Double Cross (1941)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Albert H. Kelley

Writers:

John A. Albert (story)
Milton Raison (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 June 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Gangland's glamorous gun moll...trapped by the man she loves...as the Motorcycle Squad closes in.

Plot Keywords:

Undercover Operation | Vice Squad | Stock Footage | Gangster | Held At Gunpoint

Cast

Kane Richmond	...	Jim Murray
Pauline Moore	...	Ellen Bronson
Wynne Gibson	...	Fay Saunders
John Miljan	...	Nick Taggart
Richard Beach	...	Steve Bronson
Mary Gordon	...	Mrs. Murray
Robert Homans	...	Police Capt. Murray
William Halligan	...	Mayor
Frank Moran	...	Henchman Cookie (as Frank C. Moran)
Heinie Conklin	...	Henchman Miggs
Daisy Ford	...	Nurse
Edward Keane	...	Police Commissioner Bob Trent (as Edmund Keane)
Walter Shumway	...	Sergeant Tucker
Ted Wray	...	Police Sgt. Rand
Jimmie Fox	...	Camera Shop owner

Also Known As:

Motorcycle Squad (USA) (16mm rental title)

Runtime:

61 min | USA:29 min (edited version) (TV)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved (PCA #7444)

Company:

Producers Releasing Corporation

Trivia:

Edited down to less than thirty minutes, it was sold to television in the early 1950's as part of a syndicated half hour series called Action Theatre.

Healthy Beginning Peters Out To A Less Than Inspired Climax.

The opening scenes of this film depict policeman Steve Bronson (Richard Beach) keeping company with Fay Saunders (Wynne Gibson), whom he believes is his girlfriend, at a night club, The Silver Slipper, when a squad from his Department raids into the rear of the establishment, wherein flourishes an illicit gambling salon, and while the club's owner Nick Taggart (John Miljan) grapples with officers, Fay removes Steve's revolver from its holster and kills a policeman, as her affection for her actual lover Taggart plainly extends beyond what might be considered natural. When Steve retrieves the murder weapon from false Fay he is, with pistol in hand, shot down by other officers, therewith apparently tagged as being a cop-killer, but this is not accepted by police dispatcher Jim Murray (Kane Richmond), son of the Captain in charge of the tragically suppressant raid, especially following his visit and conversation with Steve at the latter's hospital death bed, after which Jim is determined to bring Fay and Taggart to justice. While in the process of attempting to infiltrate Taggart's criminal organization, Jim is cashiered from his Department because his father can find no discernible legitimate cause for his son's involvement with the band of ne'er-do-wells, but young Murray persists with his clandestine investigation, sharing his plan with only his fiancée Ellen (Pauline Moore), Steve's sister, who gives him emotional support. When Jim discovers that Taggart is planning to assassinate the senior Murray, his scheme to bring the evildoers to bay must co-exist with a method of saving his father from a violent death, hoping that by success with both ventures he may achieve reinstatement as an officer. The initial sequences of the film are neatly constructed, with each of the principal characters along with their motivations being quickly and efficiently sketched and interconnected, but as the low budget PRC release, filmed in Los Angeles, continues, a series of leaden incongruities abound, with a viewer's interest being consequently reduced. Fine Serbian actor Miljan gains the acting laurels here for his polished technique in playing boss of the Forces of Evil and Richmond, of the square-jawed Richard Arlen mode of acting, is suitably heroic throughout, while from the distaff side, Gibson is by turns stiff and shrill, Moore is bland, and Mary Gordon performs comfortably within her characteristic Irish matriarchal part. Additionally, it is ever a pleasure to watch veteran supporting actor Frank Moran, former top-flight heavyweight boxing contender, who traveled the full distance in title bouts with Jess Willard and Jack Johnson. Here he is cast as a simple-minded Taggart henchman, albeit one with a heart of gold.