starring Rod Steiger, David Knight, Marla Landi
directed by Ken Annakin
103 minutes
Carl Schaffner flees to Mexico after learning that Scotland Yard is after him for financial misdeeds. He runs into and changes places with Paul Scarff, a man he met on the train south to a Texas bordertown. His bid to flee to Mexico is complicated by the fact that the man with whom he changed places is wanted for murder in Mexico.
Scarff gets killed by the police in Texas. This complicates Schaffner;s situation there because Scarff was a local hero in the border town where he winds up.
Scotland Yard figures out where Schaffner is holed up but has no easy way to get him extradited back to the UK as long as he remains in Mexico.
I saw this movie as part of the 2024 edition of the Noir City DC film festival. Foster Hirsch introduced it. This movie was the back half of a double feature. The front half of the double feature was Zero Focus(1961). It was introduced by Foster Hirsch.
Bernard Lee played the part of Chief Inspector Hadden of Scotland Yard. I know him best from the early James Bond films. He played the part of M in the first 11 James Bond films.
This is a British film and according to Foster Hirsch was shot entirely in the UK and Spain. Most of the actors are British.
This movie is infused with a lot of humor. I had trouble taking it seriously which makes me question if it is really noir. I didn't really feel myself pulled into it because of the light touch with which many scenes were played.
I didn't know who to root for or if the movie was even pushing me to root for anyone in particular. I didn't really care about any of the characters. The plot and pacing weren't that impressive. There are some good bits, scenes here and there but the story as a whole didn't work for me.
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