Stephanie Bachelor is the wife of a wealthy author who disappeared 7 years ago, after writing an expose on fraudulent bankers. She thinks it's time to get him declared dead, and hires lawyer Richard Powers. Bachelor admits to her lover George meeker she killed her husband, and after blackmailing banker Russell Hicks for several years, whom she kept out of her husband's book, she feels it's finally time to get her husband's fortune. But then a cheque appears, with her dead husband's signature on it, as well as a jacket belonging to him. Keene follows the trail and comes across Lynne Roberts, who initially helps him. But Bachelor is not the only one with a secret.
Clocking in at under an hour, this movie holds more plot than several of these B-programmers combined, while keeping the amount of plot holes respectably low (relatively speaking). It's a lean and mean movie that was made to entertain and that it does reasonably well. And while it doesn't have the typical noir-look (there are some venetian blinds shadows and such, but the interior scenes are remarkably brightly lit for a Republic quickie) it features a femme fatale, blackmail, murder, secret identities and a dead man who may be alive after all. In short, a decent example of an early poverty row noir.
Bachelor is good here, and who doesn't enjoy watching a scheming femme fatale work her magic with a sly smile across her face?! Roberts is also decent in a 'girl Friday' type role who turns out to be someone different altogether. Powers, who had worked under the name Tom Keene for over a decade prior to the name-change (his real name's George Duryea, but he's not related to Dan Duryea), is okay but lacks presence and charisma.
There is nothing really remarkable about the directing, except for a handful of nicely done voice-overs that are mixed well with spoken words. The movie itself doesn't really stand out overall, but it holds up decently well, and has a fine femme fatale as well as an alternative use for diamond bracelets that your local jeweler will not tell you about. 6/10