Alan Curtis and Ann Rutherford |
Eddie Norton (Alan Curtis) works as a kind of mechanical man in a department store window, and hides the fact that he is an ex-con because of a youthful indiscretion. His old "friend" Bart Madden (Preston Foster) threatens to tell his employers about his past if he doesn't help him rob the department store. You'd think Eddie would want no part of this scheme no matter what -- especially since Eddie took the fall for Bart -- but the dope not only eventually decides to go along with it but enlists his wife, Claire (Ann Rutherford), in his plans, which include ultimately cutting Madden out of the profit. But loose lips and a cute little boy with a cop father may prevent Eddie from realizing his larcenous ambitions.
Alan Curtis hatches plan |
Verdict: Minor film noir with sentimental interludes. **.
Interesting that Ann Rutherford moved to a B level performer after a strong ingenue career at MGM as Andy Hardy's best girl and as Scarlett's youngest sister in GWTW. Her other screen sister Evelyn Keyes had more movie success than Ann (Evelyn developed a great femme fatale persona later on), who I don't remember seeing much in anything past the early 1940s. I'll check this one out--looks like a solid noir tale.
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Well, it's not very good but it might be interesting to see Ann and handsome Curtis. Keyes did do better post-GWTW. Maybe Rutherford was trying to emulate her but it didn't quite work. She later did a few episodes of "Murder She Wrote."
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