There was a note in the top can from Myrtil Frida in Prague, where the print originated, saying this was only “a mediochre gangster film”. Mediochre it may be, but the action nevere stops and you can’t stop watching it. It is a Universal programmer, made with panache by directors Leigh Jason and Ray Taylor, using as a main location the mansion built for the Shelby family for Uncle Tom’s Cabin. There are frequent visual effects – shadows, striking angles – which owe something to Universal’s European tradition. Monty Montague, who usually plays western heavies, is here given the comic relief role of a gardener, and he is a bit too broad. The film stars Sally Blane, the sister of Loretta Young, who was much more attractive in real life than on the screen, and Bill Cody, who gets by through his energy, but hasn’t much screen personality.

Kevin Brownlow