Where the movie really succeeds is as a character study. Bridges' ex-army man Frank Keeler comes across as unusually unsympathetic. We see him first as a penny-ante black- marketeer. Then, after serving a term in the brig, he cadges money from his buddies, but runs out on the debt. And if that's not bad enough, we discover he ran out on his Italian girlfriend and now, back in Italy, wants to use her again. Yeah, he's something of a rat, and only returns to Italy to dig up his buried army loot. Bridges is excellent, with an appropriate swagger and cocky self-assurance. And we don't so much root for him as wait to see what happens next.
Filmed on location in Italy, the authentic background helps overcome a rather muddled plot, especially the murky intrigue with American gangster Conway. What's really apparent, however, is the influence of Orson Welles' The Third Man (1950) from the previous year. Here, director-producer Wilder emulates much of Welles' complex visual style in a story that also resembles Welles' tale of post-war European intrigue, even down to the guitar accompaniment in place of the highly popular zither of The Third Man. Nothing necessarily wrong with this, except Welles is a really tough act to follow.
Anyway, It's an appropriate ending that achieves some poignancy without betraying Frank's selfish character; thanks also to Aldo Fabrizi's sly performance as the wily caretaker. All in all, it's an obscure movie, likely because of the absence of big name stars. Nonetheless, Bridges shows here how much talent there is outside those big name stars.
