End of the Road (1944) User Reviews

Poor quality

[AAdaSC · 5/10 · 6 February 2011]

Kirby (Edward Norris) sets out to prove that Gribbon (Ted Hecht) is an innocent man. Gribbon has been charged with the "Flower Shop" murder of a colleague. We know that Chris (John Abbott) is guilty and the film follows Kirby's attempts to get a confession from him. An elaborate set-up is needed.

Unfortunately, the quality of this film is poor and sometimes the audio is difficult to hear and the picture is too dark to see. The story develops quickly and is entertaining while it lasts although there was a section with a howling dog that went on a bit too long. With regards to the cast, John Abbott makes a good baddie while the newspaper editor is annoying whenever he is on screen. He's meant to be funny. He also makes a comment to the effect that Gribbon doesn't look like a criminal. Oh yes he does - look again. From his conviction at the beginning of the film, he looks like a psycho.

The film is short and passes the time and has an interesting chase on the ledges of an apartment block. It could have been quite an exciting film if it had been fleshed out a little more to give the story more tension and suspense.

John Abbott, the poor man's Clifton Webb.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 18 November 2022]

If it wasn't for the presence of this sinister-looking character actor, the Jonathan Harris of his day, I don't think I would give this film much of a recommendation outside of its atmospheric structure and some truly spooky scenes where Abbott delivers some very sinister monologues. The film has mystery writer Edward Norris investigating a particular series of crimes and certain that the person accused is innocent, eventually focusing on Abbott who is the equivalent of Clifton Webb's Waldo Lydecker in "Laura", obsessed with his neighbor Gertrude Walker who happens to be involved with Norris.

The film has two different moods, surrounding who happens to be on screen, and it's light and comical when it's Norris and Walker, but very dark and noirish when Abbott appears. His character is definitely one of the great unsung movie villains of all time, probably because this is a B movie thriller from Republic, utilizing the sound effects of a howling dog to become almost like a Val Lewton horror film. At only 51 minutes, it's easy to get through, although it's definitely one that takes a while to really get going. Republic made a ton of unsung thrillers like this, avanti garde and eerie, and once you see them, they are difficult to forget.

Nifty undiscovered noir

[dcole-2 · 10/10 · 21 November 2004]

This is a great little film, even if it does kind of fall apart at the end. Director George Blair moves his camera constantly on this low-budget film noir, creating wonderful feelings of tension and atmosphere. He really tries to make every shot and every scene interesting. The plot is unusual and rather fun: crime writer Edward Norris is certain that the man behind bars for the "Flower Shop Murder" didn't do it. He quickly figures out that it was Florist John Abbott and uses the murder victim's dog to make Abbott flee the city. Norris follows Abbott and befriends him, dropping hints all the while to see if Abbott will admit his guilt. Finally, Norris seems to get involved in his own case of murder -- and then Abbott does admit he did it so the two supposed murderers will stay in cahoots together. But of course it was all a set-up to get the confession. It concludes with an exciting fire escape/building ledge chase. Abbott is a superb character actor and actually makes you feel sorry for him and scared of him at the same time. The obligatory romance between Edward Norris and June Storey doesn't really work. But still: this is a fine, undiscovered gem and deserves to be seen!