might make them interesting seems drained from the screenplay. The editing is totally slipshod as well.
I'd watch this just to have an object lesson at how even a classic author can get butchered with a bad screen adaption.
A shoddy production with bad editing can even defeat these talented people. Ralph Bellamy is a parolee released from prison and has Fay Wray who is trying to get away from her cad of a lover Melvyn Douglas. Cutting through a lot Douglas frames parolee Bellamy for assault and he has the dubious choice of taking it on the lam or finding out the real story of what happened to Reed Brown, the friend of Douglas that Bellamy is accused of assaulting.
When you watch the aforementioned Dashiell Hammett classics you know how interesting Hammett's supporting characters are. The players do their best but it's like all that might make them interesting seems drained from the screenplay. The editing is totally slipshod as well.
I'd watch this just to have an object lesson at how even a classic author can get butchered with a bad screen adaption.