This movie is unsuccessful as a noir, a crime drama -- as anything, really.
John Hodiak is always compelling, though he isn't a convincing villain here. George Murphy is barely adequate.
Frances Gifford -- whose bio I just read here, and who had a tragic life -- is very beautiful but directed to act as if in a coma.
Even Eve Arden's quips fall uneasily flat in this context.
The best performance is given by Dean Stockwell, as the strangely troubled child Murphy and Gifford profess to adore but who seems to be ignored by his father and to have an extreme affection for his mother.
John Hodiak is always compelling, though he isn't a convincing villain here. George Murphy is barely adequate.
Frances Gifford -- whose bio I just read here, and who had a tragic life -- is very beautiful but directed to act as if in a coma.
Even Eve Arden's quips fall uneasily flat in this context.
The best performance is given by Dean Stockwell, as the strangely troubled child Murphy and Gifford profess to adore but who seems to be ignored by his father and to have an extreme affection for his mother.