A man named Leon "Foggy" Poole (Wendell Corey) stages a bank robbery where he works. The robbery doesn't go off as planned and he is connected to the crime by the police.
Detective Sam Wagner (Joseph Cotten) is sent to arrest Poole and in the crossfire Poole's wife is killed by Wagner. In the court room Poole spots Wagner beautiful wife Lila (Rhonda Fleming) and vows revenge telling Wagner "You killed my wife, and yours should also be dead".
After two years, Poole escapes from an honor farm and goes on a killing spree while trying to gain his long awaited revenge.
Poole holds up in the house of a war buddy named Otto Flanders (John Larch). However things don't work out well and Poole kills Flanders right in front of his terrified wife. The police throw up roadblocks, but Poole manages to slip thru each one of them.
Wagner and his two partners, Denny (Alan Hale, Jr.) and Detective Chris Gillespie (Michael Pate) set up an elaborate trap to catch Poole...but will it work?
Budd Boetticher, who directed some of the greatest westerns starring Randolph Scott helmed this effort and it has all the usual earmarks of greatness. The actors all do an excellent job and the tension builds like a slow boiling pot until the explosive ending.
Fleming is simply stunning as always and she is a standout in this production. The rest of the cast includes Virginia Christine, Stanley Adams, Richard Cutting, Frank Gerstle, Richard Collier, Arthur Space and Stafford Repp.
This is a well done and excellent film noir that I cannot recommend enough. Picture and sound quality are both very good.
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