Perhaps if this had been written with more detail rather than rushed out as a cheap little B, this could have been so much better. Most of the detail missing concerns disgraced drunken reporter George Nader who is the alcoholic whose girlfriend Joanna Moore and cop brother Brian Keith believe is crying wolf. When first seen, Nader is being removed from the drunk tank by Keith, and Moore seems ready to let him go. She's trying to get him back on his feet and on the job, giving him material on gangster Frank DeCova which would blow local mob activity right out of the city sewers.
For part of the beginning of the film, the audience spends time watching Nader try desperately to avoid drinking, and eventually, he's going through withdrawals which makes him seem even drunker. But an encounter with DeKova's floozy moll Virginia Field and later DeKova himself (believed to be dead in a bizarre twist) threatens Nader both soberly and physically, and this leads to an unbelievable conclusion that really defies any logic about people under the influence of alcohol or trying to get off the stuff.
Had there been five minutes of exposition before Nader was released from the drunk tank and a little bit more detail concerning how he sobered up enough to do what he does, this might have been a bit more believable if not entirely conclusive. He is very convincing though as a man going through the shakes and desperate not to touch any alcohol, and that raises my score for this film's rating. There could have also been more intense dealings with the crime elements, and this could have been as gripping as Murder My Sweet which came out over a decade before this. As a result, this is just a easily forgettable little noir programmer, just a tad too violent for 50's television but yet small screen stuff none the less.
For part of the beginning of the film, the audience spends time watching Nader try desperately to avoid drinking, and eventually, he's going through withdrawals which makes him seem even drunker. But an encounter with DeKova's floozy moll Virginia Field and later DeKova himself (believed to be dead in a bizarre twist) threatens Nader both soberly and physically, and this leads to an unbelievable conclusion that really defies any logic about people under the influence of alcohol or trying to get off the stuff.
Had there been five minutes of exposition before Nader was released from the drunk tank and a little bit more detail concerning how he sobered up enough to do what he does, this might have been a bit more believable if not entirely conclusive. He is very convincing though as a man going through the shakes and desperate not to touch any alcohol, and that raises my score for this film's rating. There could have also been more intense dealings with the crime elements, and this could have been as gripping as Murder My Sweet which came out over a decade before this. As a result, this is just a easily forgettable little noir programmer, just a tad too violent for 50's television but yet small screen stuff none the less.