Detective Mark Dixon (Dana Andrews) has a violent temper which has him beating up suspects left and right. While questioning one he accidentally kills him. He covers up the crime and starts to fall in love with beautiful Morgan Taylor (Gene Tiereney). Then her father is accused of killing the man that Mark killed. What will he do?
Very good film noir. It takes place almost completely at night which gives an appropriately gloomy mood to the film. There's also an excellent score perfectly fitting the film and the opening credits are cleverly printed on a sidewalk! Acting is good also. Andrews is excellent in his role. You can actually see in his eyes the struggle to hold in his feelings and not crumble as things fall apart around him. Tierney is shamefully wasted but manages to do wonders with her one-dimensional character. Karl Malden is just so-so in a small role of the Chief of Police. The movie itself is quick (only 85 minutes) and sometimes quite brutal. However there are some problems with the script. The police decide that Morgan's father is guilty WAY too quick and on the flimsiest of evidence. Also there's an unnecessary love story shoehorned in between Andrews and Tierney and the ending is just so off by trying to end everything on a positive note. It just didn't ring true. Still this is a good strong film noir. Well worth seeing.
Very good film noir. It takes place almost completely at night which gives an appropriately gloomy mood to the film. There's also an excellent score perfectly fitting the film and the opening credits are cleverly printed on a sidewalk! Acting is good also. Andrews is excellent in his role. You can actually see in his eyes the struggle to hold in his feelings and not crumble as things fall apart around him. Tierney is shamefully wasted but manages to do wonders with her one-dimensional character. Karl Malden is just so-so in a small role of the Chief of Police. The movie itself is quick (only 85 minutes) and sometimes quite brutal. However there are some problems with the script. The police decide that Morgan's father is guilty WAY too quick and on the flimsiest of evidence. Also there's an unnecessary love story shoehorned in between Andrews and Tierney and the ending is just so off by trying to end everything on a positive note. It just didn't ring true. Still this is a good strong film noir. Well worth seeing.