The Last Crooked Mile

During a police chase, three bank robbers perish when their getaway car plunges over a cliff. The 300-large they grabbed, however, can't be found. The bank's underwriters hire cocky private eye Donald Barry to find it, promising a 10-percent reward if he's successful. The trail leads him to an oceanside amusement park, where the `death car' has been purchased as an exhibit in the side show; a couple of thugs show interest in it, too, as well they might, since the missing cash has been soldered into the running board.

His quest also leads Barry to a nearby nightclub where shantoozie Ann Savage warbles in sequins. (It's a good career choice for Savage, whose bold features suggest two other famed singers of the time: LaVerne Andrews, of the sister act, and Astrid Varnay, the Wagnerian soprano). He enlists her help, despite the fact that corpses drop into seats on the roller-coaster (which, oddly, turns into a tunnel of love) and big black sedans keep trying to run them down. The body count continues to rise....

The movie comes from the El Cheapo unit at Republic Pictures, and was directed by Philip Ford. Like Ford's The Mysterious Mr. Valentine (and most other crime programmers of the 1940s), it tries to cram an overcomplicated plot into not much more than an hour, patching up the holes with explanatory dialogue whizzing by. But, also like Mr. Valentine, it has an evocative look – especially of the amusement park at night – and it has Ann Savage. All in all, that's not a bad deal.