30 Days of Noir #26: Behind Green Lights (dir by Otto Brower)

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1946 film, Behind Green Lights, takes over the course of one night at one police station.

When tough-but-fair Police Lt. Sam Carson (William Gargan) shows up for work, he discovers that a car has been haphazardly parked in front of the station. Inside the car is bullet-ridden body of Walter Bard, a somewhat notorious private investigator. If the brazenness of the crime wasn’t already enough to indicate that there’s more going on here than just a detective following the wrong lead, it is soon discovered that Bard was acquainted with Janet Bradley (Carole Landis), the daughter of a reform-minded mayoral candidate. As Janet explains it to Lt. Carson, Bard was blackmailing a friend of hers. Janet admits that she had a gun with her the last time that she saw Bard but she swears that she didn’t murder him.

Corrupt newspaper publisher Max Calvert (Roy Roberts) views Janet’s father as being a potential rival and he immediately starts to pressure Lt. Carson to make an arrest in the case. Not convinced of Janet’s guilt, Carson refuses. Meanwhile, the crooked coroner (Don Beddoe) comes across evidence that could change the entire case but, as a favor to Calvert, tries to cover it up….

But that’s not all. It’s a very busy night at the precinct. Not only does Carson have to deal with the murder and all of the political fallout, he also has to deal with an escapes prisoner and a collection of snarky crime reports who spend all of their hanging out at the station house and waiting for a big story to drop.

Largely set in one location and featuring a cast made up of fast-talking, quick-witted cynics, Behind Green Lights sometimes feel more like a play than a film. (One could easily imagine it taking place in the same cinematic universe as The Front Page. Call it the MacArthur/Hecht Cinematic Universe, or MHCU for short.) Though the film only has a running time of 64 minutes, it manages to pack a lot of twists and turns into that hour. For the most part, it all works. The mystery is intriguing, the cast is made up of properly tough character actors, and the tragic Carole Landis is well-cast as a character who could be an innocent victim or a dangerous femme fatale. The film and her performance will keep you guessing. (It has been written that Landis, a talented actress who never quite got the roles that roles that she deserved, was heart-broken when Rex Harrison refused to divorce his wife and marry her. Two years after the release of Behind Green Lights, she was found dead at the age of 29. The official ruling was suicide, though members of Landis’s family dispute that.)

Behind Green Lights may be a minor noir but it’s still an entertaining one. And it can be viewed for free on YouTube! Just remember, when doing an online search, that the film is called Behind Green Lights and not Behind the Green Door. Don’t make the same mistake that I did!

30 Days of Noir #25: Gangster Story (dir by Walter Matthau)

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1959 film, Gangster Story, holds the distinction of being the only film ever directed by the Oscar-winning actor, Walter Matthau.

That’s right, this low-budget film about a bank robber and the people who want to kill him was directed by TCM’s favorite curmudgeon. The man who would later be nominated for multiple Oscars and who would star in numerous Neil Simon adaptations only directed one film and that movie was a low-budget, 68-minute, black-and-white movie about cops and robbers.

(And no, Jack Lemmon is nowhere to be found.)

Walter Matthau not only directed this film but he starred in it as well. He plays Jack Martin, a career criminal who pulls off a daring bank robbery. How does he do it? Well, first, he rents an office in the same building as the bank. He gets to know everyone at the bank. He wins their trust. No one can resist the charms of Jack Martin, which I guess is the advantage of getting to direct yourself.

On the day of the robbery, Jack approaches the cops who are hanging around outside the bank. He tells them that he’s from Hollywood and he’s going to be shooting a scene in which he pretends to rob the bank. He assures them that it will look realistic. They might even see a rather flustered bank manager leading him into the vault. But it’s just a movie and therefore, it’s very important that the cops not rush into the bank with their guns drawn or anything silly like that.

