The Last Crooked Mile

After a bank robbery, $300k goes missing when the robbers are caught. A wise cracking PI inserts himself in the hunt for the money and, along the way, he finds dames, carnies, and conspiracies.

This was oddly a more light hearted noir since the PI and all other men in this movie are constantly spitting flirty one liners at every woman within reach. It hit all the tropes, but wasn't much more than a light entertainment of a B noir. My favorite scene was the projection screen roller coaster that looked pretty good for a very low budget special effect 🎢.

Watched on YouTube.

A bank robbery of $300,000 is a success, but all three robbers are killed in a car crash. And no one can find the money.

Private eye Tom Dwyer (Donald Barry, Republic's answer to Jimmy Cagney) inserts himself into the investigation mainly because the reward is 10% of the money.

The first order of business is to find the car, which is now an exhibit at an amusement park. Dwyer learns there has been some interest in purchasing the car. It seems evident that they think the money is somewhere, maybe not in the car, but as part of the car.

Eventually he meets a nightclub singer, played by Ann Savage. He asks for her help. Meanwhile, bodies keep showing up.

There were some interesting camera shots in this film, and the roller coaster scene was amazing, even though it's an obvious process shot. The dialogue is fast and somewhat suggestive in parts. There is some nice editing as well.

Barry's acting is very pleasant; I understand he was impossible to work with. It's too bad. Besides Savage, look for Sheldon Leonard, Irving Bacon, and Tom Dugan in smaller roles. Adele Mara is good as the woman constantly being stood up by Dwyer. Savage uplifts the entire film - great presence.

This nifty, fast-paced B mystery, based on a radio play (as were many superior second features of the time) is a nice surprise from Republic Studios. It features original situations and plenty of fancy patter, some of it slightly risqué for the time (obviously, the production code mavens were more diligent in scrutinizing the A product than these minor programmers). Lightweight leading man Don "Red" Barry, with the wavy hair and tenor voice, gives as good as he takes (he also sports one of the most outrageous wide ties in memory), and B movie icon Ann Savage has a sizable role as a slinky cabaret singer who may know more than she lets on. Connoisseurs will appreciate the parade of offbeat character turns by vets like Irving Bacon, Sheldon Leonard, and especially Tom Dugan in a little deadpan bit as a sarcastic souvenir salesman. The photography is suitably shadowy, the carnival background sleazy, and there are some clever editing tricks. Obscure director Phil Ford, who was John Ford's nephew (and Francis Ford's son), certainly takes advantage of his studio's affinity for serials, emphasising reckless car chases and a wild ride aboard a roller-coaster. (By the way, reliable historian Tom Weaver claims that Phil was often more interesting than both John and Francis!) If you like this one, try the similar No Hands on the Clock from Paramount's splendid B-movie mill.

During a police chase, three bank robbers perish when their getaway car plunges over a cliff. The 300-large they grabbed, however, can't be found. The bank's underwriters hire cocky private eye Donald Barry to find it, promising a 10-percent reward if he's successful. The trail leads him to an oceanside amusement park, where the `death car' has been purchased as an exhibit in the side show; a couple of thugs show interest in it, too, as well they might, since the missing cash has been soldered into the running board.

His quest also leads Barry to a nearby nightclub where shantoozie Ann Savage warbles in sequins. (It's a good career choice for Savage, whose bold features suggest two other famed singers of the time: LaVerne Andrews, of the sister act, and Astrid Varnay, the Wagnerian soprano). He enlists her help, despite the fact that corpses drop into seats on the roller-coaster (which, oddly, turns into a tunnel of love) and big black sedans keep trying to run them down. The body count continues to rise....

The movie comes from the El Cheapo unit at Republic Pictures, and was directed by Philip Ford. Like Ford's The Mysterious Mr. Valentine (and most other crime programmers of the 1940s), it tries to cram an overcomplicated plot into not much more than an hour, patching up the holes with explanatory dialogue whizzing by. But, also like Mr. Valentine, it has an evocative look – especially of the amusement park at night – and it has Ann Savage. All in all, that's not a bad deal.

Ann Savage will forever be known as the vulturous woman in Ulmer's masterpiece DETOUR. Alas, many other films in her career have not had comparable longevity. This little programmer is one of the many forgotten little baubles that used to dot TV land back in the days before all those rotten Infomercials took over late night viewing. Despite the superb cast of B movie stalwarts, this generic little programmer is nonetheless noteworthy for trying to cram a lot of plot in the confines of an hour, so much so that it appears incoherent. It tries to do everything and ends up not doing much of anything. It's diverting enough because of the haywire plot; you never know where this is going. But see it for Ann Savage.