For a moment, I expected a quirky western. As it is, I barely understand where the title came from. A character does ride an allegedly pink carousel horse (we can't tell in black and white), but that's not important to the plot, and any symbolism in it is lost on me. Maybe the filmmakers just wanted something that didn't sound like a cookie-cutter noir.
Ex-soldier "Lucky" Gagin (Robert Montgomery, also directing) comes to the New Mexican border town of San Pablo to confront Frank Hugo (Fred Clark), a mob boss who ordered the killing of Gagin's friend "Shorty" over a blackmailing. Gagin's lucky charm is his pistol, but he wants to try his own hand at blackmail rather than vengeful murder. FBI Agent Retz (Art Smith), who's kept tabs on both Gagin and Hugo, advises against this, but given Hugo's historical pull with the government, Gagin doesn't readily trust Retz. Hugo's moll, Marjorie (Andrea King), asks Gagin to raise the ransom and cut her in, but he's not sure what to make of her either.
Until I looked up more info, I assumed that the setting was Mexico proper, because nearly everyone in town apart from the aforementioned characters seems to have Spanish as a first language. You'll hear quite a bit of untranslated Spanish, which may explain why the DVD came with closed captioning on by default (I had to use a menu not on the disc to turn it off), but you could get the gist without knowing a word of it. Peppered throughout the story are signs of "the fiesta," featuring an annual parade and burning of a Zozobra effigy, so the hotels are fully booked before Gagin arrives.
Two Spanish speakers in particular stand out. One is Pancho (Oscar-nominated Thomas Gomez), a man willing to help Gagin a lot after the latter buys drinks for the bar. The other is Pila (Wanda Hendrix), a bashful yet intrigued American Indian waif who annoys Gagin, partly by not answering more than half his questions, but elicits his sympathy and eventual gratitude. FWIW, she's the one on the pink horse, and Pancho operates the carousel.
Problematic? Maybe a little. I'm sure modern Hollywood wouldn't show a Latino as stereotypical as Pancho, and Pila is so wide-eyed and naive as to evoke an overgrown six-year-old. But I didn't perceive them or anyone else as an insult to their race or ethnicity. I'm actually a little more concerned that Hugo uses a hearing aid, making him yet another villain with a disability.
Gagin, for his part, is usually blunt and unfriendly but generous to those who don't oppose him, perhaps in anticipation of a big payoff. He doesn't seem particularly skilled at much of anything except maybe brawling. He's certainly not very bright. Then again, as the characters often tell each other, brains are in rather short supply herein. Only Retz strikes me as halfway smart.
I give the writing a pass all the same, because it feels relatively realistic as film noir goes. Time passes pretty slowly for 101 minutes. While there isn't a whole lot of violence, injuries are not easy to shake off. The dialog is not especially pithy or quotable.
I can see why RtPH made little bank at the box office but also why it gained popularity with old-school cinephiles. It doesn't make me want to check out more of Montgomery's work, but it was worth my viewing.
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