Wow, not only had it been six months since my last arguable film noir; it had been nearly a year since my last black and white film noir. I thought I generally liked this genre, but perhaps I fear on some level that they can negatively affect my worldview if I don't space them.
A man nicknamed Skip (Richard Widmark) stealthily lifts a wallet from a woman named Candy (Jean Peters). This would not be an uncommon New York City occurrence, except that the wallet contains a special microfilm that Candy was supposed to deliver on behalf of ex-boyfriend Joey (Richard Kiley). Skip doesn't already know about the microfilm, and Candy has no clue what's on it, but Joey acts as though his life depends on it. He insists that Candy do whatever it takes to recover the microfilm, through legal or illegal channels, with the considerable cash he gives her. She finds his secret dirtier than she thought, and neither she nor Skip likes what they've gotten mixed up with....
OK, if the Netflix jacket tells you, then so can I: Joey is part of a communist ring, which was particularly unwelcome in the Cold War. Even unpatriotic, gutter-level criminals such as Skip would prefer no dealings with them unless extremely profitable. The microfilm contents, tho basically inscrutable to us when displayed, spill state secrets. Good thing a U.S. spy (Willis Bouchey) was watching for the handoff when Skip unwittingly intervened.
This is one of those noirs where, while we can afford some sympathy for the protagonist, nobody is all that likable. I'd almost put Skip below Joey. The former, a pickpocket on his third strike, effortlessly proclaims innocence and accuses the police captain (Murvyn Vye) of having it in for him. At other times, he's shamelessly open about stealing if he's sure the victim won't go to the police. He gets rough with Candy when she tracks him down, planting a kiss on her at an uninviting moment.
The worst part to me is that Candy crushes on him -- and the movie makers apparently want us to believe that's good. I knew from Joey that she had poor taste in men, but what's there to like in Skip (yet)? That's the kind of lousy setup I expect from a bad romance novel. Hope no viewers got the wrong idea about reality from it.
The other major character is the oddly named woman Moe (Thelma Ritter), who peddles neckties and underworld information to anyone with money. Despite a supporting role as a go-between, she might be the most interestingly developed personality of all. Certainly her dynamics with the others stand out. I can see why Ritter got an Oscar nod for this.
We don't see much action until the final third of the 80 minutes. What we get is not exactly epic, but at least it brings out the noblest and least noble aspects of the key players. And if I like anything about the writing of this flick, it's in the dialog. So what if not much is quotable? It's crisp.
The only other Sam Fuller movie I've seen is The Big Red One. While neither hit is excellent in my mind, they are so markedly different that I wouldn't mind checking out more from him.
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