Piège double

As far as I know, that's the second film noir that director Nathan Juran offered us, besides HIGHWAY DRAGNET. He who was mostly a western and science fiction maker, working for Universal and Columbia studios as well. I like here more the atmosphere and photography than the story. This is a pure good B thriller typical of the fifties. Very agreeable to watch, and also a rare film, at least not the most known of the director. Yes, the story is not that exciting for a crime film noir, but it remains bearable. I have seen it several times already but always forget about it. I understand why after the watching.

Richard Denning, Frank Lovejoy, and Mari Blanchard are the Center-Piece of this Sprawling Story of a WWII Murder Suspect Pursued Years Later.

This Mid-50's B&W B-Movie is Film-Noir Influenced in Tone with some Sharp Twists and a Striking Look at L. A. and other Far-Off Locations.

The Tension is Taught with Deception, Double-Cross, and Misdirection.

It's a Complicated Scenario to Fit into such a Short Low-Budget Effort.

But the Good Production Team Make it Work Somewhat.

A Suspension of Disbelief is Required to Take it All In with Ease,

but Watching the Good Trio of Interesting Working-Class Actors make it Fun to Observe.

Mari Blanchard has a Difficult Role Balancing Between Denning and Lovejoy.

Pretending Permeates the Picture as She is One Thing while Being Another During the Length of the Film.

Drawing a Murder-Suspect into the Light with a Plot Point that is as Interestingly Far-Fetched as it gets.

The Story Sucks You In,

as the Uneasy Trio of Would-Be Criminals make Their Way Through the Machinations of a Pulp Story of Hidden Treasure and Undercover Intrigue.

A Slightly Above Average Little Movie with a Good Cast and an Over-the-Top Story is...

Worth a Watch.

This is just a bit too convoluted for it's own good. It's all about a scheme to retrieve some gold from Germany buried at the end of WWII by Richard Denning ("Frank"). Frank Lovejoy ("Stan") and his gal Mari Blanchard ("Joanie") are the pair trying to manoeuvre their mark into taking them back to find the loot, but they also they have an ulterior motive of which poor old "Frank" is unaware. It's got a few twists and turns to keep the plot moving, but much of the story seems to exist in order to perpetuate itself, rather than offer us anything to get our teeth into and after a while it becomes a bit dull. The performances are weak, the dialogue really wordy and I found the music got on my nerves a bit, too. Director Nathan Juran usually had a good eye for a story and phototography at his best; this isn't it.

Yes, the cast is great. Yes the first ten minutes or so, up to and including the first twist, is a great movie.

But after that it goes so completely insane in a way that's super not fun or campy or bombastic. It somehow manages to be both boring, and implausible. The plot folds in over on itself. It's just very, very bad writing.

Right now, this has an average of a six. I just think that's way way too high. This deserves a four at best, and so I'm on here to try to push that to happen. I love noir, and I've now watched so many, to relive the high of first seeing the greats. I've seen so many bad ones. This is the worst one I've ever seen.

Holy cow. Completely ridiculous, unbelievable crime (not noir) drama that would put Ed Wood and Harry Stephen Keeler to shame.

The movie is acted and directed OK, and it's oddly watchable, but the plot is laughable. It's quite simply, ludicrous.