Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Alex da Silva What a load of awful characters. Charles McGraw is good as always with a brief appearance as a thug as is Sheldon Leonard (Cornell) as a gangster boss. Outside of these two, the only others of any note are Fifi D'Orsay as an elderly suitor for the idiotic character that is Harry Morgan's soda jerk. She gets one brief scene which provides the funniest moments of the film as she throws him out of her apartment. The other cast member of note is an uncredited Shelley Winters who plays a cashier for about 30 seconds of screen time. Given that most of the film contains the other lot in this film, that's not a good sign.The film follows unpleasant Barry Sullivan (Shubunka) as he loses hold of his small-time crime empire. It's impossible to identify with him just as it is impossible to identify with anyone else. The film is boring and confusing at the beginning as the dialogue isn't delivered in a particularly clear manner. I'm not going to namecheck the duds in this film as it would take too long. Didn't care for any of the characters and the story wasn't too gripping. A waste of time for all involved. I guessed the girlfriend Belita (Nancy) plot line pretty early on so no mystery there either. She also sings a boring song.

edwagreen Barry Sullivan gave a performance lacking total emotion in the film. He shows absolutely no expression as the head of the rackets along with shop owner, Akim Tamiroff. The latter does a fine job of acting as a man caught up in the rackets even though he constantly talks of his wife and home life.John Ireland is quite good as the CPA caught up in gambling addiction which leads him to an unspeakable act and the ultimate downfall of Sullivan as Sheldon Leonard and his crew try to take over the operation.Belita is charming as the woman Sullivan loved, but yet he is insanely jealous and suspicious of her, which leads to her ultimate betrayal of him.Two years after her Oscar nominated turn as the vicious young lady in "The Corn is Green," Joan Lorring is rather subdued her until her outburst directed at Sullivan towards the end of the film.For a supposed gangster, Sullivan shows a sheepish side,especially when he is cornered.For a film with this name, you would think there would be much more violent action.

dougdoepke Smalltime gangster feels heat of competition, while romancing showgirl.The most interesting thing about this crime drama are the visuals. Director Wiles goes all out with the stylized sets—the beachfront, the elevated train, the complex interiors, et al. I guess that's not surprising given his background as an art director. Apparently the King Brothers let him do pretty much what he wanted even on the small budget. The result is arty, but interesting. Then too, maybe you can take those stylized sets as mirroring Shubunka's inner state since he seems not too far from the nuthouse to begin with.Sullivan certainly looks the gangster part. With his high cheekbones and gimlet eyes, he's scary even without the big scar. Plus, he's about as cold and animated as a block of ice. Sullivan's a fine actor so that is no accident, but the characterization seems too extreme to involve us in his fate. On the other hand, Loring's semi-pretty working girl comes across well, as does Belita's glamour girl with her odd facial resemblance to noir icon Gloria Grahame. Like another reviewer, I'm a bit stumped by the seemingly unnecessary subplot with Morgan and D'Orsay. At first I thought the producers probably owed D'Orsay something so she got a tacked-on part. But then I noticed a parallel between Morgan's narcissistic Lothario and Sullivan's narcissistic gangster. Each appears imprisoned by his own limitations. Notice too that Morgan appears trapped by a jail-like fence following D'Orsay' rejection, a possible foreshadowing of Sullivan's downfall. Anyway, it's a thought. But what I really like about the script is how Sullivan's indifference toward Ireland's desperate gambler brings about his own end— a nicely ironic touch. Also, note how the entrepreneurial criminal operations are tied in with corruption at higher levels of politics and big money. That seems unsurprising since both screenwriter Fuchs and the uncredited Trumbo were later blacklisted. In fact, noir appears the favorite genre of many leftist screenwriters, perhaps because of the potential for unhappy endings in a capitalist society.Nonetheless, the movie as a whole comes across more as an object of contemplation than of audience immersion, but certainly continues to have its points of interest.

_Dan As a film noir entousiasme, I don't rate this film on the top ten of the genre. But it has some moments. Some great shots by Cinematographer Paul Ivano that would deserve being laminated and hanged on a wall. I'll let you notice them. Also check out a young 24 years old Shelley Winter with a 10 seconds scene as a waitress. In brief a movie carried by cinematography more than acting, by atmosphere more than by a script.