Scott Brady, who became a character actor in his later years, was a young hunk in "Undertow" from 1949, directed by William Castle and featuring John Russell, Peggy Dow, Dorothy Hart, and Bruce Bennett. Brady was Lawrence Tierney's brother and sounded just like him.
Brady plays a former mob member Tony Reagan, who, after time in the Army, falls in love with a mountain lodge and decides to buy it. In Reno, he runs into an old friend (Russell) - both the men have rings they want to present to their girlfriends. The club Russell runs is owned by Big Jim. Tony is in love with Big Jim's daughter (Dorothy Hart) and is on his way home to Chicago. Big Jim doesn't like him, but Tony is determined to win him over.
It doesn't work out as he'd hoped. Tony is framed for Big Jim's murder and winds up at the apartment of a woman (Peggy Dow) he met on the plane. She was initially attracted to him, believes his story, and wants to help him.
This film is interesting for several reasons. The first is the fantastic atmosphere of Reno and Chicago, the old cars, the stores, the pay phones - very evocative of the '40s.
The second reason is that Rock Hudson, under the name Roc Hudson, plays a detective. Blink and you'll miss him. Robert Easton is also in the film. It was his and Peggy Dow's film debuts.
The third reason is the appearance of black characters, both of whom have decent roles, and black people who appear as extras.
The fourth reason is the appearance of Bruce Bennett as a detective friend of Tony's. Bennett was an unusual man - under the name of Herman Bix, he was a star shot-putter in the Olympics. He then went to work in films (Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Mildred Pierce, etc.) and lived to be 100.
As for the film, it didn't hold together for me. I figured it out almost immediately, but that's because I've seen so many of these films. The end just fell apart.
