Powerful

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

All the mistaken comments about "Dead Reckoning" being "film noir" prompts my review. Though there are certainly elements of film noir here (e.g, femme fatale, rainy scenes, night scenes, double crosses, post WW 2 production) there are also some significant omissions. For example, the big city element is missing. It's not an essential element (as is the femme fatale), but it is one of the main elements to look for. Also missing is the motley crew of bad guys. Here we have a duo, both of whom qualify, but the best film noir have a bunch of evil doers rather than a mere duo.We're also missing the cop/detective/insurance investigator, but Bogart's military man on a mission might qualify.But the two essential features that are missing are (a) the unfortunate ending for the protagonist, and (b) the protagonists' contribution to his own ill fate. Without these elements there is no true film noir. The film may be bleak or melodramatic, and it may even be nourish (as noted above), but it fails to be the classic film noir.In addition, Bogart's personality in this film veers away from the classic film noir protagonist. He's an award winning serviceman, with a pretty upbeat attitude, and a successful businessman. Of course he's also Bogart, so he brings with him so many of the film noir characteristics that we can be forgiven to see that in this film he is different.

There's a scene near the beginning of "The Maltese Falcon" in which Bogart as Sam Spade is staring down a hill at his partner's newly murdered body. A cop says to him, "Too bad, him getting' it like that. I guess Miles had his faults just like the rest of us but it's a shame, ain't it?" And Bogart, and director John Huston, do something extraordinary with the character of Sam Spade. Bogart puffs on his cigarette, pauses, says, "I guess so," in an almost indifferent tone of voice and then turns and walks away.I only describe that scene in order to provide a frame my judgment that there is no such originality in this story of an ex GI trying to find out why his decorate buddy was murdered after they return from the war.Most of the story is framed by Bogart's explaining his situation to a priest. It provides us with a narration by Bogart that is ripped fresh from the still-quivering flank of Raymond Chandler, only without Chandler's color or aberrancies. The lingo is plain pulp. "That's when your goons hit me with that sledgehammer cocktail," and the like.The plot is twisted, as such routine murder mysteries tend to be, and not worth detailing. Basically the writers have lifted everything possible from "The Maltese Falcon" without letting the audience in on the masquerade. Some of the dialog is almost identical. "When a guy's pal is killed you're supposed to do something about it." "Yes, Mike, you're going to fry for it." The performances are professional enough. I've always kind of liked William Prince as the knocked-off buddy, ever since he saved that kid's life by performing an appendectomy in Tokyo Bay. The story here indicates that Prince graduated from Yale. Actually he went to Cornell. Then there is the inimitable Bess Flowers as a party guest. I like extras who play party guests because I did it myself in the unforgettable cult classic -- "Windmills of the Gods." Or was it "Rage of Angels"? I forget.I don't think the movie is worth much more attention. Just another programmer.

The first thing you may notice about this film is that the film print has not been well preserved...it is far from crisp. And, the production values do not appear to be high to begin with...such as when you see those tall mountain in Florida!!! But, this was a Columbia film, not Bogie's usual higher-budget Warner Brothers pic.The second thing you may notice about this film is something that with me always gains a film a few points -- it's something somewhat different than the usual plot. Oh, definitely film noir, but a different type of story.And, the basic story is this: Bogart and William Prince are returning to the States and about to be decorated for their war service. When Prince discovers that, he immediately disappears at a train station. Bogart, the loyal friend, decides to track him down and find out why. He ends up in the imaginary Gulf City, Florida (there is a Gulf City, but in reality it has a population of under 100 people). Prince has been there, but has disappeared again...only to be found burned to death in a car. As Bogart tracks things down further, he becomes entangled in a murder mystery from the past in which his friend was directly involved...as is a racketeer and the sultry Lizabeth Scott. Who is the guiltiest? The racketeer or Scott? Bogie finds out the hard way, and there are some neat twists along the way.Humphrey Bogart is fine here...the good guy, but not so good that he can't take care of himself...although he gets beat up along the way pretty well. It's a perfect role for Bogart. I've always enjoyed Lizabeth Scott, though I like her most in the Martin & Lewis film "Scared Stiff". This was only her third film, but the second to put her into a sort of film-noir persona. She's good here, but not yet at her best. It's noted by many that her role here is reminiscent of Lauren Bacall, which it is, although I think this was the persona Scott had in most of her films, not an obvious attempt to imitate Bacall because it was a Bogart picture. Morris Carnovsky is good as the racketeer; he did not often have such important roles in films. We don't really see much of William Prince as Sgt. Johnny Drake/John Joseph Preston, but after all, he is killed off pretty quickly in the film. You will enjoy seeing Marvin Miller as the second tough guy; Miller was most famous for his role in the television series "The Millionaire". Wallace Ford is around for a small part as a safe-cracker.This is a good film and I enjoyed it...although not enough for it to end up on my DVD shelf.

I remember John Cromwell's "Dead Reckoning" (1947) for two reasons. The first is that it was my first ever "Film Noir", a genre I now know and love (one of my favourite films of all time is "The Maltese Falcon"). The other is that it was my first film with Humphrey Bogart, an actor who I very much like, having seen him in such classics as "Casablanca". The film has your usual Film Noir traits: femme fatale, seedy night clubs, mobsters, flashback narrative, and paranoia. Also there is some nice black and white camera-work. Bogart is great, Lizabeth Scott is alright if I remember correctly (I haven't seen the film for a while), and most of the supporting cast do everything just right. The plot isn't very original, but it dose it job. A film that most people will like, and its a good introduction to the Film Noir genre.