Admirable film.

A Masterpiece!

A Disappointing Continuation

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Vera Hruba Ralston is a nightclub singer who has just had her opening night. Sidney Blackmer, a lawyer who's been stealing from the mob, asks her to marry him, but she doesn't love him. Mob boss Richard Karlan tells Warren Stevens to kill him, and he does so... with dance hall hostess Virginia Grey spotting him on the street just after the shot is fired. When homicide detectives David Brian and Lee van Cleef start investigating, the trail leads them immediately to Miss Ralston. Their problem is that the story she tells is not the story shown on the screen, nor does it match up their background checks.... and Miss Grey's attempts to blackmail a killer are not as smart as she would imagine....It's wide screen and color and from a story by W.R. Burnett and shows promise, but director Joseph Kane doesn't know how to direct the scenes for the sexual heat that Burnett's story demands, so the abrupt changes are a bit cringeworthy. Still, there's a good scene with Elisha Cook Jr. as a sweaty alky and Frank Puglia is rather sweet as a sympathetic night club owner. There's not a spot of chemistry between the leads, however, and the result is a sub-par time waster.

A big time lawyer is shot on a street. The cops investigate, finding a tangled web of suspects, while the head cop gets involved with one of the suspects.Thoroughly forgettable crime drama (not noir). Two reasons for watching might be to catch evil-eye Lee Van Cleef as a cop, of all things, and still early in his unusual career. Then there's Vera Hruba Ralston often mocked as Hollywood's worst actress. She's not too bad here as a lounge singer. Can't help but sympathize with her fruitless effort to become the Hollywood queen Republic's head honcho Herbert Yates insisted upon. And that's despite her not speaking English and having little talent. She does show some accomplishment here, however. Note, in passing, the spiffy suits the men wear, even the cops. Like maybe, they just came off the studio rack, which I expect they did. Too bad pedestrian Joe Kane directs without a single imaginative touch, while actor Brian literally walks through his cop part. Anyway, the cars are clean and shiny, the candy-box colors near perfect, and the run- time fairly brief. So it all swallows down easily if unmemorably.

Although there are some quite promising plot ideas in this screenplay, adapted by Bob Williams and W.R. Burnett from Burnett's 1952 novel titled "Vanity Row", Republic's stereotyped, "B"-movie handling leaves a lot to be desired. The film emerges as a dull and dreary low-budget thriller, complete with uninspired characters yet hardly a second of action. Certainly, despite a fine cast line-up headed by David Brian, Vera Ralston and Sidney Blackmer, director Joe Kane does not evince even a spark of interest throughout the whole dreary proceedings which seem to drag on and on well over the film's actual running time of 74 minutes. Production values are negligible.

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.