One of a number of post ww2 noir dealing with escaped Nazi war criminals. Notorious, The Stranger and Cornered would be several of the more well known. In this one, Dick Powell is an army intelligence agent on his way to French Indo-China. He is on the trail of a high-ranking SS officer. The trail leads Powell to the French Foreign Legion camp in Saigon. (The French used large numbers of ex-German soldiers in their war with the Viet-Cong.) Powell's main problem is that there are no known photos of the man he wants. He joins the Legion himself in order to try and identify the swine. Said swine, Stephen McNally, is very careful about his identity and bumps off everyone he thinks is a danger. Helping Powell out on his case is French Secret Service agent, Marta Toren. Toren poses as a singer in a cabaret frequented by off duty Legion members. Also in the mix is Vincent Price as an antique dealer who supplements his income with a little gun running for the Viet-Cong. McNally, who picked Saigon and the Legion thinking it would be the least likely spot to be recognized finds the opposite true. One of his ex-staff officers from Dachau concentration camp happens to be in the same unit. While out on patrol the men become involved in a fire-fight with the Viet-Cong and McNally applies a few rounds to the man's back. Problem solved. Not quite it seems. Old Vincent has tumbled to McNally's identity and figures a bit of blackmail is in order. He knows McNally has a large cache of jewels and gold taken from his camp victims. Price wants most of it. McNally agrees as long as Price can supply him with a passport and some American dollars so he can leave the country. Both of course plan to double cross the other when the deal is completed. Powell finally figures out what is going on and arrives just as McNally has bumped off Price. A blazing gun battle and a well staged round of fist-a-cuffs ensue before McNally is captured. McNally gets the rope and Powell gets Toren. McNally as the vicious Nazi on the run and Price as the blackmailing snake in the grass are very good here. Powell and Toren both turn in merely adequate performances. Rest of the cast includes Edgar Barrier, Richard Loo, Philip Ahn and James Millican.
The director was Robert Florey. His work included MEET BOSTON BLACKIE, DANGEROUSLY THEY LIVE, THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS, DANGER SIGNAL and the very under-rated THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK. Screenplay was by Robert Buckner who did, DEPORTED, A PRIZE OF GOLD.
Toren, who died at age 31, managed to work DEPORTED, MYSTERY SUBMARINE, SPY HUNT, ILLEGAL ENTRY, ONE WAY STREET, Paris ASSIGNMENT and SIROCCO into her 4 year Hollywood career. The d of p was Maury Gertsman who worked on BLONDE ALIBI, INSIDE JOB, SINGAPORE, ONE WAY STREET, THE GLASS WEB and JOHNNY STOOL PIGEON.
The director was Robert Florey. His work included MEET BOSTON BLACKIE, DANGEROUSLY THEY LIVE, THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS, DANGER SIGNAL and the very under-rated THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK. Screenplay was by Robert Buckner who did, DEPORTED, A PRIZE OF GOLD.
Toren, who died at age 31, managed to work DEPORTED, MYSTERY SUBMARINE, SPY HUNT, ILLEGAL ENTRY, ONE WAY STREET, Paris ASSIGNMENT and SIROCCO into her 4 year Hollywood career. The d of p was Maury Gertsman who worked on BLONDE ALIBI, INSIDE JOB, SINGAPORE, ONE WAY STREET, THE GLASS WEB and JOHNNY STOOL PIGEON.