This film noir starts off in the present with Mitchum as an automobile technician with a past working in a small town. Mitchum is courting one of the town's young ladies, and proceeds to tell her about his rather questionable past in an attempt to clear his conscience. Cue the flashback sequences!
Past-Mitchum was hired by Kirk Douglas to find his (Kirk's) girlfriend, Kathy, who has apparently stolen 40 G's and is on the run. Mitchum tracks Kathy to Mexico, meets her in a cafe, and the two quickly strike up a whirlwind romance. From the moment I saw Jane Greer enter that cafe, I instantly knew she was going to play him for a sap (that's just the way the gun fires). Throughout the remainder of the film, the viewer is left wondering who is taking who for a ride, and who is on the level. The plot is filled with murder, threats, fear, greed, dysfunctional friendships/relationships, and two-timing: some of the most prolific characteristics of a noir. Mitchum was his regular noir self (which is a good thing), Jane Greer did a great job as the two-timing, conniving dame, Douglas was eerily convincing as a rather weird corrupt individual (like in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers; 1946), and Dickie Moore played Mitchum's deaf and mute assistant.
Aside: 37 years later Hollywood would try to remake this classic. The only thing the two films had in common was Mexico. It was the very first sign that the movies were losing their originality and their nerve. But it was just a rumble of thunder in the distance. The real storm wouldn't come for more than 20 years after that.
Past-Mitchum was hired by Kirk Douglas to find his (Kirk's) girlfriend, Kathy, who has apparently stolen 40 G's and is on the run. Mitchum tracks Kathy to Mexico, meets her in a cafe, and the two quickly strike up a whirlwind romance. From the moment I saw Jane Greer enter that cafe, I instantly knew she was going to play him for a sap (that's just the way the gun fires). Throughout the remainder of the film, the viewer is left wondering who is taking who for a ride, and who is on the level. The plot is filled with murder, threats, fear, greed, dysfunctional friendships/relationships, and two-timing: some of the most prolific characteristics of a noir. Mitchum was his regular noir self (which is a good thing), Jane Greer did a great job as the two-timing, conniving dame, Douglas was eerily convincing as a rather weird corrupt individual (like in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers; 1946), and Dickie Moore played Mitchum's deaf and mute assistant.
Aside: 37 years later Hollywood would try to remake this classic. The only thing the two films had in common was Mexico. It was the very first sign that the movies were losing their originality and their nerve. But it was just a rumble of thunder in the distance. The real storm wouldn't come for more than 20 years after that.