fpowell-55-608328 Thought that was Lucille. Thoroughly enjoyable movie. Kept my interest. Acting was superb. Plot line was interesting. Movies today depend on shock value or computer graphics but this was very well done. I had always seen Lucille Ball as a comedienne in conjunction with Desi Arnaz but she did great in this dramatic role. Too bad it was only in black and white but that was hardly a distraction. I've not found many movies, old or new, that were this captivating. I've always held Lucille in high regard but this just added to my appreciation of her skills as an actress. I highly recommend this story to movie lovers. Clean language, good family entertainment.

richwgriffin-227-176635 Why didn't Mark Stevens become a bigger star? He is charismatic, a good actor, sturdy, and interesting. He had a few good roles and then faded away. Even the billing went against him: why is he fourth billed, when he is the lead in the movie? Lucy is terrific in her best dramatic role of her career. Romantic, solid, moral, believable - she's wonderful.Love the contrast between the two New Yorks: the seamy side of lower-class lives and the beautiful wealthy New York that Webb and Kreuger inhabit.Joe MacDonald is the real star of the movie: his camera-work, combined with superb editing, makes this movie visually appealing and exciting throughout.Sorry to read that Lucy had a bad experience with Henry Hathaway, the director of the movie ): His bullying didn't hamper her excellent performance.I particularly love the 1945-1953 black and white movies at Twentieth Century-Fox - they moved out of the studio but unlike later the films were still in gorgeous black and white. It was a big mistake starting in 1967 to make almost all movies in realistic color ): This movie is definitely worth seeking out.

Jay Raskin This movie is rather clunky in dialog, character and plot. Individual scenes are nice, but nothing really grabs the viewer. The dialog seems more like bad imitation of film noir. The characters lack depth and always seem to be straight off the page of a novel. The plot has many surprises, but some of them are simply stupid. For example, the hero detective overhears that the man trying to frame him left two suitcases in the back of a cab. Instead of figuring out a clever way to get to see the contents of the suitcases, he just steals the cab. Considering that he is wanted for murder by the police when he does this, one finds the action quite incredible.All the actors are fine, with Mary Downs, William Bendix (as usual) and Clifton Webb being stand outs. According to the DVD discussion, Lucille Ball hated making the film and had a nervous breakdown, but this is not evident from what is on screen.The cinematography and fight scenes are quite nicely done. There's a good selection of Big Band music from the period.I think if you're expecting a rather ordinary film noir, you'll enjoy it, but if you expect something on the level of "Double Indemnity," "Out of the Past" or "Murder, My Sweet," you'll be disappointed.

RanchoTuVu New York private investigator Mark Stevens gets interested enough in his secretary (Lucille Ball) to take her out after work to a New York arcade where she mentions that they're being followed by a guy in a white suit (William Bendix). A true pro would never try to tail anyone while standing out in a crowd by wearing a white suit, and it turns out that this is part of a masterful plot orchestrated by wealthy art gallery owner and collector Clifton Webb to take advantage of Stevens spotted past. Of course Webb, who played a few dangerous characters (i.e. the one he played in LAURA) has a young wife (Cathy Downs) who is only in it with him for the money and gives her affection to blackmailer and social climber Kurt Kreuger who knew Stevens when they worked together in San Francisco. How Webb could have known about Stevens and Kreuger is up to speculation on the part of the viewer, but certainly if anyone could come up with such a way of getting rid of someone, Webb's character could. William Bendix stands out in his role as the hired muscle, living in a ground floor flat with a couple of cool scenes of him phoning Webb from a phone in the hallway while a little girl neighbor bothers his concentration while blowing on a kazoo. In fact the acting by everyone is restrained enough by director Henry Hathaway and the script doesn't let anyone down.