Rick Mason is the no-good lowdown rat who tries to capitalize on postwar patriotism and grief. He finagles a war widow into giving up her savings for a nonexistent memorial. When Mason falls in love with the widow he has pangs of conscience, but he reckons without his con-artist boss, who tends to bolster his arguments with muscle and bullets.
John Payne
Rick Mason
Joan Caulfield
Deborah Owens Clark
Dan Duryea
Silky Randall
Shelley Winters
Tory
Dorothy Hart
Madeline
Richard Rober
Max
Dan O'Herlihy
Duke
Nicholas Joy
Walter Vanderline
Percy Helton
Charlie Jordan
Walter Greaza
Mr. Owens
Patricia Alphin
Waitress
Harry Antrim
Mr. McNulty
Russ Conway
Detective
Paul Brinegar
Mechanic
Don Wilson
Master of Ceremonies
Oliver Hartwell
Black Porter (uncredited)
Director
George Sherman
Novel
Lois Eby
Novel
John Fleming
Screenplay
Lou Morheim
Screenplay
William Bowers
Screenplay
Herbert H. Margolis
July 9, 2022
7
Poor old war widow "Deb" (Joan Caulfield) is hoodwinked into donating her savings to build a memorial to her late husband by the sharp "Rick" (John Payne). It turns out that there is no such edifice, but "Rick" isn't able to be quite as cold and calculating as usual. He starts to fall for this dignified and respectable woman. That's a risky scenario, for his boss "Silky" (Dan Duryea) just wants the cash, and that's that. It doesn't help either that his bosses gal "Tory" (Shelley Winters) is pretty flaky, also quite keen on "Rick" and is quite shrewd at manipulation, too! Payne was never exactly versatile nor, for that matter, was the usually wooden Duryea but they do well enough with this solid story and whilst there is an inevitability to the ending, George Sherman manages to keep this well paced for 90 minutes and Winters plays her part really quite effectively. The lighting could have done with some extra wattage at times, but it is still good watch.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00