If something sounds too good to be true, it definitely is. We have all heard that little saying and there is a reason it exists. Richard Conte (Johnny Denton) learns this lesson the hard way when two related things happen back-to-back; things that he should have been able to connect, yet he didn’t. The first is the arrival of an old friend who made it big in Chicago, Bob Gilmore (Bruce Bennett). Bob claims he has inherited a great sum of money and is looking for opportunities to use some of it to set up charity drives. Shortly afterwards, the second thing happens. Johnny is approached by an anonymous character who claims someone Johnny helped once is looking to repay the favor. He will call Johnny and give him early notice of gangland activities allowing Johnny to be there in time to get the exclusive stories, elevating his career as a journalist.
But these tips are almost immediately a problem when the police don’t believe Johnny just happened to be walking by when a hit takes place. The family of the murdered man doesn’t believe it either and two of them show up at his apartment and try to beat information out of him. Johnny ends up spending time in jail for refusing to tell the police who his source is, too. Meanwhile, through Bob’s influence, Johnny connects with Sister Mary Joan of Arc (Cathy Downs), a nun teaching at a Catholic school for young boys, and arranges with her a bazaar fundraiser. This goes off splendidly, but Sister Mary, hearing about Johnny’s arrest and why, is concerned for him as well as his partnership with Bob, whom she doesn’t trust.
This is a perfectly average noir film that fails to provide much of a mystery. By virtue of reason we are easily able to put two and two together to connect the arrival of Bob with Johnny’s sudden “gift” of information. Richard Conte is a serviceable, if somewhat vanilla, protagonist that is best when he is playing off of Sister Mary or the other female supporting character, Penny (Constance Smith). But when he is on his own, or sharing a scene with Bruce Bennett, he is less interesting. Still, the story is at least somewhat engaging and the movie never drags. But it is hard to root for Johnny when he is so easily manipulated by those around him. 1955 - 78 minutes
Comments
Post a Comment