As I read others more positive reviews, I ask, "Was I watching the same movie". This is rehashed Noir complete with stereotyped dialog, grainy stock and uplighting ad nauseam. Only its Bogey! Albeit at the midpoint of his career...so this could have been a much, much better film. However the acting is terribly wooden. Bogey looks tired and uninspired and there is very little chemistry between he and the "femme fatale" Lizbeth Scott, who was ostensibly cast as a Bacall look alike. (husky voice and all). The set was supposed to be tropical, but was shot in NYC. The green screen beach scenes looked fake. I could go on and on. One parting comment, though, regarding the incredibly sexist scene where "Rip" explains his philosophy on women to Coral..."Woman should be shrunk down and kept in a man's pocket...and taken out, blown up, and be there for him looking pretty." (not exact quote, by you get the picture) Gag me with a maggot. The ending was, perhaps, the worst death scene I have seen. After a horrendous car crash, (head on with a tree at 70mph)Rip has a broken arm and Coral (on her death bed), with a designer head wrap and no bruising, closes her lovely eyes and parachutes off to the great beyond. Pathetic. The movie works as a reference point for Bogey film buffs and little else. -Jim
Review of Dead Reckoning
