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| DIRECTED BY |
| Henry Hathaway
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| STARRING |
| Victor Mature |
| Brian Donlevy |
| Coleen Gray |
| Richard Widmark |
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Warning: Spoiler in Final Paragraph
There are very few faults to find within this solid-to-the-core film noir, with the possible exception of the questionable train of thought behind the ending and the at-times-overblown score. It never gets caught up within the boring politics that sometimes inhabit crime dramas (notice its avoidance of courtroom scenes?) and it never introduces too many characters either � the script quickly finds its track and stays on it throughout the whole film, constructing believable character motivations and taut suspense.
But this film is a primary example of acting elevating everything. Mature appears to be an earlier version of a more intelligent and refined Sylvester Stallone � he plays the �kindhearted former criminal� role to believable perfection. And with his maniacal-yet-strangely-charming chortles, Widmark was rightfully lauded for practically setting the standard for the �relentlessly psychotic bad guy� role that typecast him for the rest of his career.
Perhaps there are a few loose ends � whatever happened to that angle about the corrupt lawyer, for instance? But Hathaway clearly knew exactly what he was doing and directed the picture with a perfect mix of simplicity and stylization. The scene in the elevator when the robbers impatiently watch the floors count down from number twentysomething to number one is filmic tension at its best. The film�s lighting smoothly alternates between pitch blacks (DeAngelo slowly approaching Bianco�s door) and picturesque whites (Bianco on the sidewalk in the final scene.)
I thought the film lost a bit of its credibility and veered into ridiculousness when Bianco turned into a martyr at the end. I was expecting some sort of a bulletproof vest deal to happen, but then I realized how annoyed I would�ve been if that went down too. Hecht and his team of writers should�ve just came up with a completely different premise. But as a film about a man who decides to take the law into his own hands, this is the way that it should be done.
