. . . slicing through the brain of sociopath\killer Eddie Riccardi to turn him into altruistic Silver Star-winning Boy Scout Eddie Rice, eager to work as an unpaid operative for the LAPD. Though we never find out HOW a mob hit man made it into the U.S. military during WWII, who better to go after the likes of Hitler and Hirohito? Many viewers had trouble believing that actor John Payne--who plays the two Eddies in THE CROOKED WAY--actually would settle down with Pouty sad sack Susan (Natalie Wood) for a stepdaughter at the close of MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET. Sure enough, Payne quickly ditched his law books as soon as he realized that the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy would not need his rather specialized legal services, and began looking for a flashier lifestyle--one with a spunkier mate, to boot. He attains both objectives in THE CROOKED WAY, with plenty of man-style fighting and a ready-made wife in Ellen Drew. If Payne needs a touch of melancholia at the close to substitute for not having Susan, he can always adopt the late Petey's feeble feline, Sampson.
Review of The Crooked Way
