Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Prismark10 Dead Reckoning is a film noir that would had benefited from a stronger leading lady and if the film had not followed the strictures of the film noir genre so slavishly.Humphrey Bogart gives a sardonic but tough performance as Captain Rip Murdock (Bogart) who searches for his friend and army buddy Sergeant Johnny Drake (William Prince) who fled when he was told he was to receive a medal after returning home from the war.Murdock goes to a southern coastal town and finds out that Drake has died. As he digs closer, he finds that Johnny was once involved with a femme fatale, singer Coral Chandler (Lizabeth Scott) and got mixed up with murder and a gangster. A reason why Johnny craved anonymity.The plot is perfunctory but does feel a little slippery here and there by being a little too convoluted at times.

jimrym As I read others more positive reviews, I ask, "Was I watching the same movie". This is rehashed Noir complete with stereotyped dialog, grainy stock and uplighting ad nauseam. Only its Bogey! Albeit at the midpoint of his career...so this could have been a much, much better film. However the acting is terribly wooden. Bogey looks tired and uninspired and there is very little chemistry between he and the "femme fatale" Lizbeth Scott, who was ostensibly cast as a Bacall look alike. (husky voice and all). The set was supposed to be tropical, but was shot in NYC. The green screen beach scenes looked fake. I could go on and on. One parting comment, though, regarding the incredibly sexist scene where "Rip" explains his philosophy on women to Coral..."Woman should be shrunk down and kept in a man's pocket...and taken out, blown up, and be there for him looking pretty." (not exact quote, by you get the picture) Gag me with a maggot. The ending was, perhaps, the worst death scene I have seen. After a horrendous car crash, (head on with a tree at 70mph)Rip has a broken arm and Coral (on her death bed), with a designer head wrap and no bruising, closes her lovely eyes and parachutes off to the great beyond. Pathetic. The movie works as a reference point for Bogey film buffs and little else. -Jim

vincentlynch-moonoi The first thing you may notice about this film is that the film print has not been well preserved...it is far from crisp. And, the production values do not appear to be high to begin with...such as when you see those tall mountain in Florida!!! But, this was a Columbia film, not Bogie's usual higher-budget Warner Brothers pic.The second thing you may notice about this film is something that with me always gains a film a few points -- it's something somewhat different than the usual plot. Oh, definitely film noir, but a different type of story.And, the basic story is this: Bogart and William Prince are returning to the States and about to be decorated for their war service. When Prince discovers that, he immediately disappears at a train station. Bogart, the loyal friend, decides to track him down and find out why. He ends up in the imaginary Gulf City, Florida (there is a Gulf City, but in reality it has a population of under 100 people). Prince has been there, but has disappeared again...only to be found burned to death in a car. As Bogart tracks things down further, he becomes entangled in a murder mystery from the past in which his friend was directly involved...as is a racketeer and the sultry Lizabeth Scott. Who is the guiltiest? The racketeer or Scott? Bogie finds out the hard way, and there are some neat twists along the way.Humphrey Bogart is fine here...the good guy, but not so good that he can't take care of himself...although he gets beat up along the way pretty well. It's a perfect role for Bogart. I've always enjoyed Lizabeth Scott, though I like her most in the Martin & Lewis film "Scared Stiff". This was only her third film, but the second to put her into a sort of film-noir persona. She's good here, but not yet at her best. It's noted by many that her role here is reminiscent of Lauren Bacall, which it is, although I think this was the persona Scott had in most of her films, not an obvious attempt to imitate Bacall because it was a Bogart picture. Morris Carnovsky is good as the racketeer; he did not often have such important roles in films. We don't really see much of William Prince as Sgt. Johnny Drake/John Joseph Preston, but after all, he is killed off pretty quickly in the film. You will enjoy seeing Marvin Miller as the second tough guy; Miller was most famous for his role in the television series "The Millionaire". Wallace Ford is around for a small part as a safe-cracker.This is a good film and I enjoyed it...although not enough for it to end up on my DVD shelf.

juanandrichard I just watched this movie again and, despite the many derogatory comments about Lizabeth Scott's acting abilities in the other reviews, I have to say that I found her far more interesting to watch than Lauren Bacall of that same period. She was certainly adequate to the role as written. FYI,she was under contract to Hal Wallis at this time (who released through Paramount)and was a last minute replacement for Rita Hayworth, who withdrew at the last minute because she didn't want to play another bad girl after "Gilda". The look of the movie is great, the supporting cast perfect and Bogart, as always, delivers the goods. I sense from some of the other reviewers that they are looking at this mystery (PLEASE, permanently retire that tiresome term, "Film Noir"!)in contemporary terms, rather than through the eyes of 1947 audiences, who generally went to the movies to be entertained, and not to over-analyze what is essentially a mystery. If one wants to have a good time, which was the idea behind movies of that period, you will be. Certainly far more than most of what is produced today, with forgettable faces, dumbed-down plots and questionable taste. I give this movie an 8.