directed by Phil Karlson
83 minutes
Cabbie Ernie Driscoll (John Payne) finds out that his wife is cheating on him. When he goes to try and reconcile with her he finds her dead, in his cab. Aspiring Broadway actress Linda James (Evelyn Keyes) uses her acting chops to help him figure out who killed his wife and catch up to them.
Thoughts
I saw this movie as part of the 2025 edition of the Noir City DC film festival.
This film is a little wacky and fairly melodramatic. The way that Linda gets involved with Ernie is weird. Evelyn Keyes facial acting is off the charts at times.
Ernie gets shot in the chest in the last few minutes of the movie. He not only survives but he gets up after getting shot in the chest (without assistance from anyone else), chases down the guy who shot him, and gets into a fist fight with him.
Ernie acts like he's in some pain but the whole thing was just a little too far fetched for me. Did I mention the voice over narration by Ernie as he is chasing down the shooter? It made me laugh because it was just too much.
Was this movie fun? Yes, but I wouldn't say it's a good movie. I'm glad I've seen it but it requires a bigger suspension of disbelief than I could muster. I don't think the problem here is the acting although I wasn't impressed by any of the performances. I think the heart of my problem with this movie is with the writing.
Notes
I've seen John Payne in a couple other movies: Kansas City Confidential (1952) and Silver Lode (1954).
This is third movie that Evelyn Keyes has been in that I have seen at this year's edition of Noir City DC. The other two were The Prowler (1951) and Hell's Half Acre (1954).
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