ABANDONED

Gale Storm and Dennis O'Keefe

ABANDONED (1949). Director: Joseph M. Newman. Colorized. 

Newspaper man Mark Sitko (Dennis O'Keefe) teams up with Paula Considine (Gale Storm) when the latter discovers that her sister is dead and her baby has disappeared. Meanwhile Paula is constantly followed by a corrupt private eye named Kerric (Raymond Burr). Kerric reports to a woman named Donner (Marjorie Rambeau) who is sort of in business with the nasty Decola (Will Kuluva) as babies are sold through illegal means. Now that Mark and Paula are learning more about this operation -- and have come to the conclusion that the sister was murdered -- their lives are definitely in danger, especially when they go undercover to get evidence to bring to Police Chief McRae (Jeff Chandler). 

Marjorie Rambeau and Raymond Burr

Abandoned certainly has an interesting cast. Playing a more or less serious part, Storm gives a good accounting of herself while O'Keefe displays his customary charm. As bad guys, Burr, Kuluva [Solo] and Rambeau adroitly emit varying levels of evil. Chandler is also adept, although he has little to do in the picture. Others in the cast include Jeannette Nolan as Major Ross of the Salvation Army, Mike Mazurki as a thug, Frank Cady as the city editor, David Clarke as itchy gunsel Harry, and Sid Tomack [The Kettles in the Ozarks] as a cop-bureaucrat. Clifton Young makes an impression in a brief bit as bartender Eddie. 

Storm and O'Keefe with Jeff Chandler in the background

Despite this cast, Abandoned didn't work for me at all. Maybe it needed more dynamic stars, a better script, or something, because the film seems to get duller just when it should be at its most exciting. There are certainly plenty of lively scenes -- for instance Burr and Mazurki getting into a deadly tussle -- but the movie just never becomes remotely riveting. Five years later Joseph M. Newman directed the much more entertaining science fiction film This Island Earth. The picture is generally well-colorized despite some glitches, such as O'Keefe's red nose on the left! 

Verdict: Just never gets out of the starting gate. **.