Raymond Chandler wasn't just a brilliant novelist he was a dab hand at screenplays, too, as this original for the screen producers. In Chandler style everyone talks really tough and is soused most of the time - ordering bourbons with a bourbon chaser, etc. The tone is just right for this tale of a returning war veteran who finds his wife has been playing around.Chandler once described Alan Ladd as a small boy's idea of a tough guy but he's in excellent form, either being knocked on the head or slapping people around or being tormented over his dead son; William Bendix is excellent value too as Ladd's traumatised mate as is Howard da Silva as a nasty night club boss and Veronica Lake as a femme fetale who as usual isn't a femme fetale, just a nice girl who walks like a femme fetale.
There's a bland handsome male actor who plays Ladd's friend (often in Ladd films he had a comic relief friend and a handsome male friend played by some actor or another e.g. Saigon, Calcutta) - I actually wasn't sure why he was in the movie, he's not even a red herring suspect. He is a lawyer and offers some legal advice... but I think the filmmakers just felt comfortable with the trope.
Good twists, taunt handling from George Marshall - shall we call it a film noir classic? It does get confusing in spots and the plotting is a bit clunky as you'd expect from Chandler but... why not? Love it how when the cops shoot the killer dead at the end no one really seems to care.
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