Best movie ever!

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

In looking into this film I came across a nice description of the film, a genre I'd not actually heard of before. They termed this film neo-noir. Film noir is used to describe darker crime dramas that come out during the 40s and 50s but by the time this film arrived those had passed. Taking that same sort of crime drama and placing it into current context (at the time) placed this movie in that new category. The film is filled with crime and has that dark sensibility to it and if you enjoy films of the genre the odds are good you'll enjoy this one.The movie opens with a tough street kid named Tolly Devlin (David Kent) who witnesses the murder of his father by four thugs. Recognizing one of them he doesn't turn him in, instead vowing vengeance to the mother figure in his life, speakeasy owner Sandy (Beatrice Kay). Becoming a career criminal he first get sent to reform school but then as he gets older upgrades to safe cracking. This gets him tossed into prison where he wants to be since the man he recognized is there.Now grown (and portrayed by Cliff Robertson) he works his way into the prison hospital where he confronts the man and on his death bed learns the identities of the other 3 men involved. When he's released from prison he returns to Sandy who encourages him to go straight. She's sold her business to the new crime lord in town Earl Connors (Robert Emhardt). Tolly tells her he'll do so but has his own agenda in mind.Stealing drugs one of the men on his list, now working for Connors, deals he gets a meeting with the man. Claiming he had no idea who they belonged to he gains favor with the man and goes to work for him. While taking the drugs he rescues a woman named Cuddles (Dolores Dorn) who would have been killed had he not done so.Cuddles and Tolly are soon an item, at least in her mind. For Tolly his life is nothing but revenge. It isn't long before he creates a long term plan to take down the men who killed his father. He approaches the special investigator into organized crime, John Driscoll (Larry Gates). Driscoll was the assistant DA looking into his father's death. Now Tolly tells him he's willing to help by providing him information about the entire Connors crime organization.Playing one side against the other in this pursuit of revenge there is one thing that Tolly loses in the process, his humanity. His passion to get back at the men who killed his father is so consuming that he loses all respect for anyone, including Sandy. His treatment of Cuddles is no more chivalric than that of her tormentors in the Connors organization who eventually call for her death. The question being asked throughout the film is will Tolly carry on with his quest for revenge or instead seek redemption?The film was directed by Sam Fuller, known for his work in the genre. Fuller had no problem working outside the studio system and was well known for making solid films on a low budget that didn't seem so. The worlds he depicted were normally gritty and filled with unfeeling characters. This film fit right into the movies he was known for and along with SHOCK CORRIDOR and THE NAKED KISS have become highly regarded critically.I've always enjoyed Robertson in films I've seen him in but I wasn't prepared for his portrayal of Tolly here. Robertson always played good guys or aw shucks style characters. He holds his own here as the single minded killer with no compunction for destroying the men who killed his father no matter who gets hurt in the process. His treatment of Cuddles is cold and cruel and makes you find it difficult to sympathize with his character. His quest for revenge seems justified but his method of pursuing it leave him someone we all find hard to support.The movie was an entertaining crime drama that I'm sure fans will enjoy. Twilight Time is releasing this in their usual cleaned up style with a 1080p hi def version on blu-ray. Extras here are more than the usual with an isolated music track, a short documentary SAM FULLER STORYTELLER, a reflection on the film MARTIN SCORSESE ON UNDERWORLD U.S.A. and the original theatrical trailer. As always the release is limited to just 3,000 copies so if interested order yours today.

I had seen this movie only once before, and that was 20 years ago. A lot of the concerns of his masterpiece, "The Naked Kiss," are addressed in it. In some ways, it's more horrifying because it is about what it says it's about: the underworld and, more to the point, the USA. "The Naked Kiss" is, to me, a great movie and also a parable.(As to Fuller's "best": In terms of polish, it's probably "Pickup on South Street." That movie has most of his eccentricities but uses major stars and is suspenseful and exciting.) Cliff Robertson does a fine job here as the single-minded man out to avenge his father's killing. Dolores Dorn is touching as the girl from the underworld with whom he becomes involved.The supporting cast could scarcely be better. Paul Duboy is perfect as the slimy Gelo. Richard Rust is shockingly effective as the underworld henchman.But Beatrice Kay is the standout. She plays the tough female who almost always appears in Fuller's films. (Thelma Ritter's Mo, in "Pickup on South Street, is the most poignant.) We believe that this gal is tough. We also believe that she has a soft side.When I was too young to appreciate it, an older friend gave me a paperback book about actresses in b-movies, called "Dames." On the cover is a shot from this film: Dorn and Kay are leaning on each other. Kay looks tough as a guard dog and Dorn has bandages over one eye.The movie is filled with Fuller's most important concerns: At one point, a rooftop swimming pool is pointed out. It is, one character tells another, for the fat cats -- and now and then for underprivileged children. The hypocrisy of some so-called charity is addressed here. So is Fuller's concern for the well-being of children.I don't think this is out on DVD. You need to find it on VHS. It's absolutely a must.

Written, directed and produced by Sam Fuller, this is a tough, straight-talking, no nonsense film noir. This is like a 1940s noir but it's 1961 instead. So, instead of the boxy cars, of the Forties you have long- finned late 1950s automobiles. Otherwise, it''s the same genre.You get the same film noir photography: black-and-white with lots of nighttime shots and a lot of tough characters. I just wish they had at least really likable person to root for, but I didn't find any. The "hero," played well by Cliff Robertson, is a tough, revenge-obsessed guy and that's basically the storyline as he tracks down the hoods who beat up and killed his father.Even though the rest of the cast doesn't have big names, many of the faces are familiar and all are good actors. This is an earlier "Point Blank" film seven years before that came out - same kind of story.Of the women in here, I found Dolores Dorn the most interesting.

So here we have a characterization comparable to Richard Widmark's in Kiss of Death... and yet, obviously, Richard Rust did not receive the promotion one needs to be noticed! But I noticed. And when someone said to me, "Check out Cliff Robertson's white suit", I said, "I didn't even notice him, I was looking at Richard Rust..." Not that everyone else in this film wasn't good, but from the putting on of shades to the turning a zippo in his hand, from his coldness in killing a child to his creepiness in saying he likes lifeguarding for children, from his great profile to his screen presence...here's an ACTOR! As Sadakichi Hartmann said about himself, Richard Rust must have been too great to be noticed. But I saw him. Thank goodness!!