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      A Bullet for Joey

      Released Apr 15, 1955 1h 25m Mystery & Thriller List
      Reviews 25% Audience Score 50+ Ratings Recruited for a kidnapping, a deported gangster (George Raft) ends up busting a Communist spy ring for a Mountie (Edward G. Robinson). Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

      View All (2) Critics Reviews
      Matt Brunson Creative Loafing A hot-and-cold affair. Rated: 2.5/4 Dec 12, 2015 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A lifeless 1950s red scare crime thriller. Rated: C- Jan 28, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Martin B Robinson did a bunch of movies playing the detective later in his career and was really good this one included. George Raft can play one character and he brought this from the 1930's to this movie. It came off ridiculous with his aged out gangster jargon and stiff outdated mannerisms. Seeing spies leaving a trail of bodies to attract attention also ridiculous. How Raft got cast in this thing is a mystery. Otherwise it had some quality actors turning in good performances including Robinson and Audrey Totter. Raft was laughable, the script ham handed and ending just plain silly. Still it held my attention and I'd say it's worth watching if only for Robinson and Totter. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Bland crime drama about set in Canada about dirty commies trying to kidnap a nuclear scientist. George Raft plays the thug hired the snatch the scientist and Edward G. Robinson plays the police detective on their trail. Robinson and Raft (who really isn't much of an actor to begin with) both seem to just phone this one in. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member An excellent, complex thriller, with all its characters (in a large cast) three-dimensional, and with the disreputable characters more interesting than the respectable ones--but with a disappointing ending. It must have served the purpose of helping to enlist Canada in the Cold War, to justify American "influence" over Canada, and also to spread the vicious lie that organized crime was in cahoots with communism(!)--though the ending basically admits the truth, that organized crime rather belongs to capitalism. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Lifeless, dull and forgettable. You would expect at 86 minutes a movie would breeze past, but even at such a short running time it feels over-long and a chore to watch. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member A bullet for ME, please. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member A Bullet for Joey tells the story of a mobster (George Raft) who agrees to kidnap a nuclear scientist for a large sum of money by a man who appears to be a communist spy. An investigator(Edward G Robinson) starts to suspect something when a string of murders all lead to this nuclear scientist, will he be able to stop the mobsters in time? A Bullet For Joey is a very unique film in that it mixes two major subject matters at the time, Communism and Mobsters. It features two of the best tough nosed actors of all time in Edward G Robinson and George Raft and for the most part its a solid effort. It's well paced and does a good job at setting up this intriguing story. There is nothing fancy about it, but its just a good clean storytellling. Its an above average script with some good dialogue for these two actors to chew on. Without giving anything away, there is one scene between the two characters at the end of the film where I was laughing my ass off just cause of the delivery George Raft has on delivering a certain line. My one big complaint would be that I don't know if I buy something in particular about the ending, which I won't give away. The direction and cinematography are adequate, though nothing special. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      A Bullet for Joey

      A Bullet for Joey (1955) A Bullet for Joey (1955) A Bullet for Joey (1955) A Bullet for Joey (1955) View more photos

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Recruited for a kidnapping, a deported gangster (George Raft) ends up busting a Communist spy ring for a Mountie (Edward G. Robinson).
      Director
      Lewis Allen
      Production Co
      Bischoff-Diamond Corporation
      Genre
      Mystery & Thriller
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Apr 15, 1955, Limited
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Jul 26, 2020
      Runtime
      1h 25m