There were a number of things to like in this movie such as the camera-work, the strange characters and some unique dialog.
To me, the best of the lines were said by the "old" crook, "Julian," played by Robert Keith. To give you idea, "Julian" was writing a book on people's last words after his partner "Dancer" ( Eli Walllach) killed them!! Keith was really interesting to listen to, and did a great job on this role. Actually, Wallach was great, too, playing a clean-shaven whacked-out villain in this story. (Eli would grow a beard and become famous two years after this movie, playing the Mexican villain in "The Magnificent Seven.")
On the other side of the ledger, Warner Anderson (Lt. Ben Guthrie") is perfect for the ultra-straight-laced-looking cop. His partner, "Inspector Al Quine," was played by Emile Meyer. He should be a familiar face to you older folks as Meyer usually played a sadistic bad guy on his numerous TV roles and had a face you couldn't forget! It was odd seeing him as a low-key cop instead of some sadist.
Richard Jaekel as the driver of the two criminals also was different, and had good lines, too, I thought.....so I definitely enjoyed watching this cast.
I enjoyed the story. I wish more late 1950s film noir movies were made because they are a little different. The only surprise I had was that I expected a faster-paced film knowing it was a Don Siegel movie. But, it was still the '50s and not the days yet of "Dirty Harry" so the films will be slower, I suppose, even with an "action" director like Siegel. The story started off with a bang but then started slowing down, almost to standstill after 30-40 minutes but began picking up when Wallach entered the scene, and then got more intense as it went on. The ending is really wild with a couple of shocking scenes.
