WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

HeadlinesExotic Boring

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Rich359 Fairly good low-budget noir about a train-heist. Problem is that I lost interest in the main character when it is disclosed that he is having an affair with the doctors wife. His wife was so loyal and attentive to him that we lose his motivation as to why we wanted to do the heist. Was he going to leave his wife behind at start a new life with new money? How was he going to deal with the doctor? And why did he murder the plane mechanic? He seems to be such a heel that we don't care what happens to him. Would have been a much better film if the motivation was just the money. Silly requirement to make reviews 10 line minimum! ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES RICH A DULL BOY. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES..

LeonLouisRicci Budget Restraints might Hold Back this B-Movie, Independently Produced, Directed, and Starring Mark Stevens, it Nevertheless makes its "Mark" as an Interesting Cheapie.With a Good Script and Pithy Noir Dialog..."For me patience is poison.", this Little Movie, now in the "Public Domain", has been virtually Forgotten, although it is Shown on TCM but is need of Restoration if possible. It is too Good to be Lost in the Ether.The aforementioned Budget Restrictions do Draw Attention at times with a number of Scenes Staged in Small Rooms with the Camera Stationary. However, Director Stevens does the Best He Can with Dutch Angles and Artsy Camera Placements. He even seems to Know that it doesn't Hurt to amp up the Style with some Striking Shadows on the Wall.The "Perfect Crime" Thread throughout the proceedings is a Cliché that is Hammered Home a bit too much (even with a poster shout out), it is given a Blackboard and Eraser (a fitting low budget tool) that Fills the Frame at times, to illustrate the Investigator's Chops, learned We are told , from His Father.Family, the Nuclear Family, is at the Center of Motivation here and it is most Relevant, because by this Time, 1956, the Eisenhower Eras American Dream and White Picket Fence Mentality had become a Reality for the Film-Noir Discontents. War Veterans who Found Themselves uncomfortably roped like Wild Animals plucked from the Battlefields and placed on Display in Suburbia for all to Rubberneck. The House Indeed became a Prison and the Job a Trap. The White Picket Fence was the Clanking of a Cage Door. The Nightmares Begin for those on Display in Film-Noir.

arfdawg-1 As a train speeds through the Arizona night. A man posing as a physician holds up the baggage-car crew and escapes with a $500,000 payroll. The fake doctor, Paul Bruckner, leaves the train with his "patient" and the "patient's wife", who is really Bruckner's wife Linda. The insurance company puts its best investigator, Charlie Norman, on the case to work with the railroad's investigator, Joe Armstrong. The men are friends and Joe is upset that Charlie and his wife, Ruth, will have to postpone their Mexico vacation. Charlie's concern goes beyond the spoiled vacation as he was the brains behind the holdup, who had fallen in love with Linda several months earlier while investigating a claim Bruckner had filed against his insurance company. At first, Joe is unable to find anything out about the flawlessly timetable planning for the robbery other than what Charlie wants him to find out.The characters are poorly written.The story goes no where.

dougdoepke Gang executes intricate train robbery, putting two insurance investigators on their trail, with a major twist.At about the time Kubrick was making a reputation with his heist film The Killing (1956), Mark Stevens put together this little gem. Unlike Kubrick's classic, this caper film doesn't rise to semi-artistic heights, but it is tight, tough, and well-acted, with some nice touches. For example, there're the surly baggage handler and the brusque airplane mechanic, both colorful bits that could have easily remained routine. Aben Kandel's script is carefully plotted, dribbling out pieces of information that keep us glued to developments-- plus that great opening hook with its careful staging. But what I especially like is his and Stevens' attention to jilted wife Ruth (Stewart). It would have been so easy to shove this plain-faced woman aside as Stevens cavorts with the lovely Linda (Farr). Instead they play up her heartbreak as this drably devoted wife watches the collapse of everything she holds dear. In my book, it's a sensitive dimension that helps lift this 80- minutes beyond the simply well-crafted.In addition to Stewart's fine performance is King Calder's (Armstong). His humorless, Bassett hound face is perfect for the dogged investigator who knows the importance of visualizing and goes where the evidence takes him, regardless. Look too for Jack Klugman (Frankie) in one of his earliest film roles. Judging from Stevens' list of credits (IMDB), he's one of those contract players trying his best after the break up of the old studio system and the decline of the B-movie. Whatever his later misfortunes (Gunsight Ridge {1957}; Gun Fever {1958})-- he and Kandel team up to score solidly with this overlooked little caper gem.