It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Veteran Gordon MacRae is recuperating from wartime injuries in a hospital. His buddy Edmond O'Brien has been visiting him regularly but suddenly the visits stop. On Christmas Eve, Viveca Lindfors shows up to tell MacRae that his friend is hurt. When he's released from the hospital a short time later MacRae tries to figure out what happened to O'Brien, with help from pretty nurse Virginia Mayo.Solid film noir with a good cast and several twists & turns. Great role for MacRae, best known for musicals. His wife Sheila also appears in this. Edmond O'Brien, Viveca Lindfors, and Dane Clark are all good. Virginia Mayo is lovely but it's odd seeing her in black & white. She will always be a Technicolor goddess to me. She's enjoyable in this and has believable chemistry with Gordon MacRae. Ed Begley is terrific as the police captain who's also looking for O'Brien. He gets some great lines such as when he stops another cop from shooting at a fleeing suspect because "you might hit a taxpayer." It's something of a hidden gem among film noir movies. For some reason, it sat on the shelf for about a year and a half before it was released.

Extremely convoluted with far too many characters, flashbacks and plot twists, this post war film noir is a backfire in the misfire of gunfire. Gordon MacRae, an injured soldier going through rehab, discovers that his pal Edmund O'Brien is the top suspect in the murder of a gambling associate. With help of kindly nurse Virginia Mayo, he goes out of his way to prove O'Brien's innocence and find him before it is too late. Along the way, he comes across characters like undertaker Dane Clark, elderly slum hotel maid Ida Moore, shady doctor Mack Williams and the victim's widow (Frances Robinson). More murders add up to a climax that when all else fails proves to be pretty obvious. While there are some suspenseful moments, the real problem is the narrative. No matter now smart the dialog, it is the format of the screenplay which makes it the head scratcher and ultimate disappointment it becomes.The non-singing MacRae, billed fifth in the opening credits, is really the lead, with the Ingrid Bergman like Viveca Lindfors relegated to supporting role, even though her name is top billed. After a few film noir bad girls, Mayo gets to play a heroine. O'Brien is wasted in a part that consists mainly of flashbacks. Ed Begley is amusing as the police investigator, with Sheila MacRae properly brassy as Lindfor's roommate and the always adorable Moore playing a darker character as the slovenly maid in the cheap hotel O'Brien was staying at when the murder was committed. Veteran actor Charles Lane surprises here in a small role as MacRae's cheery doctor at the beginning of the film, a far cry from the delightful cranks he played in over 100 other movies.

I was quite impressed with the thoughtful, knowledgeable and humorous comments written by so many classic film experts and their keen insights of such a detailed and complicated plot Since this wonderful noir has been dissected so thoroughly I only have one item to analyze and one other comment to make.In the beginning of this film Edmund O'Brien jumped out of a window and ran away. The police shot one bullet at him before Ed Begley told the other officer not to take any more shots and risk hitting a taxpayer.O'Brien was ONLY a person of interest at best and a suspect at worst, but there was NO evidence of any type that he had anything to do with a murder. Why did the police take a shot at him? P.S. Virginia Mayo did get to star in many musicals, adventure and comedy films during her career, especially from the late 1940s on but probably her 2 best known films were ones in which she played bad girls, "The Best Years of Our Lives" and "White Heat."

No need to recap the plot. Those first few scenes in the hospital are charming, when not also spooky. The chemistry between Mayo and McRae is so infectious, I expected them to burst into song at any moment. But then there's that spectral visitation at the foot of McRae's bed. It's expertly staged, surpassing in impact anything else in the film.However, both the screenplay and the direction go downhill following this promising start. It's a complicated narrative whose alternating threads between flashback and real time are clumsily woven. At the same time, focal shifts between McRae and O'Brien further dislocate the viewer, (and why is Dane Clark given top billing with such limited screen time ).At the same time, director Sherman doesn't appear to have a feel for the material, filming in flat impersonal style despite noirish touches from cinematographer Guthrie. Good thing that fine actor Eddie O'Brien is on hand to carry the acting department. McRae is handsome and likable, but without the needed gravitas of crime drama, while the ravishing Lindfors's best scene is as the apparition.I like reviewer Brocksilvey's comments on the male-bonding aspects that I overlooked. In my experience, it's a very real part of military life and need have nothing to do with same sex attraction. Rather it has to do, I think, with the sharing of grueling experiences and the bonds thereby established, ones which can go deeper than more conventional types. Happily, the movie suggests the very sort of bonding Brocksilvey expresses.Anyway, in my view, the movie's a passable crime drama, but nothing more.