CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

RanchoTuVu Mickey Rooney plays an auto mechanic who meets a new cashier at the diner he eats his lunch at. She's a blond, while the girl who's in love with him is a brunette, so, given the state of aesthetics back then, there is no question but to go for the blond, which sets off a fairly overly concocted, but interestingly done, chain of events. Jeanne Cagney, as the blonde, comes with a dark background that's hinted at in the film, and a part of it we see with her connection to Peter Lorre who runs a shady looking arcade. As a later Lorre entry, his part is not at all bad, especially when he rather expertly wields a switchblade in one scene. Cagney has the right look for her part as the woman who first reels Rooney in and then encourages his criminal behavior. The title of this movie is apt though kind of melodramatic, as Rooney sinks deeper into crime in order to try to climb out of it.

Michael_Elliott Quicksand (1950) ** 1/2 (out of 4)A squeaky clean mechanic (Mickey Rooney) asks a hot blonde (Jeanne Cagney) out on a date and she accepts but he has a problem and that problem is that he's broke. He winds up snatching twenty-bucks from his bosses cash register but this here just leads to one problem after another and he soon finds himself running from the police. This crime-noir film really isn't anything overly special but I think fans of Rooney are going to find it interesting as he both ruins and helps the film. He somewhat ruins it because he's just not believable in the early scenes where he's picking up the hot girl, acting like a poor boy and there's even a couple scenes where he's smoking and obviously not knowing what he's doing. The low-budget nature of the film probably kept an outtake in where he tries to light a cigarette but messes up and has to strike a match to light it again. The early noir moments of our typical male hero just really wasn't made for someone like Rooney. However, it somewhat works in the film's favor because the screenplay here is pretty stupid as what we've basically got is an idiot guy who does something stupid, tries to correct it by doing something dumber and soon this dumb guy is running for his life. The entire premise is pretty far-fetched and at times very silly but this is where Rooney starts to work. Since you don't expect someone like Rooney to be a criminal these dumb mistakes his character makes seems somewhat natural because of who is doing them. Rooney makes it somewhat plausible that his character, being new to crime, would commit such stupid mistakes over and over and on this level the performance and movie works. I thought it was rather fun seeing Rooney doing some of this stuff including strangling a man and getting into several fights with the girl's ex-boss who is played by Peter Lorre. Seeing good boy Rooney going up against sleaze ball Lorre made for some fun scenes. Both actors are just fine in their roles as is Cagney as the femme fatale. You can't help but enjoy her performance because she perfectly captures that poor brat who will take advantage of any sap just to get what she wants. Barbara Bates plays a woman in love with Rooney and we even get Richard Lane playing the main cop. I think noir fans will probably find a lot of the movie silly due to Rooney so that's why I think it's going to appeal to his fans more than anyone else. The movie has a lot of silly moments and I think it's fair to say that too much happens to this guy in such a short amount of time but it still features enough to make it worth viewing. It's certainly not a classic but as a fan of Rooney I enjoyed it.

rpvanderlinden In "Quicksand" grease monkey Mickey Rooney picks up tramp Jeanne Cagney who's wearing this sexy black cocktail dress for her shift at the diner. Nice Girl Barbara Bates is pining for the grease monkey, named Dan, who's giving her the runaround. Dan steals 20 bucks from his employer to give the tramp a good time. One thing leads to another, and after a series of contrived events Dan is up to his eyeballs in trouble and running from a murder rap. Fast forward to the film's climax and Nice Girl, who's probably never seen the inside of a police station and is obviously willing to be a doormat for this doofus, seems all too eager to get her hot little fingers on Dan's hot little gun and go on the lam with him. I won't reveal the outcome, but it's a groaner. Dan is a cad, plain and simple, and in my opinion, is the author of his own misfortune. He doesn't seem to have any moral underpinnings or guts, and is quite prepared to roll a drunk for his wallet if it serves his selfish needs. But the film doesn't see it that way and wants us to root for him as an everyman who's caught up in events beyond his control. That's because the film is intended as a cautionary tale ("crime doesn't pay") which manufactures events and plot points which have nothing to do with character or logic. Well, I didn't buy it. If the film-makers are asking me to root for the hero they'd better make the hero worth rooting for - make him fret about his actions and choices. I'm not sure that it's Rooney's fault. He manages to take all that high energy, fast-talking charm and guile he displayed in his comedies to a darker place. The location settings are run-down and picturesque, and had there been a convincing story and some weight to the characters this might have been a decent little noir.

mbanak OK. It's starting to make sense. The lead characters in these Noirs are losers, almost completely lacking in common sense. Whether it be Hary Lime (3rd Man), Al (Tom Neal) in "Detour" or this clown in "Quicksand". They make the dumbest moves imaginable.At nearly every turn, a simple willingness to do the right thing (at a relatively modest cost), or else the brains to just lay low, would save these guys a lot of trouble. So, just sit back and watch them devolve right before your very eyes.Quicksand was very enjoyable, though I did find myself starting to anticipate the next trap laid by the victim to his own detriment. Maybe that's idea in these kinds of films.Mickey Rooney was dandy. In spite of his blunders, he was still lovable and garnered my sympathy. This is one of those films where you don't really figure out the ending until it is over. Like, "Whoa! How did *that* all happen?"