Of course, the cops fall for it. While Jack is busy robbing the bank, the cops are just hanging around and shooting the breeze outside. When Jack walks out of the bank, he thanks the cops for not ruining the scene and then promptly leaves. Needless to say, the cops are humiliated when they realize how they’ve been tricked. For them, tracking down Jack isn’t just about upholding the law. It’s about vengeance.

Meanwhile, the local mob boss is upset because not only did Jack rob the bank without permission but he also failed to shared any of the stolen money. Not only does Jack have the cops after him but he also has all the local gangsters!

What a mess!

However, Jack isn’t worried. He’s happy because he’s met and fallen in with a local librarian, Carol (played by Carol Grace). Will Jack find love or will his criminal past find him?

It’s always a bit strange to watch a film that’s been directed by an actor with a firmly entrenched persona. Matthau was famous for playing urban misanthropes and, when watching Gangster Story, your natural instinct is to look for signs of that curmudgeonly worldview. There are hints of it in the scene where Jack tricks the cops outside the bank but, for the most part, there’s really not much personality to be found in any of the film’s scenes. Matthau’s direction is workmanlike but never particularly memorable. For reasons that will soon become clear, as a director, Matthau seems far more interested in the unlikely love story between Jack and Carol than in the film’s criminal-on-the-run storyline. After making this film together, Walter Matthau and Carol Grace married. It was her third marriage and Matthau’s second and it lasted for 41 years, ending only with Walter Matthau’s death in 2000.

Not surprisingly, the scenes between Jack and Carol are the best in the film. As for the rest of it, it’s pretty much a standard crime film. As a director, Matthau struggles to keep the story moving at a steady pace and the film’s low-budget certainly doesn’t help. Watching the film, you can tell why Walter Matthau devoted the rest of his career to acting as opposed to directing. It’s hard not to feel that he made the right choice.

30 Days of Noir #24: Fourteen Hours (dir by Henry Hathaway)

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As a genre, film noir has always been associated with crime: murder, brutish gangsters, seductive femme fatales, and occasionally a cynical private detective doing the right thing almost despite himself. However, not all film noirs are about criminals. Some are just about desperate characters who have found themselves on the fringes, living in a shadow-filled world that appears to be monstrously indifferent to all human suffering.

That’s certainly the case with the 1951 noir, 14 Hours. The film centers around Robert Cosick (Richard Basehart, who previously played a murderer in another classic noir, He Walked By Night). Robert isn’t a gangster. He’s not a private detective. He doesn’t carry a gun and he doesn’t provide any sort of hard-boiled narration. In fact, for the majority of the film, Robert is defined by less who he is and more by what he’s doing. Robert Cosick, having earlier checked into a room on the 15th floor of a New York hotel, has climbed out of a window and is now standing on a ledge. Robert says that he’s going to jump.

What has driven Robert Cosik to consider such an extreme action? The film never settles on any one reason, though it gives us several clues. When his father (Robert Keith) and his mother (Agnes Moorehead) show up at the scene, they immediately start bickering about old family dramas. When Robert’s ex-fiancee (Barbara Bel Geddes) begs him to step in from the ledge, he listens a bit more to her than he did to his parents but he still refuses to come in from the ledge.

But perhaps the real reason that Robert Cosick is out on that ledge can be found in the film’s shadowy visuals. Directed in a semi-documentary fashion by Henry Hathaway and featuring harsh, black-and-white cinematography that’s credited to Joe MacDonald, Fourteen Hours emphasizes the indifference of the city. From the menacing landscape of concrete buildings to the crowds gathering below the ledge to see if Robert lives or dies, New York City is as much as a character in this film as Robert, his family, or the cop (played by Paul Douglas) who finds himself trying to talk Robert into reentering his hotel room. When night falls, the city may light up but it does nothing to alleviate the shadows that seem to be wrapping themselves around Robert. For the fourteen hours that Robert is on that ledge, he may be the center of the world but the film leaves little doubt that New York City will continue to exist in all of its glory and its horror regardless of how Robert’s drama plays out. Whether he lives or dies, Robert appears to be destined to be forgotten.

