Let's be realistic.

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Expected more

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

While not a fan of Raft's starring qualities for major studio films, I really enjoy him in tough little black and white B films like this. Low budget, filmed quickly, they seem a good fit for his real life tough, sometimes lowlife persona and abilities. I intend this as a compliment to Raft and if you watch "Loan Shark" you will see what I mean.In addition to Raft you have here a fine supporting cast including one of the best John Hoyt crime performances of his long distinguished career.Factories, lunch boxes and cheap hoods. Really evokes the underside of the 1950's and moves along briskly. Surprisingly entertaining.

This film is included as part of the "Forgotten Noir" DVD series, which really means B-movie bottom billed Robert Lippert movies. Be warned! No wonder they are forgotten. The best Lippert Picture, however, now in a new fantastic DVD version, is 'Rocketship X-M' (1950) with uncredited script by Dalton Trumbo!This one is a fair time passer. It's clearly built as a vehicle for George Raft, (who is in almost every scene) and his screen persona as a "tough guy." He walks like he has a coat hanger stuck in his back (a walk 'copied' by Jimmy Carter and Al Gore): this is the kind of walk you practice with a book on your head to improve your posture. It doesn't seem right these days for a tough guy, but Raft's look and famous staccato monotone compensate greatly for his stiff walk.It's not really a noir film. Noir films have nice guys being caught up in a corrupt world-- they had titles like 'Undercurrent,' 'Whirlpool,' 'Quicksand,' 'Detour,' 'Roadblock,' 'Criss Cross,' etc. and often were shot in extremely low light and shadows like the amazing 'Out of the Past'(1947). This one is actually 'the good guy goes undercover to trap the Big Boss.'Anyway, George Raft carries the film. For fans of George Raft, this is a must see. He's in his 'element' here with loan sharks, thugs and criminals, not hanging out in Morocco in the Foreign Legion. When he's on screen, we watch him. We also get great bad guy from Paul Stewart, the butler from 'Citizan Kane' (1941). With those eyes and eyebrows he's so good as a heavy! A young John Hoyt is also nicely bad. Dorothy Hart, a former fashion model, as Raft's 30 year younger love interest (!) has eyes that put you on Cloud 9. She quit movies and mostly did work for the UN, since she "hated Hollywood." This movie may be one reason why.This is also for fans like me who enjoy seeing Los Angeles in the early fifties. Hey, when I was growing up in the fifties in the boondocks of Northern California (Petaluma), seeing black and white films of crime in LA, added to the thrill of my first visit to Los Angeles. Best of all, of course, is 'Kiss Me Deadly' (1955) where we get to see the apartments next to Angel's Flight on Bunker Hill before they were razed, and the super noir 'D.O.A.' (1951) which takes us inside the Bradbury Building in downtown LA.Not an Oscar contender. I give it a four.

Despite not being a George Raft fan I found this B-noir to be quite entertaining. Raft is a convict just out of prison. He moves in with his sister and brother-in-law. The brother-in-law gets murdered after threatening to go to the police about a loan shark racket. The gang has been emptying the pockets of the workers where the brother-in-law was working. Raft decides on a little payback. He worms his way into the gang in-order to get the goods on the mob. Several well staged bouts of fist-i-cuffs and a blazing gun battle ensue before all is settled. Good support is given by noir regulars Paul Stewart and John Hoyt. Photographed by noir vet Joseph Biroc who lensed the noirs THE GLASS WALL, WORLD FOR RANSOM, CRY DANGER and FORTY GUNS. Also of note are several of his later films, HUSH, HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE, and FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX. A rather entertaining time-waster.

OK: That's only at the beginning. catch the start of this nice little noir. Raft makes an entrance any diva would have been pleased with. And he arrives to visit his sister. On the way, he passes a squabbling couple. The sister greets him with love and concern, commenting on how tired he looks. And then he goes to soak in a hot bath! Later in the movie, we see that the authors have been influenced by another play that became a movie: The girlfriend of one of the bad guys suddenly sounds like Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn, from "Born yesterday." It may indeed have been unconscious. But wait: The climactic scene -- and this is giving nothing away -- is set in a theater.All this said, it's an excellent movie for something on so obviously low a budget. Raft is the same as he usually was. He's not exciting but he gives a solid performance. The lead female, Dorothy Hart, is attractive and convincing. The supporting cast is very good and they're all well directed.It's by no means a great movie but it's a decent, good one, worth your time.