Brilliant and touching

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

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

Gig Young is a rather bland stand-in for Robert Mitchum in this murky film noir thriller about an attorney on a mission against the clock to track down witnesses to an old crime. The set up is actually a neat one, in which a seemingly innocent man is accused of being the suspect in a 12-year-old murder, leading a chief lawyer to track down witnesses to the crime to get their version of the events and to hopefully prove the man's innocence.This set up turns out to be an excuse for the writer to shine a flashlight into some very murky areas of society, in which various promising characters have fallen by the wayside into the depths of alcoholism and mental illness. It sounds rather more interesting than it is, with pedestrian direction contributing to an overly familiar feel to the whole thing, and the lack of any stand out performances makes it a rather forgotten and forgettable piece too. It's not bad by any means, but it's not one of the classics.

Jam Packed Little Movie with Probably more Characters than the Budget or the Short Running Time can Encompass. There is much Cynicism in the Fate of the Many "Witnesses" to the Murder at Hand. Some like Mental Illness, Alcoholism, and Class Elitism are quite at home in the World of Film-Noir.The Movie does its best to keep all the Players in Line but it can be somewhat of a Challenge to keep them all Straight. But it makes up for the Complications with some Sharp Cinematography and Deeply Affected Participants. There is the Wrongly Accused Man trying to Unwind the Events that happened Years before, and Gig Young is the Public Defender trying Desperately to Help.The Film is so Full of Interesting Stuff that it Manages to be Entertaining Despite the Confusion. There is more than one Great Scene and some others that are Lurid B-Movie Delights. In the End it just Needed more Breathing Room to Elaborate on some of the Truly Interesting and Off-Beat Characters. But as it Stands there are some really Intriguing Interludes and doesn't Pull Punches as it Relies on some Stylized Realism for its Portrayal of Pulp Fiction.

This RKO release is typical of the routine second-feature fare that TV would soon replace. It's a pretty pedestrian account of an innocent man (Anderson) being cleared of a murder charge by his Public Defender. There's quite a number of suspects, at the same time, the script muddles them in confusing fashion that takes away the guessing game. Young more or less walks through the undemanding role of attorney-defender, while the usually villainous Anderson gets a rare shot at a sympathetic role. Anderson is a familiar face from that era, especially from the popular Dragnet series. He's one of those unheralded actors with a strong presence that could spice up the dullest screenplay. Catch the early bar scene where he shows his trademark moody snarl, otherwise he's pretty much wasted. There's one scene, the "moment of truth" in the courtroom, where director Archainbaud rises above the script with a dollying shot of the unhinged Rolene (Balenda). It's a sudden, chilling camera move, and Balenda does well with the histrionics. Otherwise, this is the sort law and order melodrama that would soon be done on, say, Mr. District Attorney (1954).

Low-budget murder mystery about a Public Defender trying to clear his client of a murder the man had been convicted of 12 years previously. Complicating things is the fact that he escaped custody after his conviction, but the PD believes the man to be innocent of the murder and works to find the real killer. Gig Young as the PD is okay, and James Anderson as the convicted killer is actually pretty good, but the picture as a whole just rambles along with little suspense, and despite some good character actors in the cast, the performances are generally below par. Director George Archainbaud was apparently more at home making westerns--he was churning out Gene Autry's TV series at Columbia at around this time--but even if he had tried to inject any liveliness into this picture, the hack script would have defeated his attempts. Average at best, the film climaxes with a courtroom scene that's straight out of an episode of "Perry Mason" and is just as predictable.