An insurance lawyer unhappy with his rate of company advancement becomes a middleman in deals to recover stolen property from the Mob, thus earning a nice living. But his actions attract pol... Read allAn insurance lawyer unhappy with his rate of company advancement becomes a middleman in deals to recover stolen property from the Mob, thus earning a nice living. But his actions attract police attention and set him up for a double-cross.An insurance lawyer unhappy with his rate of company advancement becomes a middleman in deals to recover stolen property from the Mob, thus earning a nice living. But his actions attract police attention and set him up for a double-cross.
- Harry Dycker
- (as Dan Dayton)
- Floyd
- (as William Regnolds)
- Beebe
- (as Howland Chamberlin)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film flopped at the box office, resulting in a loss to MGM of $377,000 (about $4.6M in 2024) according to studio records. It did not even make back its negative cost, let alone expenses for duplication, distribution, and advertising.
- GoofsA policeman alerts patrol cars in the vicinity of "18th Street". In Manhattan all numbered streets are divided into East and West, so anyone giving an address would say "East 18th Street" or "West 18th Street," never the number alone.
The reporting policeman's notification came from a police call box. The location of that box as well as the cop's "beat" would have allowed headquarters to know the general location. However, the broadcast policeman's failure to provide that general location would have led to all squad cars along the ~2 mile stretch of (East and West) 18th Street to be on alert.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Steve Keiver: [voice-over narration as he hides in the night-time shadows from passing police cars] My name is Steve Keiver. That's what all the sirens are about, they were screaming for me. I was very popular that night--everybody wanted me, dead or alive. Big Franko wanted me dead. I don't think it mattered to the police how they got me, just so they got me. You'd think there'd be a thousand hiding places in a large city, but there aren't. No, not when they want you.
[more police cars arrive, blocking the street]
Steve Keiver: They turn a spotlight on you and they keep narrowing the circle, closing in for the kill. They let you wear yourself out until you're too tired to run anymore. You stand there hypnotized waiting for them to get it over with. You wonder how it happened and where it all really began. It started somewhere out there beyond the searchlights and the sirens. You had ideals and you went to a top law school. Then you went to work for an insurance company. No, but it wasn't any of those things. I think it really started when I received the telegram that Ellen was coming home. Really started that morning at the airport.
[flashback to airport scene]
- ConnectionsFeatured in Noir Alley: No Questions Asked (2018)
- SoundtracksI've Got You Under My Skin
(uncredited)
Written by Cole Porter
Sung along with jukebox by Jean Hagen and heard in score
Sullivan plays Steve Keiver, an insurance lawyer unhappy with his rate of company advancement. He hits on the idea of being a middleman in deals to recover stolen property from the Mob, thus earning a nice pay off for himself whilst the insurance company are saved money by not having to pay out. But sure enough his actions attract police attention and before he knows it he is up to his neck in double-crosses, frames and dames!
Tone is set from the off as our protagonist is on the run from the police, it's a dimly lighted moist street and he begins his narration. From there we get the film flashback of how he has come to be a wanted man.
We are in noirville so obviously we have a bona fide femme fatale (Dahl smouldering) who is greedy, immoral, manipulative and thinks nothing of crushing Keiver's dreams. If he's to go to his doom then she really will not give it a second thought - and yet he loves her and would have married her in a heartbeat. He's a classic noir dope, he just can't see the bad in the woman he so covets, which is all the more annoying since the lovely firm secretary Joan Brenson (Hagen excellent) covets him and he can't see the wood for the trees where the two ladies are concerned.
We have a bunch of run of the mill villains, with one who has a kink involving how long he can hold his breath under water for, though we do get a robbery scene that comes to reveal some devilish cheek soon afterwards. The cops you kind of get miffed about since the whole scam that Keiver has set up is implausibly allowed to flourish. Yet when things go bad for Keiver later in the play, we enter a dark world, where even if the finale isn't pure film noir, we get some moody turns of events that softens any feelings of there being a damp squib at film's end. 7/10
- hitchcockthelegend
- Feb 1, 2020
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Discreción asegurada
- Filming locations
- 909 Santee Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA(site of the pickup of the stolen furs)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $742,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 20 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1