This RKO/Joan Harrison/Jonathan Latimer/George Raft/Edward Marin thriller starts with a bang - literally, with a composer (played by semi-Aussie Edward Ashley) being murdered. Like an earlier RKO-Marin-Raft film, Johnny Angel, however, it doesn't live up to that opening sequence. You want it to, and parts of it are very good, but it never quite matches the strength of that first scene.
Raft is the detective investigating the case. He's constantly crossing the line, doing things like snarling at rich people and pushing idiots in swimming pools. The composer was a womaniser and Raft suspects the killer was an ex or someone jealous.
Raft has a mother, a little old lady who does some wacky comedy, which feels weird. The ending is very full - the killer just confesses, half heartedly tries to leave, and the police rock up. The romance between Raft and Lynn Bari is undercooked. The plot about Raft being kicked off the force seems to be forgotten towards the end.
Bari is good as always (introduced in a swimsuit, with Raft going the perve), Virginia Huston (who looked vaguely familiar- she was Mitchum's girlfriend in Out of the Past) and Joseph Pevney (who has a great face - he later became better known as a director).
The film really should have been set all at night. There's some good tough dialogue and the photography is skilful. But its a disappointment. I think it was a hit because it came out in 1946 when people were seeing pretty much anything, and it was competently made. Then Raft got a false impression of his box office power and kept making similarly flawed films which people got sick of.
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