End of the Road

This is a great little film, even if it does kind of fall apart at the end. Director George Blair moves his camera constantly on this low-budget film noir, creating wonderful feelings of tension and atmosphere. He really tries to make every shot and every scene interesting. The plot is unusual and rather fun: crime writer Edward Norris is certain that the man behind bars for the "Flower Shop Murder" didn't do it. He quickly figures out that it was Florist John Abbott and uses the murder victim's dog to make Abbott flee the city. Norris follows Abbott and befriends him, dropping hints all the while to see if Abbott will admit his guilt. Finally, Norris seems to get involved in his own case of murder -- and then Abbott does admit he did it so the two supposed murderers will stay in cahoots together. But of course it was all a set-up to get the confession. It concludes with an exciting fire escape/building ledge chase. Abbott is a superb character actor and actually makes you feel sorry for him and scared of him at the same time. The obligatory romance between Edward Norris and June Storey doesn't really work. But still: this is a fine, undiscovered gem and deserves to be seen!

Kirby (Edward Norris) sets out to prove that Gribbon (Ted Hecht) is an innocent man. Gribbon has been charged with the "Flower Shop" murder of a colleague. We know that Chris (John Abbott) is guilty and the film follows Kirby's attempts to get a confession from him. An elaborate set-up is needed.

Unfortunately, the quality of this film is poor and sometimes the audio is difficult to hear and the picture is too dark to see. The story develops quickly and is entertaining while it lasts although there was a section with a howling dog that went on a bit too long. With regards to the cast, John Abbott makes a good baddie while the newspaper editor is annoying whenever he is on screen. He's meant to be funny. He also makes a comment to the effect that Gribbon doesn't look like a criminal. Oh yes he does - look again. From his conviction at the beginning of the film, he looks like a psycho.

The film is short and passes the time and has an interesting chase on the ledges of an apartment block. It could have been quite an exciting film if it had been fleshed out a little more to give the story more tension and suspense.