This is the beginning of a series of TV noir as a part of the Four Star Playhouse which began as Dick Powell's last film noir was released on the big screen. He's the proprietor of a gambling joint named Dante's Inferno who becomes reluctantly involved with the problems of his customers, here told by a female customer that her husband intends to murder her. Giving her a book of matches, Powell is visited by the police the next day, and indeed a woman identified as the woman he met is found in the morgue. The woman's husband has allegedly stolen from his partner, a crime boss she suspected would kill him if he found out. Virginia Grey is the woman of mystery, a typical noir femme fatale whose motives are unknown.
Long before he became a legendary director of screwy comedies onscreen, Blake Edwards was a TV writer, making a mark here, quite different than those Pink Panther capers of the 1960's and 70's. His dialog is deliciously filled with the type of chatter you'd read in a dime store novel, and makes for a good start to a recurring part of the Four Star Playhouse. Powell is delightfully serious, hard-boiled and cynical, and Grey is cold blooded and calculating. Regis Toomey, Marvin Miller, Herb Vigran and William F. Leicester give good support in a tight, compact little TV drama that will keep you intrigued.
Long before he became a legendary director of screwy comedies onscreen, Blake Edwards was a TV writer, making a mark here, quite different than those Pink Panther capers of the 1960's and 70's. His dialog is deliciously filled with the type of chatter you'd read in a dime store novel, and makes for a good start to a recurring part of the Four Star Playhouse. Powell is delightfully serious, hard-boiled and cynical, and Grey is cold blooded and calculating. Regis Toomey, Marvin Miller, Herb Vigran and William F. Leicester give good support in a tight, compact little TV drama that will keep you intrigued.
