Reviews

After his army stint Taylor decides he does not want to follow his father into a railroad job nor stay in the small boring town he grew up in. Along comes New York public relations man Burr who offers Taylor a job with him. But Taylor discovers the job amounts to nothing more than being an escort for the daughter (Forrest) of one of Burr's clients.

After reluctantly taking the job, Taylor has trouble living with the lies. As predictable, he eventually falls for Forrest and wants to marry her but must reconcile with all of his deceit.

It is a rather dull, low budget melodrama which is only made interesting by the presence of Burr. The film was made the year before he started his long run as Perry Mason and comes after a decade of playing bad guys in film noir. It's sort of a transition between the two but the tantrum he throws at the end is quite amusing. Also of note is Mae Clarke in a bit part as Forrest's mother.

Detectives Brian and Van Cleef are assigned to investigate the murder of Mob lawyer Blackmer. The case becomes complicated when Brian falls for Ralston, who is a suspect in the case. This causes friction between Van Cleef and Brian. Meanwhile witness Grey tries to blackmail Stevens who she believes killed Blackmer. Plenty of plot twist make this a good story with unexpected ending.

One might ask what Republic Pictures was doing making a color film in what is otherwise a "B" crime drama. Well, this was another showcase film for Vera Ralston who happened to be married to Herbert Yates, head of Republic at the time. It's to bad. Had Ralston's part been played by the likes of Marie Windsor or Audrey Totter and filmed in black and white, it would be a good little film noir. Still worth a watch for the story as well as noir characters Barry Kelley and Elisha Cook.