Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely the worst movie.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Mild-mannered race track mechanic/driver Mickey Rooney is shyly in love with pretty Dianne Foster which alerts her boyfriend and his fellow drivers to the possibility of using him as the get-away driver in a bank heist. He is desperate to remain honest but being infatuated with Foster gives him more temptation than he can handle.Lacking in any real passion, this ends up being just another one of the many heist films and one of Rooney's more unmemorable B films after his long reign at MGM. He may have continued to work regularly, but other than a few great supporting parts here and there was shoved mainly in crap to continue to get a paycheck.Supporting actors show more life here than Rooney does, his acting mainly tepid until the finale. For most of the film, its mostly talk, talk, talk and little action. The location footage is pretty good and the over a photography is excellent. But there really is little action and absolutely no spark between Rooney and Foster. Mainly for the most loyal of the Mick's cult following or lovers of crime drama. The noir aspect of it is obviously subtle which indicates that it will be questioned in the list of films in that genre.

Drive a Crooked Road is directed by Richard Quine who also co-adapts the screenplay with Blake Edwards from a story by James Benson Nablo. It stars Mickey Rooney, Dianne Foster, Kevin McCarthy and Jack Kelly. Music is by Ross DiMaggio and cinematography by Charles Lawton Jr.Car mechanic and race car driver Eddie Shannon (Rooney) is surprised when beautiful Barbara Mathews (Foster) shows interest in him. Normally the butt of jokes at work and uncomfortable around women, Eddie falls for Barbara's charms big time. Is it too good to be true? You bet it is...Frustrating! Neatly performed by the principal performers and featuring classic noir characters, yet it's a picture not being all that it can be.The pace is borderline laborious as characterisations are formed and film's central plot device unravels for the first two thirds of the piece. That the acting is so strong keeps us interested, Rooney, in a performance he was very fond of, tugs the heart strings with a beautifully understated performance as the dupe falling into a world that is alien to him. Foster as the femme fatale is sexy and sultry and utterly convincing in the way she lures Eddie into the web. That web is being spun by McCarthy's suave and sly Steve Norris, who backed up by the witty and edgy William McIntyre (Kelly), has plans afoot to break more than just the Palm Springs Bank.It's very good characterisations, undeniably, but visually the film is flat. Oh the L.A. locations used are nice to look at, but the all round sunny days feel to the surroundings never sits comfortably with the human dynamics. Then there is the problem of the "big pay off" for the last third. All things are in place for some excitement but the makers fail to deliver, the action sequences are brief and only adequately constructed. While although the closing scene carries enough of a sting to lift the production out of the mundane, this is just watchable fare without being essential for the film noir enthusiast. 6/10

I should say that "Drive a Crooked Road" probably won't hold your attention quite as much as most movies that I've seen. What's mostly eye-opening about it is just seeing Mickey Rooney in a gritty role in a film noir. He plays Eddie Shannon, a mechanic with little aim in life. The high points in his daily routine are when his co-workers ogle women walking by the shop. But when he gets mixed up with the wrong woman, he suddenly finds himself involved in a bank robbery with apparently no way out.While some people might assert that Mickey Rooney was miscast here, I beg to differ. In this role, he shows that he can be something totally different from the "family-oriented" roles with which he's usually been associated (though I best remember him from "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and "Night at the Museum"). This movie is approximately as gritty as the average film noir, and while it's not any kind of masterpiece, still worth seeing. As it's apparently not widely available on video or DVD, Portland's video/DVD store Movie Madness has a copy.Also starring Kevin McCarthy (of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers") and Jerry Paris (the neighbor on "The Dick Van Dyke Show").

Single greatest B picture I've ever seen. Sad ending is beyond belief, yet there is comic relief in the middle that is really funny. Mickey Rooney wondered why Redbook magazine voted this best picture of the year (over the A pictures.) He should have SEEN the picture! An absolutely unforgettable movie.