The Crooked Way (1949)

Director:

Robert Florey

Writers:

Robert Monroe (radio play "No Blade Too Sharp")
Richard H. Landau (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 April 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

Tagline:

Savage Story of A Guy Who Tried Going Straight On...The CROOKED WAY (reissue print ad)

Plot:

War hero recovers from amnesia & is confronted by his criminal past.

Plot Keywords:

Amnesia | Hospital | Veterans Hospital | Gangster | Los Angeles

Cast

John Payne	...	Eddie Rice aka Eddie Riccardi
Sonny Tufts	...	Vince Alexander
Ellen Drew	...	Nina Martin
Rhys Williams	...	Lieutenant Joe Williams
Percy Helton	...	Petey
John Doucette	...	Sgt. Barrett
Charles Evans	...	Captain Anderson (as Charlie Evans)
Greta Granstedt	...	Hazel Downs
Raymond Largay	...	Arthur Stacey, M.D.
Harry Bronson	...	Danny
Hal Baylor	...	Coke (as Hal Fieberling)
Don Haggerty	...	Hood
Jack Overman	...	Hood
Crane Whitley	...	Doctor Kemble / Off-Screen Narrator
John Harmon	...	Kelly

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #13659) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:(Banned) | Sweden:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Benedict Bogeaus Production

A good film Noir that's worth a look

I saw this at the 2006 Palm Springs Film Noir Festival and I had never seen this before and enjoyed seeing it on the big screen for my first time viewing it. This is your typical gangster B-movie 40's film whose filmmakers had no idea they were making a movie that would be called Film Noir in the future but were artistically doing their best with a low budget, a B-list cast and a popular theme of returning WWII vets. This vet is played by John Payne who has heroically won a Silver Star and a Purple Heart with a shrapnel injury that has left an inoperable piece of metal lodged in his brain that has resulted in irreversible amnesia. All he knows is he enlisted out of L.A so he returns there to try to trace his past only to find as soon as he steps of the bus that he has a criminal past, a former wife, and a former gangster associate who wants him dead. Robert Florey who directed crime, horror, comedy and adventure films is the director toward the end of his film career. He had directed such films as The cocoanuts, Tarzan and the Mermaids, Rogues Regiment and Ex-Lady and would make only toe more films after this before permanently moving to television directing. Noted cinematographer John Alton who in his career did such films as Elmer Gantry, An American in Paris, Father of the Bride, The People Against O'Hara, The Amazing Mr. X, Raw Deal, He walked By night, T-Men and The Madonna's Secret is the films director of photography. Joseph Kish is the films set decorator. Kish, during his career won an Academy Award for Ship of Fools and received three additional nominations for Joan of Arc, Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Slender Thread. This was adapted from Robert Monroe's radio play No Blade Too Sharp by screenwriter Richard H. Landau. Rouding out the cast are sonny Tufts, Ellen Drew, Rhys Williams, Percy Helton, John Doucette and Don Haggerty. An average story that is quite violent. Good acting performances and a great look to this film. Exterior shots of interest capture 1949 L.A. In a continuity goof the clock on the bail bond office is 10:25 and they leave and go to a hotel where the clock is 9:20 and make a call to the casino where the clock is 8:20. Later in the film at the bail bond office the shadows from the sun through the window on the walls are exactly the same at 1:25 as they were earlier at 10:25. I would give this a 7.5 out of 10.