When the film isn’t concentrating on the cops trying to talk Robert into getting back in the hotel room, it shows us the reactions of the people who see him standing out on that ledge. (If this film were made today, everyone would be holding up their phones and uploading Robert’s plight to social media.) Some people are moved by Robert’s struggle. For instance, a young woman played by Grace Kelly (in her film debut) reaches a decision on whether or not to get a divorce based on what she sees happening on the ledge. Two office workers (played by Jeffrey Hunter and Debra Paget) even strike up a romance as they wait to see what will happen. Some people view Robert as being a madman. Others see him as being a victim. And then there’s the many others who view him as being either a minor distraction or a piece of entertainment. For them, it’s less important why Robert’s on the ledge or even who Robert is. What’s important to them is how the story is going to end.

It’s not a particularly happy film but it’s made watchable by Hathaway’s intelligent direction and the performances of Paul Douglas and Richard Basehart. With its theme of instant fame and hollow indifference, it’s a film that remains as relevant today as when it was initially released.

30 Days of Noir #23: Framed (dir by Richard Wallace)

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1947 film noir, Framed, is the story of a loser.

That, in itself, is not a surprise. The loser who finds himself stranded in a strange place where he’s manipulated by nearly everyone he meets is a film noir archetype. This is especially true when it comes to movies about men who end up getting manipulated by another film noir archetype, the femme fatale. I mean, let’s be honest. Most film noir “heroes” fall victim to their own desperation. If they weren’t so obviously desperate to find money or sex, they probably wouldn’t end up in the trouble that always seems to follow them around.

Framed tells the story of Mike Lambert (Glenn Ford). When we first meet Mike, he’s sitting behind the wheel of an out-of-control truck. While the truck recklessly speeds down a steep hill, Mike desperately tries to keep from crashing. It’s not until Mike pulls into a small town that he finally gets the truck to stop. Of course, in the process of stopping, he also dings the back of someone else’s pickup truck.

It turns out that, until recently, Mike was a mining engineer. After he lost his job, he found temporary employment as a truck driver. He needed the money so he didn’t bother to find out what he was hauling or even if the truck had working brakes. When Mike calls up the man who hired him and tells him that the owner of the pickup is demanding that Mike’s employer pay for the damage, the man hangs up on him. To recap, before we’re even 10 minutes into the movie, we’ve seen that Mike can be tricked into driving a truck with no brakes and that he can’t even convince his employer to help pay for the damage caused by those faulty brakes. In other words: Loser!

Anyway, the local cops are planning on tossing Mike in jail for reckless driving but fortunately, a local waitress, Paula Craig (Janis Carter), is willing to pay Mike’s fine. She even helps a drunken Mike find a hotel room. Is Paula doing all of this out of the goodness of her heart or is it all just a part of an elaborate scheme? While Mike is getting a job with a local prospector (Edgar Buchanan), Paula is meeting with her married boyfriend, Steve Price (Barry Sullivan), and bragging about how she’s finally found the perfect patsy.

Yes, to no one’s surprise, Paula and Steve have hatched a nefarious scheme and Mike is about to find himself stuck right in the middle of it. Of course, since this is a film noir, it should come as no surprise to learn that Paula and Steve are just as willing to double cross each other as they are Mike….

Framed is an entertaining if slightly predictable noir. From the minute that Paula first appears, we know that she’s not to be trusted but part of the fun of the film is that those of us in the audience are always a step or two ahead of poor Mike. You watch Mike in amazement that someone could be so dense but, at the same time, Glenn Ford is likable enough that you do hope that everything will turn out okay for him. As for the film’s main villains, Barry Sullivan is perfectly slick and sleazy as Steve Price but the film is really stolen by Janis Carter, who plays Paula as if she were a panther waiting to pounce on her prey.

Framed is a film that will definitely be enjoyed by those who appreciate the shadowy landscape of an old school film noir. It may not rewrite the rules of genre but it’s still an undeniably entertaining film about a loser and the people who use him.

