Maybe the rating is too high but I was absolutely in the mood for this - some black and white third world backlot stuff from RKO. It's set in Panama but is really never never land.
RKO Bs were great - maybe because the A unit was so wonky there was a very good chance of promotion. Ted Tetzlaff really tried with a memorable opening silent sequence. It's one of Martin Rackin's better scripts too seeming to fleece from all sorts of Bogart movies - Pat O'Brien and Percy Kilbridge seem to be like Bogie and Brennan in To Have and Have Not while O'Brien and Anne Jeffreys ape Bogie and Bacall.
Oh, it's silly, but it's fun. I don't know what Kilbridge is doing driving a cab in Panama but he adds to the joy; Jeffreys is gorgeous, far too hot for O'Brien who is fat and old but that's part of the movie's charm - that he was a big a star as they could get, and he's lying on the couch when we meet him with his gut hanging out...
The story is fine, the supporting cast had a lot of zest - people like Walter Slezak. Some decent action. With this and The Window I'm really surprised Tetzlaff didn't do more as a director - maybe he started too late.
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