Heist film by John Huston. Sam Jaffe, freshly out of prison, plans a bank robbery. Goon is Sterling Hayden. There is also a lock expert and a driver. It all works, except it doesn't. A gun goes off striking the lock breaker. The man who will buy the diamonds is actually broke. Sterling Hayden gets shot in a confrontation over the payoff. Jaffe gets arrested after he stays to watch a teen-age girl dance one more dance at a cafe. (He's portrayed as a pervert.)
Everything about the movie was excellent except the performance of Sterling Hayden. He's just wooden. Surly all the time, sneering all the time--why Jean Hagen, his moll, loves him is beyond any rational explanation. Too bad, because with a subtle performance this would be one of the all time great noir films. As it is, it's still quite good.
Everything about the movie was excellent except the performance of Sterling Hayden. He's just wooden. Surly all the time, sneering all the time--why Jean Hagen, his moll, loves him is beyond any rational explanation. Too bad, because with a subtle performance this would be one of the all time great noir films. As it is, it's still quite good.
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