30 Days of Noir #22: Woman On The Run (dir by Norman Foster)

Posted on November 22, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Like many film noirs, this 1950 film opens with a murder.

On a dark night in San Francisco, a man attempts to blackmail an unseen person called “Danny Boy” and gets shot for his trouble. The gunshot is heard by a frustrated painter, named Frank Johnson (Ross Elliott), who is out walking his dog. Frank sees the dead body being pushed out of a car and then catches a shadowy glimpse of the killer. When the killer open fires on him, Frank runs for it.

Like a good citizen, Frank goes to the police but, when he learns that the victim was due to testify against a local gangster, Frank panics and vanishes. When Inspector Ferris (Robert Keith) goes to see Frank’s wife, Eleanor (Ann Sheridan), he’s shocked to discover that Eleanor isn’t shocked by Frank’s disappearance and that she doesn’t seem to care one way or the other. As Eleanor explains it, Frank is a notorious coward and, years ago, their once strong marriage became a loveless charade. Frank’s vanished and Eleanor doesn’t care.

Or does she?

While it quickly becomes obvious that Eleanor is telling the truth about not knowing where Frank is, she’s not being totally honest about no longer caring about him. For instance, when she learns that Frank has been hiding a heart condition from her, Eleanor goes to the doctor to pick up his medicine, just in case he should happen to come by the house. Of course, it’s not always easy to get out of the house, especially now that the police are watching Eleanor.

Eleanor wants to track down Frank without involving the police and it seems like there’s only one person who is interested in helping he do that.. Played by Dennis O’Keefe, this person is a tough reporter and he says that he wants to do an exclusive story on Frank. He offers to help Eleanor track him down and he even says that he’ll pay $1,000 for the chance to interview Frank. The reporter and Eleanor are soon searching San Francisco, retracing Frank’s day-to-day life and discovering that Frank loved Eleanor more than she ever realized….

What’s that? Oh, did I forget to mention the reporter’s name?

His name is Danny.

That’s right. Eleanor is trying to find Frank so that she can save his life and working with her is the one man who wants to kill him!

Needless to say, this leads to a great deal of suspense. On the one hand, you’re happy that Eleanor is rediscovering how much she loves Frank. On the other hand, you spend almost the entire movie worried that Eleanor is going to lead Danny right to him. Shot on location in San Francisco and featuring all of the dark shadows and tough dialogue that one could possibly hope to get in a film noir, Woman On The Run is an underrated suspense gem. Full of atmosphere and steadily building suspense, Woman on the Run features a great and acerbic performance from Ann Sheridan and a genuinely exciting climax that’s set at a local amusement park. Seriously, roller coasters are super scary!

Woman on the Run was directed by Norman Foster. If you’ve recently watched The Other Side of the Wind on Netflix, you might recognize the name. A longtime friend of Orson Welles, Foster played the role of Billy Boyle in Welles’s final film.

30 Days of Noir #21: For You I Die (dir by John Reinhardt)

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1947 film, For You I Did, opens with what would be the finale of many other crime movies, a daring prison break.

The psychotic Matt Guber (Don C. Harvey) has managed to escape from prison, along with a younger prisoner named Johnny Coulter (Paul Langton). From listening to their dialogue as they flee the cops, it quickly becomes obvious that the escape was Guber’s idea and that Johnny is something of an unwilling accomplice. Johnny only had a year left in his sentence but now, thanks to Guber, he’s a wanted man. Making matters even worse is the fact that Guber killed a guard during the escape. Johnny knows that if he turns himself in or if he’s captured, he’ll be considered an accessory to murder.

Guber tells Johnny to go to a nearby roadside diner and deliver a message to his girlfriend, Hope (Cathy Downs). Guber says that he’ll come to the diner in a week to get them. Johnny follows Guber’s orders but, when he reaches the diner, he discovers that Hope has changed her ways and no longer wants anything to do with Guber. Using an assumed name, Johnny gets a job at the diner and soon, he and Hope are falling love.

