It doesn't happen very often, but it did here. The film's narrator and principal character, self-described crime kingpin Shubunka portrayed by Barry Sullivan, winds up dead at the end of the picture. How he gets to tell his story is a bit of a disconnect, but if that's something you can overlook, the ride is worth it.
One never knows what you'll get with one of these Poverty Row efforts but this one looks like a keeper, due principally to it's great black and white photography, noir elements and a rather fine supporting cast. Shubunka himself is a conflicted fellow, one might even go so far as to say a bit unbalanced. The overbearing relationship he has with girlfriend Nancy Starr (Belita) contributes to his eventual undoing, though I'm inclined to believe it would have happened anyway, with or without her falling in with rival gangster Cornell (Sheldon Leonard).
There's a puzzling side story involving Harry Morgan's soda jerk character Shorty wooing the older Mrs. Olga Ostroleng, her marital status perhaps kept purposely dubious. Shorty's proclamations of worldly conquests fall flat when he fails to win even the slightest peck on the cheek from the frumpy older woman. Unceremoniously dumped by Olga into the alley out her back door, Shorty's fate portends the downfall of the rest of the losers of Neptune Beach, including soda shop owner Jammey (Akim Tamiroff) and gambler Karty (John Ireland), as well as Shubunka himself. For old time cinema fans, stay alert and you'll catch Shelley Winters as the replacement cashier at the soda shop looking completely disinterested in what her boss Jammey has to say.
One never knows what you'll get with one of these Poverty Row efforts but this one looks like a keeper, due principally to it's great black and white photography, noir elements and a rather fine supporting cast. Shubunka himself is a conflicted fellow, one might even go so far as to say a bit unbalanced. The overbearing relationship he has with girlfriend Nancy Starr (Belita) contributes to his eventual undoing, though I'm inclined to believe it would have happened anyway, with or without her falling in with rival gangster Cornell (Sheldon Leonard).
There's a puzzling side story involving Harry Morgan's soda jerk character Shorty wooing the older Mrs. Olga Ostroleng, her marital status perhaps kept purposely dubious. Shorty's proclamations of worldly conquests fall flat when he fails to win even the slightest peck on the cheek from the frumpy older woman. Unceremoniously dumped by Olga into the alley out her back door, Shorty's fate portends the downfall of the rest of the losers of Neptune Beach, including soda shop owner Jammey (Akim Tamiroff) and gambler Karty (John Ireland), as well as Shubunka himself. For old time cinema fans, stay alert and you'll catch Shelley Winters as the replacement cashier at the soda shop looking completely disinterested in what her boss Jammey has to say.