Atmosphere trumps plot in this one. B-pic specialist Joseph H. Lewis neatly handles the mob story tropes & chores (adding a few daring sexual touches along the way) as obsessed police Lieutenant Cornel Wilde (with those big, brown puppy-dog eyes) goes over budget and over-the-top on a one-man mission to take down Richard Conte’s Mr. Big mob guy.* Wilde's just as obsessed with Conte’s sleepy-eyed gal Jean Wallace, a fading glamour-puss who loathes, but can’t leave her lover. (And what a lover with Lewis filming Conte in a manner to suggest oral pleasures never before seen on Stateside screens.) Brian Donlevy has a memorable turn as Conte’s hard-of-hearing aide, while Lee Van Cleef & Earl Holliman find a gay angle to their pair of enforcers. But what really makes this one sing is cinematographer John (‘Prince of Darkness’) Alton who simply tears the film noir joint apart with darkly etched low-key/contrasty lighting. Talk about thru a glass darkly!
LINK: A glistening print (from TCM) is currently on youtube. Grab it while it lasts!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIkCXF9Y4ow
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Actually, a two-man mission with Wilde’s right-hand man, sad sack character actor Jay Adler, in one of his best roles.
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