Astonishingly fine in atmosphere, characterization & suspense; especially for a B+ budget pic @ M-G-M, where tight purse strings usually purchased anodyne timidity. And a period piece, at that, as Dick Powell uncovers an assassination plot to take out President-Elect Abraham Lincoln on his way to inauguration, but can’t get his superiors to believe him. Largely set on a much-delayed express train heading south from New York, director Anthony Mann (with cinematographer Paul Vogel matching regular lenser John Alton in glistening darkness), along with scripters George Worthing Yates & Art Cohn, tightens the screws in solidly escalating well-plotted thrills & quick reverses. Capped with a late, gasp-worthy passenger reveal accomplished intuitively. A neat example of letting the audience join the dots for themselves. Paula Raymond makes a faceless female lead, but the rest of the cast quite exceptional for any budget; Adolphe Menjou, Will Geer, Marshall Thompson, Leif Erickson, Florence Bates and a standout perf from Ruby Dee. Ripe for remake, the film’s poor box-office may have put producers permanently off.
DOUBLE-BILL: More taut melodrama that barely leaves the train in next year's THE NARROW MARGIN/’52, a contempo film noir less daringly original than this.
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