Undertow (1949)
SLIGHTLY-ABOVE-AVERAGE B-NOIR...LOCATIONS...CHASES & DARK ACTION
12 August 2021
Director William Castle makes the Most of On-Location Shoots.

Some Gritty Violence and Tense Scenes Add Gravitas to the Familiar Plot.

Two Intense Scenes are Notable...

Scott Brady being Kidnapped, Blind-Folded, Beaten, and Shot in a Dark, Underground Labyrinth Shifts the Tone Sharply.

A Grotesque Finale, again in a Dim, Forbidding Underground Setting with a Hulking, Human, Friend Seeking Revenge.

Along with Brady is John Russell, Bruce Bennett, Peggy Dow, and Dorothy Hart. All are Fine in Support.

Notable is a Scene where Bennett as a Helpful Cop-Friend, Focuses on Things that were Slowly Infiltrating Film-Noir...

"Police-Procedures".

The Low-Budget Film-Noir has the Main Genre Ingredients and Fits Firm.

There is a Femme-Fatale, that Despite Common Wisdom is Not Always Present.

The Street Scenes, the Beneath the Street Scenes,and a Dark, Frantic Tone, All Contribute.

To Rise this to Slightly Above Average, and is Definitely...

Worth a Watch

Note...Rock Hudson's first Credit...Billed as "Roc" Hudson...About a minute of screen-time and a couple of lines as a Police Detective.
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