Roses Are Red

This is one of the movies made during the waning days of Sol Wurtzel's reign at Fox's B division. Don Castle plays a dual role: the newly elected DA and the newly released convict who looks just like him, so local Big Boss Edward Keane has a dark-haired Jeff Chandler kidnap the one and arrange for the other to study him for a substitution. However, they get into a fight, and Chandler shoots the wrong one, leaving Castle imitating himself imitating himself, while various subplots dead end against each other.

While 20th Century-Fox had the best B movies in the late 1930s and early 1940s, by the time this was made, they looked cheap; the long-time money-spinners like Charlie Chan and Jane Withers had gone, and the entire B division would be shut down within a year. Int he meantime, the pleasures available are watching older reliable actors like Paul Guilefoyle and Charles Lane (in a rare straight role) and untested youngsters like James Arness and Charles McGraw.

If all cops and bad guy movies were this good I could be just fine with that. It's not the best film but if this was the standard I could see a decent movie evry night.

B-lister Don Castle doubles up here as a paroled hoodlum ("Carney") who bears a striking resemblance to the local DA ("Thorne"). When the latter is kidnapped, the plan is for him to be substituted by the felon who can then do the bidding of local kingpin, the wheelchair bound "Locke" (Edward Keane). Before they can implement their cunning plan, though, the prisoner manages to free himself and assumes the role of of his own would-be impersonator, and just in the nick of time too. Now it is up to "Thorne" to set a trap for the criminals and to avoid detection - especially perilous when the other man's wife (Patricia Knight) shows up. Surely she will spot the difference and turn him in? We've seen the plot once or twice before so we don't get anything new, but the story is still quite a quickly paced, watchable affair with Jeff Chandler curiously cast as the baddie's enforcer-in-chief. Joe Sawyer is also quite effective as the copper "Lt. Rocky" and despite the rather unhelpful title, it kills an hour well enough.

Roses are Red from 1947 is a poverty row B starring Don Castle in a dual role. It's notable for an early appearance by Jeff Chandler with dark hair.

This script was a repeat of a Columbia film with the locale changed. Castle plays a new district attorney, Robert Thorne, in a corrupt town. Unfortunately, he and a convict, Don Carney, look like they were separated at birth. The crooked political boss (Edward Keane) has Thorne is kidnapped with the idea of having Carney replace him.

He's held captive, with Chandler as one of his guards, while Carney can study him. Meanwhile, Thorne's girlfriend (Peggy Knudsen) attempts to trace a photo found in a murdered woman's apartment that looks like Thorne, but he never knew her. She learns of Carney's existence and finds his wife (Peggy Knight).

Not bad. Castle, a handsome man who resembled Clark Gable, alas had a poor career that went further down, finally going to work as an associate producer for Bonita Granville Wrather's company. He died at 47 of a drug overdose.

Predictable Picture with some Fun and a Few Good Scenes Highlight this Minor Movie that Suffers from a Small Room Template.

Check-Out the Machinations of Actor Placements Within the Frame of a Cramped Environment.

It's Humorous to See a Grouping of Characters Shoehorned Like a Jigsaw Puzzle Into the Card-Board Sets.

Virtually On-Top of One-Another with Heads Dangling Above and Along-Side of One Another. It's a Hoot.

It's All Familiar Stuff About a Look-Alike Crook Replacing a District Attorney to do the Bidding of a Crime-Boss.

This Particular Mr. Big is a Smooth Talking Wheel-Chair Bound (Edward Keane) who Seems about as Intimidating as one of His Aquarium Fish.

The Wheel-Chair, by the way, Comes in Handy when the Police Move In.

Part of the Fun is Watching the Switcheroo.

Keeping it All Straight and Identifying just Who is the DA Now.

You Can Bet One of the Girl-Friend Dames will Be Able to Tell by a Smoocheroo.

More Fun can be Had Spotting Noir Regular Charles McGraw's Gravely Voice Bullying People, Jeff Chandler as a Giant Blondie Named "Knuckles", and James Arness as a Cop.

Slightly Above Average in the Low-Low Budget Sphere of B-Noirs.

More Airy than Most with a Bouncy, Side-Glance Look, and an Almost Tongue-in-Cheek Patina.

Worth a Watch.