JohnHowardReid It's marvelous what skillful photography and a good tailor can do. Here's George Raft, just a year away from his tired, weary, sagging, crumpled pseudo-hero of Man from Cairo, looking as neat and natty and almost as vigorous as his just-stepped-out-of-a-bandbox tough-guy of the 1940s. George not only looks like a star, he's in fiery action and smart-talking fettle. And he has a wonderful support cast here too, led by superbly costumed Dorothy Hart. Margia Dean in a small role as a café waitress is also up front in the looks department as is gorgeous TV cheer-leader, Spring Mitchell, in her only movie appearance. The villains are top too, with Paul Stewart in fine form as a suspicious blood-sucker. The plot, stolen from Richard L. Breen and Warren Duff's Appointment with Danger (1951) – and used again by Lippert in Portland Expose (1957) – generates plenty of excitement, thanks to the pacey, always-on-the-mettle direction of Seymour Friedman, one of the more inventive and astute of "B" men. Of course with this movie, he did enjoy four big advantages in the solid cast line-up; the ability to use atmospheric natural locations such as the Goodyear Tire Factory; and the inventively noirish cinematography contributed by Joseph Biroc, a master of the art of black-and-white suspensers such as Johnny Allegro, Cry Danger, Glass Wall and World for Ransom; and last but not least, a $250,000 budget!

MartinHafer It sure was odd seeing a 57 year-old George Raft playing essentially the same role he'd been playing almost twenty years earlier--especially since the stuntman they used for him looked much younger and a lot more fit! Also, having a 27 year age difference between him and his girlfriend also strained the limits of credibility. However, if you can ignore the oddness of the casting, then it's a very good example of Film Noir that is sure to please lovers of this genre.Raft plays a man who has just gotten out of prison for assault. He genuinely wants to go straight, but unfortunately the job prospect he has wants him to do some undercover work to determine who's in charge of a local loan shark business. He turns the job down, but when his brother-in-law is soon killed by these thugs, he changes his mind and works his way up through the racket to find "Mr. Big".An exciting script, very good acting and pacing make this a fine fine example of Film Noir. If you liked this film, try to see Alan Ladd in APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER. The plot is very similar, though the Ladd film is a good bit grittier and tougher.By the way, although this is a good film, Raft's prospects in Hollywood were pretty bleak at this point in his career. Raft made a habit of turning down amazing roles and by the 1950s he was starring in mostly B-pictures. According to IMDb, he'd "turned down High Sierra (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942) and Double Indemnity (1944)"--yikes!

gordonl56 Despite not being a George Raft fan I found this B-noir to be quite entertaining. Raft is a convict just out of prison. He moves in with his sister and brother-in-law. The brother-in-law gets murdered after threatening to go to the police about a loan shark racket. The gang has been emptying the pockets of the workers where the brother-in-law was working. Raft decides on a little payback. He worms his way into the gang in-order to get the goods on the mob. Several well staged bouts of fist-i-cuffs and a blazing gun battle ensue before all is settled. Good support is given by noir regulars Paul Stewart and John Hoyt. Photographed by noir vet Joseph Biroc who lensed the noirs THE GLASS WALL, WORLD FOR RANSOM, CRY DANGER and FORTY GUNS. Also of note are several of his later films, HUSH, HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE, and FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX. A rather entertaining time-waster.

jim riecken (youroldpaljim) George Raft is Joe Gargan, an ex con who is hired by a tire factory owner and a union leader to help smash a loan sharking mob that has been preying on factory workers. Joe works his way into the loan sharkers operation in order to get the goods on the guy who killed his brother in law and find out who the mobs top boss is. Since Joe can't tell anyone what he is up to, this puts a strain on his personal life; his sister no longer wants anything to do with him and he gets dumped by his girlfriend. Of course Joe clears everything up at the end.Although LOAN SHARK has a somewhat weak script, the film is a fast paced, well acted, and efficient gangster thriller. Dorthy Hart, who played Jane to Lex Barkers Tarzan the same year as this film, looks lovely. Overall, LOAN SHARK is recommend for fans of George Raft and post war gangster movies.