IMDb RATING
6.8/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
A young married couple flee both the police and a gangster out for revenge.A young married couple flee both the police and a gangster out for revenge.A young married couple flee both the police and a gangster out for revenge.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Jason Robards Sr.
- Ferrari
- (as Jason Robards)
Ilka Grüning
- Aunt Klara
- (as Ilka Gruning)
Ernie Adams
- Villager
- (uncredited)
Erville Alderson
- Simon Pringle
- (uncredited)
Leon Alton
- Bus Passenger
- (uncredited)
George Anderson
- Man on Train
- (uncredited)
William Bailey
- Traveling Salesman
- (uncredited)
George Barrows
- Train Passenger
- (uncredited)
Jack Baxley
- Dr. Wilson
- (uncredited)
Robert Bray
- Policeman with Lt. Ferrari
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was the only theatrical feature film in which Steve Brodie received top billing.
- GoofsWhen Anne is on the train, she reads a newspaper about the warehouse holdup. The first paragraph below the headline is about the robbery, but the rest of the column is about something else entirely.
- Quotes
Policeman with Lt. Ferrari: [referring to Radak] Say, Lieutenant, he must have died right at the stroke of midnight. What date'll I use?
Ferrari: [indifferently] Toss a coin.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Svengoolie: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (2019)
Featured review
Burr's performance and Mann's direction make it worth watching
This 40s noir B-movie has quite a solid reputation, but its plot is strictly second-rate. Steve Brodie plays an average joe, a truck driver not long out of the army and recently married to a lush wife who bakes cakes to celebrate the fact that she is pregnant. Sadly, hubby never gets to taste her culinary skills because he accepts a last minute lucrative driving job that turns out to be crooked. Raymond Burr's gang of crooks haven't got their own vehicle so, bizarrely, they decide to hire one to carry out a warehouse theft and, one dead cop later, Brodie finds himself on the run as a cop-killer.
Mann's direction is better than the plot. He wasn't scared to try something different every now and then. At one point we're even given a blurry POV close-up of Burr's retreating fist after it has connected with Brodie's face. Burr plays the heavy here, as he usually did in his early career. He was a big man even before he put a few pounds on, but looks swarthy here as well, almost Mediterranean. He's certainly the most interesting character in the film, a gangster out to save his brother from the electric chair and endeavouring to have our relatively bland hero take his place.
The main weakness in the storyline is the hero's poor decision-making. He practically panics each time danger is at hand, and yet delays contacting the police for an inordinate length of time so that the villains can more or less pursue him at their leisure.
This is undoubtedly better than its modest production values would suggest, but it isn't a classic by any measure.
Mann's direction is better than the plot. He wasn't scared to try something different every now and then. At one point we're even given a blurry POV close-up of Burr's retreating fist after it has connected with Brodie's face. Burr plays the heavy here, as he usually did in his early career. He was a big man even before he put a few pounds on, but looks swarthy here as well, almost Mediterranean. He's certainly the most interesting character in the film, a gangster out to save his brother from the electric chair and endeavouring to have our relatively bland hero take his place.
The main weakness in the storyline is the hero's poor decision-making. He practically panics each time danger is at hand, and yet delays contacting the police for an inordinate length of time so that the villains can more or less pursue him at their leisure.
This is undoubtedly better than its modest production values would suggest, but it isn't a classic by any measure.
helpful•110
- JoeytheBrit
- May 12, 2008
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Details
- Runtime1 hour 13 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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