Tight, driven little piece of "film noir" with MacMurray as a good cop driven to distraction (and murder) by the ganster moll (Novak, in her film debut) he's been assigned to spy on. Malone fills in for a charming bit as the girl-next-door who MacMurray's sidekick falls for (she should have been allowed to steal the movie from the inadequate Novak, as well). Typically, a mistake is made by the criminals, and they WILL pay for it, but they're having fun along the way.
Some confusion in the script seems to have resulted in Novak's character turning sympathetic (to the audience) towards the end, sounding a disingenuous note (this kind of thing always smacks of studio interference when it concerns a new "star"). Still, good solid bit of film.
Some confusion in the script seems to have resulted in Novak's character turning sympathetic (to the audience) towards the end, sounding a disingenuous note (this kind of thing always smacks of studio interference when it concerns a new "star"). Still, good solid bit of film.