ROARING CITY

Hugh Beaumont and Joan Valerie

ROARING CITY (1951). Director: William Berke.

"He was with me all night." -- Gail.

"That's not an alibi, that's just bad taste." -- Denny O'Brien. 

Troubleshooter and boat renter Dennis O'Brien of Pier 23 gets involved in two cases in this last of three flicks featuring Hugh Beaumont as O'Brien. First O'Brien finds himself mixed up in a boxing match fix in which one of the fighters dies and both the other fighter, Lundy (Greg McClure), and the crooked promoter find themselves on the wrong end of a bullet. In the second and more interesting case, a blonde named Irma (Joan Valerie) hires Denny to pretend to be the husband of her step-daughter, Sylvia (Wanda McKay). Sylvia's angry boyfriend shows up, and her real husband is found dead in a box along with an unconscious O'Brien. 

Beaumont with Richard Travis

Once again as he did in Pier 23 Hugh Beaumont proves very adept at the hard-boiled style in his on-target portrayal of the unlikable, borderline immoral and not-terribly-bright Dennis O'Brien. His interplay with Inspector Bruger (Richard Travis, who is also quite good) is sharp and well-played --Beaumont and Travis make a good team --  and the script has lots of good dialogue. Edward Brophy is some fun as O'Brien's pal the "professor" and there are some decent supporting performances; Greg McClure is notable. However, neither Joan Valerie or even Wanda McKay make much of an impression as two of the shady ladies. A third, the oddly-named Rebel Randall, who plays Gail in the first story, is slightly better. 

Verdict: Fun to watch "Ward Cleaver" as an anti-hero. **1/2.