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Absolutely the worst movie.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is a moderately successful noir film that has some snappy dialog and good performances by Dick Powel, Raymond Burr and Jane Wyatt. But Elizabeth Scott is atrocious. She is given one of the most meaty roles of her career and she gives one of the most wooden and passionless performances I have ever seen by a female actor. There were so many female actors of the time who could have been selected for this role and given much better performances. The standout in the film is Raymond Burr. He is brilliant and manages to act rings around Scott when they are in any scenes together. IT is a well made film and well directed. But Scott is not up to the job. It would be nice if it was remade with a better actor in the starring role.

Though many people deem this late 40s film a "film noir" it has only a passing resemblance to the classic noir films. There is a basically good guy (Dick Powell) who is led astray by a woman (Liz Scott) but she's not exactly the femme fatale we expect. There is a bad guy (Raymund Burr) but he is alone and there is not the usual assorted character actors comprising his gang. The star is an insurance agent, but the beat is not the naked city but the bright and shiny suburbs. Even worse, there is no rain, no back streets, very few night shots, and at the end, the hero doesn't get what one comes to expect from a classic film noir. Film noir it ain't, at least not in the classic sense.Director Andre de Toth (1913-2002) is best known for "House of Wax" and his westerns, although he did do a classic film noir ("Crime Wave" in 1954) and many of his films did have noir elements, probably as a result of his European film background. The film does have a film noir cinematographer, Harry J. Wild (1901-61) who shot such classics as "Murder My Sweet" (1944) and "Cornered" (1945), both of which starred Powell.If you're looking for classic film noir, look elsewhere.

I've now watched a few Dick Powell-starring noir movies and I have really enjoyed them. He does the snappy patter about as well as anyone this side of Bogart. I had had seen Murder, My Sweet and I have always been a big fan of that movie. This is about a guy who really doesn't know how good he's got it--and gets himself knee deep in trouble when he meets Lizabeth Scott, while working an insurance case. Scott does not play the bad girl you might think in this movie, but is a victim of her own allure. Raymond Burr is creepy as a private investigator who works cases for Powell and Jane Wyatt is absolutely beautiful as Powell's strong, loyal wife. I give this a 7 -- great ambiance and a colorful supporting cast helps Powell do what he does so well. If you like this one see 'Cry Danger.'

Potentially interesting film noir about a married man who falls for a sexy blonde is ruined by the miscast Lizabeth Scott. I'm not a fan of Scott's. I don't find her attractive or alluring and this role calls for both. When the movie's plot revolves around men going gaga over a lady, it's kind of important that lady be the type you could see men going gaga over. Like Lana Turner or Rita Hayworth. Not a woman with masculine bone structure and a voice like an emphysemic septuagenarian. So yeah I don't get it. I don't get the appeal of Lizabeth Scott and I fail to see how any man who has a young Jane Wyatt waiting at home would rather hang out with her. Beyond the sex appeal issue, Scott delivers her lines like she's reading them off cue cards. There are some noticeably punchy lines in this script that a better actress would have made work. But when Scott delivers them it's just dreadful.On the other hand we have Dick Powell and he's great. Unfortunately he has zero chemistry with Scott. Since that is a pivotal part of the plot, the whole thing falls apart. We also have Raymond Burr as a heavy who, quite bafflingly to me, is also enamored with Scott. Like I said I just don't get it. A better actress in this part with real sex appeal that I can buy men desiring and this movie becomes so much better. Obviously my opinion is in the minority. This film currently has a good rating on IMDb for a film this old. Clearly others don't have the issues with Lizabeth Scott that I do. So take that into account and decide for yourself whether this film is worth a shot or not.