Complete credited cast: | |||
George Sanders | ... | Jim Fleg | |
Gail Patrick | ... | Myra Blandy | |
Richard Denning | ... | Hal McByrne | |
Lynne Roberts | ... | Kay Ryan | |
Sidney Blackmer | ... | Martin Cleaver | |
Kurt Katch | ... | Eric Pahsen | |
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Margaret Brayton | ... | Miss Oval |
Charles Tannen | ... | Hollis |
Jim Fleg (George Sanders), a ruthless, egotistical criminal, steals a priceless Shakespeare folio from the public library, killing a guard during the crime. With his partner, Myra Blandy (Gail Patrick), Fleg forges and sells copies of the folio to unscrupulous collectors. Hal McByrne (Richard Denning), a tough, unrelenting detective traces several of the forgeries back to Myra. She and Fled plot to eliminate McBryne at the scene of the original crime---the public library. In the meantime, a buyer of one of the forgeries is demanding his money back--or else---and trails Myra and Fleg to the library. Written by Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
This was a perfect vehicle for self-professed cad George Sanders and he found a gal more than his match in cold blooded Gail Patrick here. They share some surprisingly frank and witty badinage about criminal psychology along with their mutual oily distaste for humanity which transcends the occasionally breezier aspects of this quasi noir and gives it a nicely crusted edge. The movie veers back and forth between crime drama and something a bit lighter but overall, it hits a lot of good notes and has dated surprisingly better than many far more famous movies from the same era. The library antics are amusing enough, but the real selling point of this movie is Sanders, whose effortless cool is right up there near his best and far more recognized roles.