This is what film making should be. Cornel Wilde stars as a police lieutenant who is trying to get evidence on a big city crime boss named Mr. Brown. Brown is played by the wonderful Richard Conte.
Since there seems to be no evidence available to collect against Brown, Lt. Diamond goes after brown's girlfriend Susan, played by the very lovely Jean Wallace. Brown is protected by the law and others by two very evil hitmen Fante and Mingo played by Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman respectively.
Brian Donlevy is Joe McClure a partner of Mr. Brown's who wears a hearing aid. When he turns on Brown, director Joseph Lewis shows us something I have never seen in any other film but this one. Brown takes the hearing aid out of McClure's ear and then has him shot, and the entire scene is played out in total silence, and it is very effective.
This is a brutal and violent film filled with very dark characters in a very dark underbelly of society. As I said, it is one of the greatest films ever made and it is the epitome of film noir. The Blu-ray from Olive is picture perfect an the sound is excellent. This film finally got the treatment it deserves. It has been totally restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, and all I can say is GET THIS FILM!!
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