Saw this at the Noir Festival at the American Cinematheque. Very fast paced. This was Mann's breakthrough--the festival's programmer said Mann extensively rewrote the script, quipping he felt desperate himself to break out of the Bs. It wasn't long before Mann was launched on a long career doing westerns and spectacles.
Burr is the standout, playing a gang boss whose desperation to save his brother from the gallows drives the plot. Burr plays menace like no one else can! If you like his gruff cop on the Pat Novak radio show of the same period you'll love him in this film.
The ending sequence of a gunfight on a dark staircase is noir bravura, with residents of the apartment building hiding from the mayhem after peeking out. Also a standout is an earlier scene in a dark room with one light swinging back and forth as the hero is dealt a brutal beating and all you see is Burr and a grim confederate looking on as the light swings back and forth with dark puddles of shadow on their faces while you hear the violence. YEOW!
Burr is the standout, playing a gang boss whose desperation to save his brother from the gallows drives the plot. Burr plays menace like no one else can! If you like his gruff cop on the Pat Novak radio show of the same period you'll love him in this film.
The ending sequence of a gunfight on a dark staircase is noir bravura, with residents of the apartment building hiding from the mayhem after peeking out. Also a standout is an earlier scene in a dark room with one light swinging back and forth as the hero is dealt a brutal beating and all you see is Burr and a grim confederate looking on as the light swings back and forth with dark puddles of shadow on their faces while you hear the violence. YEOW!