If one didn't know better, it looks like this might have been a training film for future police detectives. How'd you like the way the cops planted a phony picture of Johnny Damico (Broderick Crawford) in the paper with a phony story to back it up? Or the wise guy banter Johnny used in his guise of Tim Flynn to ingratiate himself with big time gangsters? And what about rigging Smoothie's (Matt Crowley) car with the dripping liquid that glowed in the dark under a fluorescent lamp? Can you really do that? I thought it was pretty clever.
I wasn't quite ready to give this movie credit as a film noir because there are really no sultry femme fatales to speak of, but in this case I don't think it matters. There are all kinds of shady characters prowling around with the likes of Ernest Borgnine, Neville Brand and Richard Kiley as part of the main event, and if you're sharp, you'll pick up on quick cameos by character actors Harry Lauter, Don Megowan and a still unknown Charles Bronson, a real treat for gangster film fans.
The picture has it's share of neat twists, as in Richard Kiley's Clancy character turning out to be another undercover cop, and the dopey bartender Smoothie proving to be the mastermind criminal Blackie Clegg. Crawford makes the picture with his snappy dialog that's quick witted and off the cuff, and he's good with his fists when he has to be, and sometimes even when he doesn't. The ending comes off as a bit forced with the rooftop snipers waiting for bad guy Blackie, but the best has to be the way Clancy sets up Johnny for the closing scene. You'll just have to check it out for yourself.
I wasn't quite ready to give this movie credit as a film noir because there are really no sultry femme fatales to speak of, but in this case I don't think it matters. There are all kinds of shady characters prowling around with the likes of Ernest Borgnine, Neville Brand and Richard Kiley as part of the main event, and if you're sharp, you'll pick up on quick cameos by character actors Harry Lauter, Don Megowan and a still unknown Charles Bronson, a real treat for gangster film fans.
The picture has it's share of neat twists, as in Richard Kiley's Clancy character turning out to be another undercover cop, and the dopey bartender Smoothie proving to be the mastermind criminal Blackie Clegg. Crawford makes the picture with his snappy dialog that's quick witted and off the cuff, and he's good with his fists when he has to be, and sometimes even when he doesn't. The ending comes off as a bit forced with the rooftop snipers waiting for bad guy Blackie, but the best has to be the way Clancy sets up Johnny for the closing scene. You'll just have to check it out for yourself.