This movie is proof that even great artists can create rubbish. Unless you are a Kubrick completist, which - judging from all the rave reviews here - a lot of people obviously are, this is an abysmal movie, and watching it was an exercise in masochism.
There is some impressive gritty black-and-white cinematography, with a few truly striking shots, especially in the latter half.
The boxing scene at the beginning was well done, and there's a very entertaining fight scene in a mannequin storage room at the end. In that scene, Frank Silvera's wild performance with the axe is worth the price of admission. I'm surprised neither he nor Jamie Smith were seriously injured during this scene.
Apart from these few "high points," though, this is a horrible movie. Terrible story, insipid dialogue, laughable voiceover narration, cardboard characters and appallingly bad acting, even when allowing for the time period.
If you are looking for a good movie, if you are looking for entertaining film noir, look elsewhere. I love film noir, but this effort was one of the worst movies I can remember watching (film noir or otherwise). It is slow and unbearably cliched. The 65-minute duration felt like an eternity.
There is some impressive gritty black-and-white cinematography, with a few truly striking shots, especially in the latter half.
The boxing scene at the beginning was well done, and there's a very entertaining fight scene in a mannequin storage room at the end. In that scene, Frank Silvera's wild performance with the axe is worth the price of admission. I'm surprised neither he nor Jamie Smith were seriously injured during this scene.
Apart from these few "high points," though, this is a horrible movie. Terrible story, insipid dialogue, laughable voiceover narration, cardboard characters and appallingly bad acting, even when allowing for the time period.
If you are looking for a good movie, if you are looking for entertaining film noir, look elsewhere. I love film noir, but this effort was one of the worst movies I can remember watching (film noir or otherwise). It is slow and unbearably cliched. The 65-minute duration felt like an eternity.