Johnny gets to know the other workers and customers at the diner. They include Hope’s kind but no-nonsense aunt, Maggie (Marion Kerby), and Hope’s flirtatious cousin, Georgie (Jane Weeks). Working in the kitchen is Smitty (Roman Bohnen), an alcoholic with a tragic backstory. There’s also Alec Shaw (Mischa Auer), a flamboyant con man, and two slow-witted cops (Charles Waldron, Jr. and Rory Mallinson) who always mention that Johnny looks familiar but they just can’t figure out where they’ve seen him before. Johnny gets to know all of them as, for the first time in his life, he finds himself accepted as a part of a community. However, even as Johnny finds happiness, he knows that the clock is ticking. There’s only so long that he can hide his identity and Guber is due to show up at any moment….

Poverty Row is a term that was often used to describe the low-budget B-movies of the 40s and 50s and it’s certainly an apt description of For You I Die. It’s not just the fact that the film is about poor and often desperate characters. It’s also that the film itself looks like it was made for next to nothing. However, the film’s cheap look is actually one of its greatest strengths. Visually, the grainy black-and-white lends the film a gritty atmosphere and the limited and sparsely decorated sets serve to play up not only Johnny’s claustrophobia but to also remind us that, even if Johnny does find some temporary happiness, he still has nowhere to go. That diner is both the beginning and the end of Johnny’s freedom.

Character actor Mischa Auer was probably the biggest name in the cast. He was a well-known screen comedian, one who specialized in playing over-the-top eccentrics. His comedic presence in this relatively somber film feels rather odd. As well, Paul Langton is convincingly sullen in the role of Johnny but he’s not particularly compelling. Far more impressive are Marian Kerby, Cathy Downs, and especially Jane Weeks. As the gleefully amoral Georgie, Weeks steals almost every scene in which she appears while Marion Kerby is everyone’s ideal aunt. Finally, Cathy Downs plays Hope and brings a poignant sense of regret to a role that, as written, could have just been a stereotypical “good girl.” Hope is someone who has made her mistakes but who refuses to be defined for them. In the end, Hope epitomizes …. well, hope.

For You I Die is a taunt and effective film noir and a reminder not to dismiss a film just because it came from Poverty Row.

30 Days of Noir #20: He Walked By Night (dir by Alfred L. Werker and Anthony Mann)

Posted on November 20, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1948 film noir, He Walked By Night, opens with a policeman named Rawlins on his way home from work. As he drives down the street, he sees a man walking alone at night. Because there’s been a number of recent burglaries in the area and the man’s a stranger, Rawlins decides to pull over and ask the man for his ID.

What Rawlins doesn’t realize is that the man is Roy Morgan (Richard Basehart) and yes, Roy is indeed the burglar. Roy is something of a mystery man. (Needless to say, Morgan is not his real last name.) In the pre-Internet age, he has very carefully and very meticulously avoided leaving any sort of paper trail. He lives, by himself, in a small apartment, his only companion being an adorable dog and the police scanner that Roy uses to always stay a few steps ahead of the cops. When Rawlins pulls him over, it’s the closest that Roy has ever come to being caught. Roy get out of the situation by shooting the cop and then running into the night.

The rest of the film deals with the efforts of two police detectives (played by Scott Brady and James Cardwell) and their captain (Roy Roberts) to discover who shot Rawlins and bring him to justice. It’s not easy because not only has Roy done a good job of obscuring his very existence but his police scanner always gives him advanced warning whenever they cops start to close in on him. The only lead that the cops have is a salesman named Paul Reeves (Whit Bissell). Reeves has been buying and reselling the electronic equipment that Roy’s been stealing from houses all over Hollywood. When Reeves tells the cops that he had no idea the stuff was stolen, the cops all share a weary roll of the eye. No matter whether Reeves is telling the truth or not, he’s now the key to tracking down a cop killer….

