Alicia I love this movie so much

Nonureva Really Surprised!

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Michael O'Keefe This Edward Small Production delivers a high quality Broderick Crawford vehicle directed by Arnold Laven. A crime drama done in documentary style; a 1954 vintage thriller starring Crawford as FBI Agent John Ripley. When fellow agent Zack Stewart(Kenneth Tobey)is murdered, the three cases he was currently working on were assigned to Ripley. Nothing is going to get in the way of Ripley seeking to identify his colleague's killer and bring him to justice. While on the investigation, he stumbles onto an extortion case that involves a crafty widow, Kate Martell(Ruth Roman), who may just be linked to Stewart's death and the cases he was working on. A very strong supporting cast in this 85 minute black and white feature. Notable other players: Martha Hyer, Max Showalter, Gene Reynolds and Claude Akins.

secondtake Down Three Dark Streets (1954)An FBI man has been killed, and the suspects are related to the three cases the agent was working one when he died. So all three cases become priorities, thinking that by solving them all, the cop killer will come to light.The title of the movie is a cue that this is in some ways a three part movie, with three basically distinct, if intertwined plots. But what holds it together is a single character, an FBI agent played by Broderick Crawford. And it's Crawford who holds it together beautifully. He plays his part with cool, somber, and weary reserve (and if you know Crawford in his more famous roles, such as "All the King's Men" or even more in "Born Yesterday").Each of the three stories is layered up as you go, which makes it interestingly complex, and in each there is one leading woman connected to a suspect. Ruth Roman is the most powerful of these three, though the other two are bit weak. Luckily, the weakest of these, Ruth Hyer, loses relevance so that Roman and Marisa Pavan (playing a blind woman fairly well) carry their shares. And in a way you never quite notice the uneven acting because the events tumble one after another, through lots of changes of location, and from one plot to the next. It's filmed with economy but good drama. And the story, which might lose some viewers because of its complexity, also has the beauty of not being obvious, with lots of good dialog. Why isn't it quite a classic? There's something awkward about the many parts that have to be connected, and an occasional odd aspect, like the unlikely ruse of a blanket carried as Roman's child into her car (it looks very much like a blanket). Still, there is a lot of suspense throughout, dark alleys, drives at night, phones that ring and aren't answered, all along waiting for something and not knowing what. An intense example is when Roman takes a senselessness lonely walk in a cemetery and a car pulls up. "I'm waiting for a friend." "Maybe I'm that friend you're waiting for."This is good movie-making, and it makes for a good movie. Then, to cap it off, it has what is maybe the best vintage use of the famous Hollywood letters on the hill overlooking movieland. Odd to say, but I think the movie is worth watching for that alone. This is exactly when the industry was falling apart (legally and literally), and the letters were no accident. There is also a nice use of that trope of money blowing away in the wind (made more archetypal in "The Killing" in 1958). The last line? "Sometimes you meet some nice people in this business." Perfect.

BILLYBOY-10 FBI story about Brodrick Crawford working three cases at once trying to find a killer who may also be an extortionist. First there's the criminal on the run who kills a gas station attendant. His va-va-voom semi floozie moll played by Martha Hyer is entertaining, Second story is an innocent caught up in a hot car ring afraid to squeal and his adroitly played blind wife, Marisa Pivan & finally single mom Ruth Roman who is being squeezed out of her dead husbands $10,000 life insurance payout under death threat of her young child. Crawford is intense & thorough yet soft & human toward victims. The film moves along briskly, never lags..very economical pace & direction. Lots of L.A. exteriors, good storyline and interwoven plots/characters. I found this exciting & suspenseful & was fooled by who the villain actually was due to red herrings so the final revelation was a part of the overall thrill, the climax taking place in Hollywood hills (is that vacant lot at the ice-cream truck scene the same one used in Strangers When We Meet where Kirk Douglas & Kim Novak rendevoux)? I never heard of this film, glad NETFLIX obtained it for instant streaming an was well worth the watch. Definitely check it out.

Neil Doyle Based on a novel by The Gordons called "Case File: F.B.I.", this is a semi-documentary style crime drama from Columbia starring BRODERICK CRAWFORD as a diligent F.B.I. agent John Ripley assigned to crack a few unsolved cases when a fellow agent on the job is killed in the line of duty.RUTH ROMAN, MARISA PAVAN and MARTHA HYER are the three women connected to the cases, all of whom give good performances but Pavan is particularly touching as a blind woman.The documentary style is nicely handled and there's a twist at the end that came as a real surprise to me.Not great, but an interesting example of satisfactory film noir.