Roger Corman the Producer wrote the story for this one. It's a good story that does twist in a direction that the viewer can not anticipate. They do drop a hint or 2 as it goes along but this ride is a pretty solid film for a budget B film. Seems the more films I watch from the mid 1950's, the more films I find that are good stories.
The opening scenes of this film with old Las Vegas and the Apache Hotel are priceless to folks who remember that era when Bugsy and the mob ruled the strip. This film title threw me because when I see the word Dragnet, I think of Jack Webb tv series. This film is far away from it.
An aged showgirl, who used to be a model, is murdered on the strip. An ex-marine who was with her in the Casino is pinned for the murder by a Native American Vegas detective. The evidence is all set up to frame him but who done it? Richard Conte is excellent in a sort of role like the Fugitive on TV. The police keep trying to close in but he enlists the help of 2 women to help him escape several times. Only the women aren't quite what they seem to be when he meets them on the road.
What impresses me for low budget is the quality of the script and the quality of the cast as everyone seems to fit their roles well. The main thing is the plot makes sense as it runs through but am surprised that the cast did not roast to death shooting this. This is Hollywood magic. The beating the cars take is pretty amazing too. Conte works out to be a pretty good roadside mechanic who fixes cars and his life in the process.
The opening scenes of this film with old Las Vegas and the Apache Hotel are priceless to folks who remember that era when Bugsy and the mob ruled the strip. This film title threw me because when I see the word Dragnet, I think of Jack Webb tv series. This film is far away from it.
An aged showgirl, who used to be a model, is murdered on the strip. An ex-marine who was with her in the Casino is pinned for the murder by a Native American Vegas detective. The evidence is all set up to frame him but who done it? Richard Conte is excellent in a sort of role like the Fugitive on TV. The police keep trying to close in but he enlists the help of 2 women to help him escape several times. Only the women aren't quite what they seem to be when he meets them on the road.
What impresses me for low budget is the quality of the script and the quality of the cast as everyone seems to fit their roles well. The main thing is the plot makes sense as it runs through but am surprised that the cast did not roast to death shooting this. This is Hollywood magic. The beating the cars take is pretty amazing too. Conte works out to be a pretty good roadside mechanic who fixes cars and his life in the process.