The Crooked Web

Frank Lovejoy runs a roadside cafe. He's in love with carhop Mari Blanchard, and wants to get married. She wants security. When her brother, Richard Denning, shows up, he's got a big deal in Chicago, which Mari drunkenly spills to Frank is about $200,000 in stolen and buried gold in Germany. Deming is willing to cut Frank in for operating expenses.... yet when Frank goes home, Denning and Miss Blanchard meet up and canoodle. When they meet Denning's partner in Chicago, he doesn't want any more partners, and says he'll do it all on his own, so Denning shoots him.

It's clearly a confidence scam at this point. The question is, what has Lovejoy got that they are willing to spend such time and effort to get him to Germany? The movie veers fast and furiously as it bumps along, with a great script. Nathan Juran's directon is adequate, but the performers are up to their roles for a movie that is a lot of fun for fans of con-game movies like me.

Holy cow. Completely ridiculous, unbelievable crime (not noir) drama that would put Ed Wood and Harry Stephen Keeler to shame.

The movie is acted and directed OK, and it's oddly watchable, but the plot is laughable. It's quite simply, ludicrous.

As far as I know, that's the second film noir that director Nathan Juran offered us, besides HIGHWAY DRAGNET. He who was mostly a western and science fiction maker, working for Universal and Columbia studios as well. I like here more the atmosphere and photography than the story. This is a pure good B thriller typical of the fifties. Very agreeable to watch, and also a rare film, at least not the most known of the director. Yes, the story is not that exciting for a crime film noir, but it remains bearable. I have seen it several times already but always forget about it. I understand why after the watching.

This is just a bit too convoluted for it's own good. It's all about a scheme to retrieve some gold from Germany buried at the end of WWII by Richard Denning ("Frank"). Frank Lovejoy ("Stan") and his gal Mari Blanchard ("Joanie") are the pair trying to manoeuvre their mark into taking them back to find the loot, but they also they have an ulterior motive of which poor old "Frank" is unaware. It's got a few twists and turns to keep the plot moving, but much of the story seems to exist in order to perpetuate itself, rather than offer us anything to get our teeth into and after a while it becomes a bit dull. The performances are weak, the dialogue really wordy and I found the music got on my nerves a bit, too. Director Nathan Juran usually had a good eye for a story and phototography at his best; this isn't it.

Yes, the cast is great. Yes the first ten minutes or so, up to and including the first twist, is a great movie.

But after that it goes so completely insane in a way that's super not fun or campy or bombastic. It somehow manages to be both boring, and implausible. The plot folds in over on itself. It's just very, very bad writing.

Right now, this has an average of a six. I just think that's way way too high. This deserves a four at best, and so I'm on here to try to push that to happen. I love noir, and I've now watched so many, to relive the high of first seeing the greats. I've seen so many bad ones. This is the worst one I've ever seen.