Every time HUMPHREY BOGART opens his mouth to say anything, it sounds like deja vu all over again. His role as a tough-talking ex-GI looking for his buddy's murderer and moving among a bunch of unsavory characters is the kind of material Raymond Chandler could have written with his eyes shut.
The stock heroine is played with sultry charm by LIZABETH SCOTT, who seems to be subbing for Lauren Bacall throughout the murky proceedings. She even sings a torchy night club number in the same style as Bacall, but is not quite as alluring--nor does her chemistry with Bogart seem as strong.
Bogart's string of one-liners make him sound like Philip Marlowe, detective, rather than a man on the hunt for a killer who gets drugged by the gambling joint owner and when he wakes up, discovers a corpse in his apartment. The corpse is a bartender who knew too much about the murder of Bogart's buddy.
It's a typical Bogart movie of the '40s, film noir material that's well handled by director John Cromwell. While it doesn't have the impact of the high quality noirs like THE MALTESE FALCON, it will keep you guessing until the smart finish.
Bogart gets all the nifty lines. "If you're looking for Easter bunnies, you're a day early." He delivers a solid performance that makes much use of voice-over narrative. Scott is okay, but she's had better roles in other films of the forties.
Worth watching, especially if you like faux Chandler-type material. There's an Astor/Bogart quality to the final confrontation between Bogart and Scott. He even has the line that sounds like it's lifted from THE MALTESE FALCON: "When a guy's buddy dies, a man's gotta do something about it."
The stock heroine is played with sultry charm by LIZABETH SCOTT, who seems to be subbing for Lauren Bacall throughout the murky proceedings. She even sings a torchy night club number in the same style as Bacall, but is not quite as alluring--nor does her chemistry with Bogart seem as strong.
Bogart's string of one-liners make him sound like Philip Marlowe, detective, rather than a man on the hunt for a killer who gets drugged by the gambling joint owner and when he wakes up, discovers a corpse in his apartment. The corpse is a bartender who knew too much about the murder of Bogart's buddy.
It's a typical Bogart movie of the '40s, film noir material that's well handled by director John Cromwell. While it doesn't have the impact of the high quality noirs like THE MALTESE FALCON, it will keep you guessing until the smart finish.
Bogart gets all the nifty lines. "If you're looking for Easter bunnies, you're a day early." He delivers a solid performance that makes much use of voice-over narrative. Scott is okay, but she's had better roles in other films of the forties.
Worth watching, especially if you like faux Chandler-type material. There's an Astor/Bogart quality to the final confrontation between Bogart and Scott. He even has the line that sounds like it's lifted from THE MALTESE FALCON: "When a guy's buddy dies, a man's gotta do something about it."