Drive a Crooked Road (1954)

An upright car mechanic falls in love with the girlfriend of a gangster. This forces him to participate in the criminal underworld.

Director:

Richard Quine

Writers:

Blake Edwards, James Benson Nablo (story),

Stars:

Mickey Rooney, Dianne Foster, Kevin McCarthy

Cast

Cast overview:
Mickey Rooney	...	Eddie Shannon
Dianne Foster	...	Barbara Mathews
Kevin McCarthy	...	Steve Norris
Jack Kelly	...	Harold Baker
Harry Landers	...	Ralph
Jerry Paris	...	Phil
Paul Picerni	...	Carl
Dick Crockett	...	Don

Storyline

Eddie Shannon is an undersized, sports-car mechanic who dreams of racing an expensive car in a European meet. He meets and falls in love with Barbara Mathews, and thinks she loves him. She introduces him to Steve Norris and Harold Baker, who ask him to drive the getaway car in a bank robbery they are planning. He refuses, but changes his mind after some gentle persuasion from Barbara. The job is pulled off and, following a wild getaway, Eddie learns that Barbara was just using him and that Steve and Harold have plans to kill him. Gritty retribution is just around the corner.

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Plot Keywords:

bank robbery | robbery | kill | planning | bank heist | 

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Taglines:

Why would a dame like her go for a guy like me?

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Genres:

Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 March 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Little Giant

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Began shooting mid-October 1953.

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Soundtracks

"From Here to Eternity"
by Fred Karger and Robert Wells
played instrumentally as source music

User Reviews

Drive A Crooked Rode Hits Right Path ***

Hell hath no fury like a man scorned.

Mickey Rooney starts out as if he is a Danny Kaye milque-toast character. Taken in by Diane Foster, he soon meets up with 2 guys who want his driving talent to be used in robbing a bank.

Rooney is great here as he goes from a quite guy, afraid of really living to aiding the guys in the heist.

Hurt by the betrayal of Foster, she shows compassion at the end and this leads to tragedy as Rooney becomes a killer.

This is really film-noir at its very best.

The robbery was a complete success but the thieves were done in by personal reactions. This one is worth catching.