Rating of
2.5/4
A rather dark road
uberalpha - wrote on 12/11/07
Bogart and Bacall in their first film since they made their marriage public--it was a secret during The Big Sleep. Their on screen chemistry works very well in this film and Bogart's character is much more human. The combination of location shoots and first person camera perspective until Bogart's character, Parry, gets cosmetic plastic surgery presents an intriguing look for the film. Functionally, it makes it much easier to empathize immediately with the position of the escaped convict. It's not just Parry who is being threatened, but people are looking into the camera, at the audience and threatening the viewer. Leonard Maltin--in the making of featurette--puts it best, this is a good film, not a great one. That said, if you're looking for more original crime noir films from the 40's this makes for a good choice.
