WHISTLE STOP 1946 (MILL CREEK)

Another interesting Film Noir I had never seen before.

When a young woman returns to her small town she finds things start going awry almost from the start.

Ava Gardner is Mary, a beautiful woman who, when she arrives in her home town rekindles friendships with two men she used to know and this causes friction between the men, of course.

George Raft is Kenny Veech, a loafer and a gambler who has nothing to his name while Lew Lentz (Tom Conway)is pretty well to do and debonair. It is these two very different men that clash over Mary.

Kenny and his bartender friend plan to steal $15,000 from Lew, and Lew, in turn tries to frame both men for murder.

Lew ends up dead and Kenny and his friend find themselves on the run. Kenny is shot, but both men escape and lay low for a while.

This is a very convoluted plot an there is a lot going on. The ending is a neat little twist and more upbeat than most film noir I have seen. Gardner is beautiful and I found it rather odd that she preferred the Raft character, but then again this is what makes film noir so damned interesting.

I had never heard of this film until I ran across it on a MIll Creek set. It's a pretty good little thriller.