Cada bala una vida

This is an odd little relic from the 1950s. While there were quite a few gangster films made at the time as well as anti-Communism thrillers (such as MY SON, JOHN and I MARRIED A COMMUNIST), this is the only film I can think of that merges the two genres! In a highly unusual move, the Communists enlist the aid of a deported American gangster (George Raft) to orchestrate the kidnapping of a nuclear scientist. This makes the film's concept rather interesting, but the film itself is hampered by low-energy performances (particularly Edward G. Robinson and Raft to a lesser extent) and poor casting (almost none of the people spoke with French-Canadian accents despite the film supposedly taking place in Montreal). In fact, Robinson sounded pretty much like he was on sedatives! Perhaps the reason for this muted performance was just because this excellent actor was so badly miscast. As a result, it is STILL watchable but also quite skip-able as well.

Not bad, but rather formulaic 50's crime/spy movie. However, it was redeemed by George Raft's delivery of one of the best and funniest lines I've ever heard. No spoilers here, but pay attention during the scenes between Robinson and Raft.

After the FBI, the Post Office, and the NYPD, we travel north of the border to Montreal; where a police inspector (Edward G. Robinson) is suspicious about several deaths and a possible attempt to kidnap a nuclear physicist.

George Raft is the mobster doing a job for unknown masters to get money and back into the US. Audrey Totter is tapped to seduce the scientist to make the job easier.

Calling this noir is really stretching it. It doesn't have any of the dark seediness that one expects. It's more a straight police procedural.

Trotter is the most interesting character in the film. The rest just seem as if they are collecting paychecks.

I have always been deceived every time I have watched this Lewis Allen film, I don't know why. Despite the fact that two heavies of the American crime film genre are together. Maybe because of the mix up between gangster element and the spy - cold war- one. But it remains worth seeking and seeing only for the presence of those two. I am not sure that they worked together besides.

In Montreal, a police inspector (Edward G. Robinson) slowly discovers a plot to kidnap a nuclear physicist. American mobsters, foreign spies and a blonde seductress are all involved.

John Howard Reid considered the movie dull. He said a slow pace, one-dimensional characters, and an unconvincing climax plague the film. Sadly, I tend to think he is right. I was all invested the first ten or fifteen minutes, but found myself less interested as the movie went on.

I have a special fondness for George Raft, and an even bigger fondness for Edward G. Robinson, so you simply cannot go wrong with a film that has both men. And then adding all the film noir elements, along with spies and such, you have real potential. I just do not know if they actually reached it.