Claudio Carvalho The criminals "Doc" Penny (Ted de Corsia), Ben Hastings (Charles Bronson) and Gat Morgan (Ned Young) escape from San Quentin and kill a police officer while robbing a gas-station. However Morgan is shot and left behind by his partners. He seeks shelter with the former inmate Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson), who is paroled and starting a new life with his wife Ellen Lacey (Phyllis Kirk) and working as airplane mechanic. Lacey asks him to go away but Morgan tells that he has summoned the former Dr. Otto Hessler (Jay Novello) to treat him. When Hessler arrives, he realizes that Morgan is dead and flees from the apartment. Lacey calls his parole officer Daniel O'Keefe (James Bell) while the sleazy Detective Lieutenant Sims (Sterling Hayden) arrives at his home following his instincts. Lacey is arrested for three days but O'Keefe believes him and keeps his job. When Lacey returns home, "Doc" and Ben surprisingly arrive and threaten Ellen to force Lacey to participate in a bank heist. What will Steve Lacey do?"Crime Wave" is an excellent film-noir with the story of a man trying to start a new life and haunted by his former cellmates. The cinematography in black and white is impressive and very beautiful. The direction of André De Toth is perfect and Sterling Hayden has an amazing performance in the role of a tough homicide detective. Indeed all the cast has also great performance. The beauty of Phyllis Kirk is highlighted by her role and by the cinematography. My vote is nine. Title (Brazil): "Cidade Tenebrosa" ("Tenebrous City")

chuck-reilly 1954's "Crime Wave" would be considered nothing more than an exploitation film in the hands of a less capable director than the prolific Andre De Toth. That said, without the exceptional acting talents of people like Sterling Hayden, Phyllis Kirk, and a very young Charles Bronson, this film would've come off as strictly amateurish, at best. The plot is almost too simple and there's virtually no twists, unlike other movies of this genre. The only brief surprise is when all the bad guys get mowed down at the end due to the actions of a police informant. Since these fellows deserve what's coming to them, the audience sheds no tears. Sterling Hayden's role as Detective Sims is straight out of "Dragnet." He's a fast talker, only wants the facts, and chain smokes cigarettes when he's not chomping on a toothpick. If he isn't a parody of an LA police detective, I don't know who is. If there's any real allure to this film, it's the black-and-white cinematography of a 1950s Los Angeles. The city is barely recognizable except for the old City Hall building which sticks out in several scenes. There's no smog, no traffic, and no sunlight in this version of Los Angeles. No wonder there's a crime wave. Of special note is the casting of the great Timothy Carey in an uncredited part as a grinning maniacal thug. His wild-eyed lunacy is just the thing needed to perk up the proceedings and add some much-needed "color."

blanche-2 Andre de Toth directed this 1954 noir, Crime Wave, starring Sterling Hayden, Gene Nelson, Phyllis Kirk, and Charles Buchinsky, who later became Charles Bronson. Nelson plays Steve Lacey, an ex-con, now married to the beautiful Kirk. He's gone straight, but he is consumed by his past, and former inmates keep calling him for help. When three guys escape from prison and one is injured, they crowd in on Lacey. Holding his wife hostage, they force him to drive the getaway car in a planned robbery.Very neat, gritty, short noir, with Hayden as the tough, no-nonsense cop. de Toth doesn't spare us the mean streets or violence, either, in this fast-moving flick. Recommended for noir/crime fans.

MisterWhiplash Crime Wave has the makings for something quite simple as a movie. Its story is about cops and criminals and a few ordinary folks trying to get by. A few criminals (the main ones played by Ted de Corsia and a young Charles Bronson) are out of San Quentin and shoot a gas station attendant and cop. On the lam they hold up with also ex-con Steve Lacey (decent leading man Gene Nelson) with his wife, but what they don't know is that he's already been tapped by the cops, specifically Sterling Hayden's Detective Sims, who is so hard-nosed he could cut through bricks with just a stare and some tough words. It all leads up to one of those heists that just can't go right for the bad guys, but what about the good couple caught in the middle? It is fairly straightforward, and it could have been in other hands. But there's something about Andre De Toth, as director, that stands Crime Wave out as a piece of lean noir cuisine. The way it's shot is one thing, as his European influence comes through in a lot of the exteriors and his way of utilizing natural lighting and real locations, or just how he has someone like a room that looks too real like Sims' office. His camera has a distinct tone to it even when sets or usual shots in moving cars have to be done, and it cuts through the BS and keeps one riveted even as one knows what's going to happen (the last couple of minutes with Sims and the Lacey's are one of them).It also can't be stressed how awesome an actor Sterling Hayden is. In everything he just brings that "umph" that is required whether it's to a hoodlum or a psychotic or a corrupt cop, and in Crime Wave his authority as a presence (six foot five inches) and his pattern of speech play off well against the rest of the usual character actors, save maybe for Charles Bronson since he too is unique even at a young age and creepy character actor Timothy Carey as the man put on watch of Mrs. Lacey. Overall, Crime Wave is a procedural that snaps and crackles and pops for 72 minutes and allows fans of classic film noir to soak up the atmosphere and have a good time seeing the coppers close in on the crooks who, as almost always is the case, don't stand a chance.