Mob czar takes over swanky nightclub and turns it into a "clip joint", keeping the hostesses on to tempt and tantalize the male clientèle and using his gorillas as bouncers; when a customer is murdered after trying to skip out on his bill, the Chief Prosecutor hopes one of the working girls will rat her bosses out in the courtroom. Thinly-veiled chronicle of Thomas E. Dewey's real-life legal showdown with Lucky Luciano, now with much of the emphasis placed on Bette Davis' role as tough-talking broad-cum-caring big sister. Screenplay by Robert Rossen and Abem Finkel is unusually taut, while Lloyd Bacon's direction manages to be compact and yet artistically solid. Humphrey Bogart's attorney isn't the dynamic character one is expecting, and his performance seems a little slow and dull. Davis, on the other hand, is at full-throttle, with big, incredulous eyes, nifty costumes, and a flip, exasperated manner. She's the reason to watch. **1/2 from ****
Review of Marked Woman
