Eyes of the Underworld

With the outbreak of World War II, the government severely cuts back its allotment of steel and rubber for domestic use, and consequently, automobile theft runs rife ...

Police chief Bryan (Richard Dix) vows to put a car theft ring out of business. But the criminals fight back, using the fact that Bryan was once a jailbird himself to help in framing him and getting him out of office. But he has help, especially from his frightfully loyal assistant Benny (Lon Chaney Jr.) and secretary Betty (Wendy Barrie

The likeable Richard Dix and werewolf Lon Chaney Jr team up as hero and sidekick in this breezy crime thriller- the pace is brisk, the dialogue is sharp, and there's some neat urban interior noir photography. It's nice to see Lon Chaney in a good Guy role, a sidekick, and quite a loyal one.

Enjoyable programmer from Universal starring iron-jawed Richard Dix as an ex-con-turned-police chief who sets out to bust up a car theft ring and gets framed for his efforts. Don Porter plays a special investigator who inadvertently helps with the frame-up, then tries to save the day. Wendy Barrie is Dix's secretary. She's in love with him but he pushes her away on account of his past. Porter's got a thing for Barrie but she's all about that Dix. Lon Chaney, Jr. plays Dix's friend, a dimwitted brute willing to do whatever it takes to help a pal out. This includes torture in one gripping scene. Despite starring in horror films for Universal around this time, Chaney only has a supporting part here (but he makes the most of it). The rest of the cast includes Marc Lawrence, Lloyd Corrigan, Joseph Crehan, and Edward Pawley. Fast-moving B picture with solid direction from Roy William Neill. Nothing exceptional but a good time-passer. Worth a look, if nothing else, for Chaney's performance and that awesome shootout/fight scene near the end. Chaney's character is positively superhuman! He also has one of my favorite movie lines when he's about to torture the bad guy: "You're gonna live a long time in the next few minutes."

Richard Dix has done a good job of cleaning up the town as chief of police, but there's a new racket with wartime rationing: tires and other auto parts. He starting to work on it when Marc Lawrence is arrested and threatens to spill that he knew Dix when they were both jailbirds. Dix arranges for his peaceful escape, but Lawrence gets a gun, shoots his way out, and connects with the racketeers. And who's this auto salesman, Don Porter, who seems to be trying to make time with Dix's secretary and babysitter, Wendy Barrie.

Roy William Neill inserts a lot of noir elements in the last twenty minutes, then it turns into a guns-blazing gangster film. Lon Chaney Jr. Has a nice role as Dix's bodyguard who seems a little too enthusiastic under stress. With Lloyd Corrigan and Billy Lee.

Richard Dix stars as Chief Bryan...an honest and hard-working cop who is hiding a secret. What he doesn't know is that the next in line for his job, Kirby, is a scum-bag and is working with a gang of car and tire thieves*. When a special investigator comes to town, Kirby and his cut-throat friends set up the Chief and make it look as if he's working with the gang. Can the investigator, the Chief's loyal assistant (Lon Chaney) or his loving secretary (Wendy Barrie) manage to put the pieces together and learn the truth?

This is a reasonably enjoyable film with lots of twists. It also features Lon Chaney is a particularly good part as a friend who wouldn't mind using a bit of torture to get to the truth! And, since the film came out shortly after Chaney's breakout role in "The Wolf Man", he is prominently featured in the opening credits. Nothing genius about this film--just a solidly entertaining B-type picture that keeps you guessing.

I did not know that director Roy William Neill ever made film noir, crime films, but this one, produced by Universal studios in 1942, except for two or three scenes, is rather light touched, not a pure gritty crime movie; nothing to do with THE KILLERS nor CRISS CROSS and I am sure that Robert Siodmak would have given something totally different. But this one is agreeable to watch, it is fast paced, short - under sixty minutes - despite nothing really exceptional. Richard Dix had a quality to be able to play in any character place, whatever he did, he was convincing, no matter the quality of the story and directing. However Roy William Neill was more gifted in the Sherlock Holmes films and some horror features too.