Harry (William Gargan) is a reporter who thinks he has a big scoop coming...and instead is soon hounded by police and killers! It begins with a group of reporters waiting outside a hospital room...waiting to interview a reviewer who has been very ill. Somehow, the sick man has asked for Harry in order to give him first dibs on the story of his 'Argyle Secrets'...though Harry and the other reporters have no idea what this means. What are the Argyle Secrets?? Well, before he can tell Harry, someone has poisoned the guy and he dies. When Harry returns with a doctor, there's now a scalpel sticking out of the already dead man...and the police come to arrest Harry because they think he killed the guy. Like most B-mysteries, Harry manages to escape and spends the rest of the film trying to track down the documents...and learns that it has inside dope on war profiteers who will likely go to jail is the information is published. So, now THESE people are chasing him as well...hoping to kill him and get the documents that they think he has. But at this point, no living person seems to know where the papers are. What's next?
This film is quite unusual for a cheap B-movie. After all, it was filmed in only eight days. But somehow the director and cinematographer managed to make a great looking movie...one with lots of film noir camera angles, shadows and lighting. It's really an amazing film for a cheap picture! As for the plot, it's not all that unusual.... I've seen quite a few films similar to it. But they managed to make the most of it...partially due to the grittiness of the story. A good example is one of the villainesses (Marjorie Lord)...as Harry is being severely beaten by three guys, she looks as if she's getting incredibly turned on watching the beating! What makes this interesting is that Lord later played the nice wife on Danny Thomas' show, "Make Room for Daddy"! Additionally, Barbara Billingsley ("Leave it to Beaver") is in the film as well, but she doesn't play such a disturbing and weird creature. Overall, an exceptionally dark and enjoyable B-movie that is so much better than you might expect.
This film is quite unusual for a cheap B-movie. After all, it was filmed in only eight days. But somehow the director and cinematographer managed to make a great looking movie...one with lots of film noir camera angles, shadows and lighting. It's really an amazing film for a cheap picture! As for the plot, it's not all that unusual.... I've seen quite a few films similar to it. But they managed to make the most of it...partially due to the grittiness of the story. A good example is one of the villainesses (Marjorie Lord)...as Harry is being severely beaten by three guys, she looks as if she's getting incredibly turned on watching the beating! What makes this interesting is that Lord later played the nice wife on Danny Thomas' show, "Make Room for Daddy"! Additionally, Barbara Billingsley ("Leave it to Beaver") is in the film as well, but she doesn't play such a disturbing and weird creature. Overall, an exceptionally dark and enjoyable B-movie that is so much better than you might expect.