He Walked By Night is a police procedural and, while the plot may sound familiar, the film is elevated by the atmospheric direction of Alfred Werker and an uncredited Anthony Mann. As visualized by Werker and Mann, the streets of Los Angeles have never been darker and more menacing. Roy emerges from the fog to commit his crimes and then disappears back into the mist, like some sort of paranormal spirit. The film reaches its high point when the police chase their quarry through the sewers of Los Angeles, a scene that will remind many of the famous finale of The Third Man.

Though the film offers up clues to Roy Morgan’s motivation, he remains an enigma for much of the film. Richard Basehart plays him as a paranoid man who only seems to be confident and happy when he’s stealing or when he’s outsmarting the police. In many ways, regardless of whether he escapes the police or not, Roy’s destined to spend his life trapped in a prison of his own design. Even hiding out on the fringes of society, Roy knows that his time is limited. There’s only so many times one person can escape their fate. Until he’s either captured or killed, Roy is destined to always walk the night, alone.

Dark Genesis: STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR (RKO 1940)

Posted on November 20, 2018 by gary loggins

cracked rear viewer

“Tuesdays in Noirvember” continues with what many consider to be the first film noir…

Fans of the film noir genre often cite movies like THE MALTESE FALCON or REBECCA among the first entries in this stylistic category, but a case can certainly be made for STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR, a bizarre B-film made by director Boris Ingster. It features all the elements associated with the dark genre: a big city setting, interior monologues, an extended nightmare sequence, flashbacks, Expressionistic set design… hell, it’s even got noir’s favorite patsy Elisha Cook Jr ! The only thing missing is that downbeat cynicism you find in post-war films, but since America hadn’t yet entered World War II, we can forgive the happy ending and concentrate on what makes this movie the seminal film noir.

First, there’s the plot: star reporter Michael Ward is the key witness in a murder case against young…

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30 Days of Noir #19: Never Trust A Gambler (dir by Ralph Murphy)

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Never Trust A Gambler is a 78-minute noir gem from 1951.

It tells the story of Steve Garry (Dane Clark) and his ex-wife, Virginia (Cathy O’Donnell). Virginia divorced Steve because he was a degenerate gambler but that doesn’t mean that she no longer has feelings for him. Or, at the very least, that’s what Steve is hoping when, out of the blue, he shows up at her door and tells her that he needs a place to hide out.

As Steve explains it, a friend of his had been accused of murder and Steve is being pressured to testify at the man’s trial. In a move of pure gaslighting, Steve explains that his friend is innocent but, if Steve testifies, it will lead to his friend being wrongfully convicted. Hence, unless Virginia wants to be responsible for sending an innocent man to death row, she has to give Steve a place to hide out. Furthermore, Steve swears to her that he’s no longer a gambler and that he’ll only need to stay with her for a few days. Reluctantly, Virginia agrees.

Later, while Virginia is at a grocery store, she’s approached by a police sergeant named McCloy (Rhys Williams). At first, it seems like McCloy might be following her because he’s looking for Steve but, instead, it turns out that he used to date Virginia’s former roommate, Delores. After clumsily trying to flirt with her at the grocery store, McCloy follows Virginia home. When McCloy tries to force himself on her, Steve comes out of the shadows and beats McCloy to death.

So now, Virginia and Steve have a dead body to contend with. Because Steve is hiding from the cops and Virginia’s been allowing him to hide out in her house, calling the police is not an option. Steve promises Virginia that he’ll take care of the whole thing. Steve’s solution is to put McCloy in a car and push it over the edge of a cliff. Given that McCloy was a drunk, it’s reasonable to think that the police might assume that McCloy was driving drunk and cashed his car. Now, Steve and Virginia both wait to find out whether or not Steve’s plan worked….

