A murder investigation, an enigmatic woman and a man who's obsessed with her, are three typical film noir components that are featured in this movie. A lot less typical however, is the fact that the story's main protagonist is a bail bondsman who gets caught up in a mystery that's linked to a robbery, a couple of murders and a character with more than one identity. During the course of his investigation, he has to take some significant risks and as someone who's only been in the bail bonding business for a relatively short time, discovers that his new profession is considerably more dangerous than he could ever have imagined.
After arresting a man called Claude Brackett (Bill Williams) who he'd been pursuing for some time, LAPD Detective Lieutenant Nick Ferrone (Jim Backus) asks his old friend and ex-cop Vince Kane (George Raft) to go with him to search the man's apartment. Kane, who's now the junior partner in a bail bonding brokerage, is surprised when he becomes aware of a familiar fragrance in one of the rooms and sees some items of ladies' clothing and footwear that he also recognises. Before he leaves, he places one of his business cards in a conspicuous position.
Shortly after, Kane is visited in his office by Brackett's wife Lucy (Ella Raines) and her lawyer who want his help to raise the $25,000 that's being demanded to get Brackett released on bail. Brackett's bail had been set at a high level because, as well as being suspected of being involved in a securities robbery, it's also possible that he killed a policeman who died at the crime scene. Lucy is one of Kane's old flames who disappeared from his life without any explanation and left him devastated. She says her husband's innocent but, as she's only able to raise $4,000 is seems unlikely that Kane can help. However, when another lawyer called Matthew Dawson (David Wolfe) calls by his office the next day and offers to put up an additional sum of $12,000, Kane agrees to help out. Senior partner Joe Farley (Pat O'Brien) is angry about Kane's decision to risk so much of the business' money to get Brackett released from police custody but things soon get worse when Brackett is found murdered and Kane feels compelled to investigate the circumstances that led to his violent death.
A tension that's created by Kane and Lucy's past relationship and the fact that Kane obviously still has strong feelings for her, runs right through the movie and is intensified by Lucy's confusing actions and body language. This makes Kane distrust her assertions that she doesn't still love her husband and makes him dubious about her explanations of what was taking place in her life when they originally met. Ella Raines' skill in being this mysterious in so natural a way is impressive and makes Lucy more interesting than she would otherwise have been.
Kane's success in identifying the villains at the heart of the mystery (through his conversation with a cigarette girl) and the actions that he takes to bring their activities to an end are carried out quite efficiently with some extra excitement being generated by the action scenes at the end of the movie. George Raft is convincing as a tough guy and does a good job overall.
This movie has a strong cast, good momentum throughout and an especially good performance by Ella Raines. Its weakest point, however, is its dialogue which isn't as sharp or as witty as this type of crime drama requires.
After arresting a man called Claude Brackett (Bill Williams) who he'd been pursuing for some time, LAPD Detective Lieutenant Nick Ferrone (Jim Backus) asks his old friend and ex-cop Vince Kane (George Raft) to go with him to search the man's apartment. Kane, who's now the junior partner in a bail bonding brokerage, is surprised when he becomes aware of a familiar fragrance in one of the rooms and sees some items of ladies' clothing and footwear that he also recognises. Before he leaves, he places one of his business cards in a conspicuous position.
Shortly after, Kane is visited in his office by Brackett's wife Lucy (Ella Raines) and her lawyer who want his help to raise the $25,000 that's being demanded to get Brackett released on bail. Brackett's bail had been set at a high level because, as well as being suspected of being involved in a securities robbery, it's also possible that he killed a policeman who died at the crime scene. Lucy is one of Kane's old flames who disappeared from his life without any explanation and left him devastated. She says her husband's innocent but, as she's only able to raise $4,000 is seems unlikely that Kane can help. However, when another lawyer called Matthew Dawson (David Wolfe) calls by his office the next day and offers to put up an additional sum of $12,000, Kane agrees to help out. Senior partner Joe Farley (Pat O'Brien) is angry about Kane's decision to risk so much of the business' money to get Brackett released from police custody but things soon get worse when Brackett is found murdered and Kane feels compelled to investigate the circumstances that led to his violent death.
A tension that's created by Kane and Lucy's past relationship and the fact that Kane obviously still has strong feelings for her, runs right through the movie and is intensified by Lucy's confusing actions and body language. This makes Kane distrust her assertions that she doesn't still love her husband and makes him dubious about her explanations of what was taking place in her life when they originally met. Ella Raines' skill in being this mysterious in so natural a way is impressive and makes Lucy more interesting than she would otherwise have been.
Kane's success in identifying the villains at the heart of the mystery (through his conversation with a cigarette girl) and the actions that he takes to bring their activities to an end are carried out quite efficiently with some extra excitement being generated by the action scenes at the end of the movie. George Raft is convincing as a tough guy and does a good job overall.
This movie has a strong cast, good momentum throughout and an especially good performance by Ella Raines. Its weakest point, however, is its dialogue which isn't as sharp or as witty as this type of crime drama requires.