La casa degli agguati

Confidential: 5 out of 10: An undercover government agent looks to break up the rackets and find the identity of Mr. Big. Romance and occasional gunplay break out.

Well acted in a brisk sixty-five minutes our hero takes on the baddies. It really does remind one of the later serials with the same themes. Confidential does boast better sets and some decent action beats than those serials particularly a plane chase early on. Some of the fun of old movies like these is the background noise that can fascinate a modern audience. Here we have a government agent with a sentimental attachment to a bobblehead of all things. Also a chance to see a 1930's claw machine in an amusement center scene.

I enjoyed it for what it was. Nothing too deep beyond white hats vs. black hats I am afraid.

CONFIDENTIAL is a cheap crime thriller charting the efforts of a number of Federal agents to bring down gangsters running a numbers game. It starts off in an electrifying way with a montage of scenes showing the crooks taking a hold in the city before introducing the protagonists, two-fisted heroes willing to put their lives on the line to take it to the enemy.

The main plot sees an agent going undercover with the criminal gang. Once there he gathers evidence to bring the villains to justice, while at the same time taking time out to romance the pretty Evalyn Knapp. Inevitably he risks discovery at the hands of sinister 'Lefty' Tate, played with relish by popular actor J. Carrol Naish.

Although Donald Cook makes for a bit of a stolid hero, CONFIDENTIAL is quite a good little film. With a running time of 65 minutes it moves smoothly from beginning to end with few slow spots, and saves all the action for the climax. The incidents littering the plot are rather predictable for the modern viewer, but nonetheless the film holds your attention despite the low budget. Warren Hymer's comic turn as the goofy 'Midget' is the highlight.

When his fellow agent gets killed during a bust, G-Man Donald Cook is filled with self-doubt for two or three minutes, then it's on to tackle the syndicate running the numbers racket by befriending dumb crook Warren Hymer, Racket bookkeeper Evalyn Knapp likes him a lot, but doesn't wish to go out with anyone in the racket. The sting depends on figuring out who the mysterious Big Boss is.

Edward L. Cahn directs this Mascot second feature at such a clip that the entire undercover operation seems to take about four days, and about a third of that seems taken up with Hymer's wisecracks; overall it seems that the mystery of who the Big Boss is is a result of underwriting; there are no red herrings.

As a side note, it seems that everyone in the rackets is Old Stock American. A character taken down in the first minute is named Van Cleeve, and the least WASPish name is Hymer's "Lefty Regan." I know this was a couple of years after my father changed his name to Lipton, but at this distance it looks like J. Edgar Hoover's decades-long insistence that there was no such thing as the Mafia was a national delusion.

Donald Cook isn't quite George Raft in this Mascot Production, but turns in a decent performance as an FBI agent whose partner has been killed. He determines to infiltrate the numbers racketeers responsible at some considerable personal risk and bring the perpetrators to justice. Needless to say he doesn't get a smooth ride and we get an engaging, fast paced hour complete with the usual fisticuffs, Evelyn Knapp brings some "Olive Oyl" style glamour and veteran baddie Theodore von Eltz runs the game. The quality has borne up rather well, and the script isn't as wordy as many of this time/genre. Worth watching.

Donald Cook plays an FBI agent who is furious following the death of his friend, a fellow agent. His goal is to find out who is responsible...and this means going undercover at a local numbers racket. Along the way, he meets a pretty lady (Evalyn Knapp) and a nice but dopey racketeer (Warren Hymer). Can he manage to untangle all this and keep his new friends from danger?

There are few surprises in this one. The acting is competent, the same with the direction. But there also is little to distinguish this cheap B-movie as well...making it a time-passer and not much more.