Tagline: A MAN - Trying to run away from his past... A WOMAN - Trying to escape her future! (more)
Plot Summary: Jeff Bailey, small-town gas pumper, has his mysterious past catch up with him one day when he's ordered to meet with gambler Whit Sterling...
(more)
User Comments:
Beloved film classic should be seen by more people
(more)
Date: 28 October 2002 Summary: Beloved film classic should be seen by more people
Terrific exotic adventure/melodrama with gothic undertones. Douglas follows
Mitchum following Greer to Mexico; murder and robbery follow everywhere
femme fatale Greer goes. She's excellent; vulnerable eyes revealing the
fear motivating her totally irrational, greedy actions. She and Mitchum are
made for each other (it's a shame that this and the less exciting "The Big
Steal" are their only films together as far as I know, although Greer did
make a good pairing with the comparably skilled Richard Widmark in "Run for
the Sun"). Every step of their twisted journey feels inevitable, painful,
and joyous, like a death-row inmate smoking his last cigarette. Mitchum is
at his best here as the patsy for Greer and Doublas' schemes, who plays
along as if he knows better but is truly seeking absolution from
death.
One of the best films ever made by Hollywood, all the more amazing
considering it was made almost on the fly (what people today call a "film
noir" but what the producers though of as a "B" movie).
Tourneur is one of the best low budget directors in the business; fans of
good film will seek out his movies, which cover all the different genres of
film. His father was one of the creators of film style, and he has a
striking sense of visual composition himself, which he puts to excellent use
in this, possibly his best film.
company.
Advertise on IMDb.
License our content.