A problematic film noir from 1950. A woman at home has just witnessed her father killed when he went to answer his doorbell. She only sees the shooter from the back as he leaps over her picket fence into an escaping car. The father was bumped off by a rival club owner (actually a front for a criminal enterprise) so when the police investigation appears to go nowhere (a definitive id is not made by the daughter) she decides to go undercover at the club (as a cigarette girl) & even starts dating the shooter (she vaguely recognizes him but when she sees him leap over another fence her antennas go up). The shooter it turns out is a bit of a gambling addict & after his money goes boom he decides to blackmail the club owner for big bucks (he says he has a written confession he's willing to turn over to the authorities) which is spurned on by the club impresario's girlfriend (who has a thing for his second in command). As the blackmail attempt doesn't go anywhere & bodies start to drop (the shooter & the girlfriend each bite their respective bullets), the cops have no other recourse (especially since the businessman's daughter is ensconced in the club already) to let her move things along but in reality she really doesn't do anything & a lot of the criminal recriminations happen when she's off the clock (as it were). A late film reveal as to who is actually the criminal ringleader is a bit of a 'wtf' but that's the least of this film's problems. Also starring John Dehner as a fellow club owner & Albert Dekker (famous in his role in Kiss Me Deadly) as the club owner.
Review of Destination Murder
