If there's a picture that epitomizes the noir genre, this one has to be one of the top contenders. It's got everything you need - seedy atmosphere, a stunning femme fatale, good guys, bad guys and ones you can't tell until they get into a jam, and Thelma Ritter as the icing on the cake with a street smart credibility that puts even the cops to shame. Throw in a Commie angle and you have a fairly stunning potboiler here, courtesy of Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Richard Kiley and the aforementioned Ms. Ritter.
Virtually every reviewer on this board goes into a description of the main plot, so I don't think it's necessary to go there. I'd just want to mention a couple of scenes that managed to blow me completely away. How about Skip McCoy (Widmark) belting the unsuspecting Candy (Peters) square in the jaw and putting her lights out? Followed up by that beer chaser. I believe that's what they used to call hardboiled back in the day. Then there's Moe Williams (Ritter) never giving an inch when Joey makes it known it's curtains. Classic. But the wildest was when Joey shoved Candy into the lamp and she bounced off into the bookcase. That looked a little too real to me and I had to wonder how they managed to pull that off.
The film's not entirely perfect, like other viewers I found the romantic angle to come on too quickly and lack a semblance of credibility. As hustlers and con artists, it didn't make sense to me that McCoy and Candy would have been immediately attracted to each other romantically. In other ways, no doubt about it. But take the good with the bad and this is a pretty taut film that's a must for your noir library. You'll also marvel at a time when you could get a 'handsome men's suit' for only $14.50, a bargain that doesn't come along every day.
Virtually every reviewer on this board goes into a description of the main plot, so I don't think it's necessary to go there. I'd just want to mention a couple of scenes that managed to blow me completely away. How about Skip McCoy (Widmark) belting the unsuspecting Candy (Peters) square in the jaw and putting her lights out? Followed up by that beer chaser. I believe that's what they used to call hardboiled back in the day. Then there's Moe Williams (Ritter) never giving an inch when Joey makes it known it's curtains. Classic. But the wildest was when Joey shoved Candy into the lamp and she bounced off into the bookcase. That looked a little too real to me and I had to wonder how they managed to pull that off.
The film's not entirely perfect, like other viewers I found the romantic angle to come on too quickly and lack a semblance of credibility. As hustlers and con artists, it didn't make sense to me that McCoy and Candy would have been immediately attracted to each other romantically. In other ways, no doubt about it. But take the good with the bad and this is a pretty taut film that's a must for your noir library. You'll also marvel at a time when you could get a 'handsome men's suit' for only $14.50, a bargain that doesn't come along every day.