Traição

George Raft is said to have turned down more than one role that ended up making someone else's career. Sam Spade in "The Maltese Falcon," for example. Yet the movies he did choose are for the most part flat and predictable.

I like him as a tough guy. He does it well. "Race Street" is strictly routine. He won't pay protection money, with predictable results.

Harry Morgan is excellent in a fairly small role. William Bendix, who always turned in a fine performance, is very good as a cop. And Marilyn Maxwell is the femme fatale.

She's OK. But her performance is unexciting. We neither hate her nor feel sorry for her. Maxwell essentially executes a plot contrivance.

George Raft is a well respected bookie in San Francisco. He's got a cute girlfriend in Marilyn Maxwell, a sister who's a lounge singer in Gale Robbins, and a cop friend in Lieutenant William Bendix. Raft doesn't play ball with him, but Bendix figures so long as things are quiet, he's doing his job. But when a mysterious stranger played by Frank Faylen decides to set up a protection racket for bookies, they resist. Harry Morgan winds up dead. Bendix investigates because it's his job. Raft, because Morgan is his friend.

The most interesting part of Raft's last film for RKO is the handsome shots of San Francisco shot by DP Roy Hunt. Miss Robbins' musical numbers are good, and Bendix is interesting in a straightforward, amiably corrupt role. Meanwhile, Raft continues to fail to impress me with his minimal performance, although he does manage to grit his teeth when he has been shot. With Russell Hicks, Tom Keene, Franklyn Farnum, and Charles Lane.

In San Francisco, bookie Dan Gannin (George Raft) quits the racket and opens a nightclub. He offers his pal Hal Towers (Harry Morgan) a piece of the club to get out as well but Hal turns him down. Then thugs murder Hal by throwing him down a flight of stairs. Dan goes searching for the killers.

The stairs may be the best part of the movie especially when the thugs take Dan back to the place where they killed his friend. It's the best scene. I hoped for more San Francisco street scenes. Those street scenes have a vibrancy that is missing from much of the movie. Raft does a workmanlike job but he doesn't shine like a movie star. The story doesn't pop with the exception of certain scenes. All in all, it's a functional crime noir thriller.

From RKO, William Bendix is Barney, the cop (and narrator!). His buddy Dan Gannin is a bookie, played by George Raft. Dan's partner is Hal (Harry Morgan, from MASH) The love interest here is Marilyn Maxwell, as Robbie. Maxwell moved into television in the 1950s, but died quite young at 51, of a heart attack. it's a murder noir, and of course, the mob moves in and wants protection money, just as they are opening a club downtown. Barney is determined to lean on Dan to get to the mob. they even manage to show an RKO theater about an hour in. Gale Robbins is Dan's sister Elaine. Robbins ALSO died young at 58. Some fun scenery of san francisco... if they really did film scenes there. and Charles Lane is the desk clerk... for a time, he held the record for the most un-credited, minor, and supporting roles; lived to 102 ! Directed by Ed Marin.he made SIX films with Raft. also died young at 52. film is pretty good. your typical murder noir. in this one, they keep waiting for the bad guys to move in, but not a lot of suspense, or solving clues.

This is a superior crime noir let down by a most nondescript title! Harry Morgan ("Hal") is found at the bottom of a flight of stairs - George Raft ("Gannin") and detective "Barney" (William Bendix) know his death is a bit fishy, and decide to investigate (separately!). Soon it transpires that the former is involved in dodgy bookmaking, as was the deceased, and that someone is trying to muscle in on their business. Raft is good as he tries to avenge his dead friend, never quite sure to trust, as are femme fatale Marilyn Maxwell as "Robbie" and Gale Robbins as his sister "Elaine" who sings a couple of quite decent numbers too. It's quite a tense short feature with plenty of darkly lit scenes and a tight dialogue to keep the suspense going until, I have to say, a rather silly ending. Well worth a watch, though.