Technically, the protagonist of this film is Sgt. Donovan (Tom Drake), the detective who investigates McCloy’s death but, for the most part, Donavon’s something of a stiff. Instead, the film really belongs to Dane Clark and Cathy O’Donnell. Cathy O’Donnell gives a poignant performance as a woman whose efforts to escape the past and live a normal, drama-free life are continually made unnecessarily difficult by the selfish men surrounding her. Meanwhile, Dane Clark tears through the film like a force of nervous nature. Clark always seems to be on the verge of jumping out of his own skin and a good deal of the film’s suspense comes from wondering when Steve is going to lose control. At the same time, Steve Garry is a character about whom most viewers will have mixed feelings. On the one hand, he’s sleazy and selfish but, on the other hand, he saved Virginia from someone who was even worse. Does Steve really love Virginia or is he just taking advantage of her? This movie will keep you guessing.

Never Trust A Gambler is a well-done and intelligent film noir and definitely one that deserves to be better known.

30 Days Of Noir #18: C-Man (dir by Joseph Lerner)

Posted on November 18, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

At the center of the 1949 film, C-Man, is a man named Cliff Holden (Dean Jagger). When we first see Cliff, he’s cheerfully walking down the street in New York City, looking pretty happy underneath his new fedora.

And really, why shouldn’t Cliff be happy? He’s a U.S. Customs agent! He investigates crimes and tracks down smugglers and, perhaps most importantly, his best friend is a customs agent as well! Who wouldn’t want to work with their best friend, right? Anyway, Cliff eventually reaches his office and he discovers that nobody else appears to share his good mood. For that matter, Cliff’s step losing its cheerful spring when he finds out that his best friend has been …. MURDERED!

His friend was investigating the theft of a very valuable necklace. The Treasury Department has reason to believe that an international criminal named Matt Royal (Rene Paul) will be smuggling that necklace into the United States. Looking to not only avenge his friend but also protect the reputation of the United States, Cliff takes over the case. Using the name William Hannah, he flies out to Europe so that he can then board the same plane that Royal will be taking to the States.

While Cliff/William is waiting at the airport, he meets a Swiss woman, named Kathe van Bourne (Lottie Elwin), who is flying to New York so that she can be reunited with her fiancée, Joe. However, after they board the plane, Kathe is suddenly taken ill. Luckily, there’s a doctor on the plane, a courtly gentleman named Doc Spencer (John Carradine). Spencer takes Kathe to the back of the plane to examine her and, while no one’s looking, he hides the necklace underneath a bandage that he wraps around her head.

Back in New York, Royal is pulled off the plane and thoroughly searched. When it’s discovered that he doesn’t have the necklace, Cliff realizes what has happened. However, Kathe has already been taken off in an ambulance and, when Cliff goes to Joe’s apartment, he discovers that Joe has been murdered….

C-Man is a film that kind of sneaks up and takes you by surprise. That it was an extremely low-budget production is obvious from the minute the movie starts. The black-and-white images are grainy. The sets are small and sparsely furnished. The whole film has a rather cheap and ragged feel, as if it might burst into flame and dissolve at any moment. And yet, that low-budget feel works perfectly for the story that C-Man is telling. Despite the oddly cheery narration that’s provided by Dean Jagger, this is a sordid tale about people on the fringes of society. Watching C-Man feels like taking a trip to all of the places that most tourists would never want to visit during their trip to New York City. For instance, when Cliff searches for the alcoholic Doc Spenser, his search leads him from one liquor store to another and it’s obvious that some of the desperate souls that Cliff passes on the streets weren’t actors.

Gail Kubick’s pounding and relentless score adds to the film’s overall dreamlike feel and Joseph Lerner’s direction is just quirky enough to keep things interesting. (When one character is bludgeoned to death, the film suddenly starts to spin as if the viewer has become trapped in the killer’s madness.) Dean Jagger seems a bit miscast as a the tough customs agent but the actors playing the criminals are all properly menacing. Harry Landers, as the most violent of the jewel thieves, makes a particularly threatening impression.

All in all, C-Man is a surprisingly effective poverty row noir.