Desperate

1947

1h 13m

Crime

Drama

List

100%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

66%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

Gangster Radak (Raymond Burr) and his cronies try to coerce truck driver Steve (Steve Brodie) into shipping stolen goods, but Steve manages to tip off the police and foil the crooks. Radak evades capture, but his brother ends up gunning down a policeman and going to jail. Radak and his men attempt to pressure Steve into taking the fall for the killing, using the well-being of the trucker's wife, Anne (Audrey Long), as leverage. But Anne and Steve manage to skip town, and the chase is on.

Geoffrey O'Brien

The New York Review of Books

B-movie as country-and-western ballad, seventy-three minutes of total involvement followed by oblivion: except for one's lingering uneasiness about unlit corners and warehouses near the river.

Aug 13, 2018

Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

[Has] Mann's sense of coiled violence, just waiting to unload.

Jul 16, 2010

Full Review

Kelly Vance

East Bay Express

The story is standard urban crime stuff, but the director throws in a treasure trove of flourishes.

May 5, 2010

Full Review

Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

Nicely done crime thriller, with some great visual set pieces.

Aug 9, 2007

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Anthony Mann is a master at directing these cheapie films and making them look stylish.

Rated: B-

Jan 1, 2000

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Bob W

The femme fatale in this movie lured and trapped a man by using home-cooked deserts. This short film could be a study in noir cinematography. The angles, the lighting, the shapes and shadows... Raymond Burr's best. Oddly unbelievable character behaviors prevent this from being rated higher.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/08/23

Full Review

Dallas H

I enjoy watching classic black-and-white film noir. RKO Radio Pictures made this movie as a B-picture and has Raymond Burr playing the villain role, which I find pretty entertaining.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/14/23

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Dar W

Great noir. Ray Burr was THE best bad guy in noir.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/30/23

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Audience Member

Why he the victim didn't just go straight to the police is not well explained. If only he'd listened to his lovely wife. Acting is well done however with Raymond Burr a 1st class thug.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of Anthony Mann's more stylish film noir entries. Raymond Burr's screen presence as a villain is always amazing. Add to that some long shadows and swinging overhead lamps and you can add anything else you like. Not as hard-hitting as "Raw Deal" but it's in the same ballpark.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The plot is full of action, but it's all ridiculous, impossible, and B-level material; something to see on Saturday morning with the kids. The story is so outlandish and the actions of the characters are so out of line with what anyone would do that the only saving grace here is that it keeps moving. To heighten interest, it throws in violence, gun battles, and fights. Everything adolescent boys would love. This is a mongrel of a picture, but deserves a slight nod because it is a niche above the simple gun, car chase, and knife fight violence that became prevalent around this time and saturated the movie industry with its insipidness.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

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Anthony Mann

Director

Steve Brodie

Steve Randall

Audrey Long

Mrs. Anne Randall

Raymond Burr

Walt Radak

Douglas V. Fowley

Pete Lavitch

William Challee

Reynolds

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Synopsis

Gangster Radak (Raymond Burr) and his cronies try to coerce truck driver Steve (Steve Brodie) into shipping stolen goods, but Steve manages to tip off the police and foil the crooks. Radak evades capture, but his brother ends up gunning down a policeman and going to jail. Radak and his men attempt to pressure Steve into taking the fall for the killing, using the well-being of the trucker's wife, Anne (Audrey Long), as leverage. But Anne and Steve manage to skip town, and the chase is on.

Director: Anthony Mann
Producer: Michael Kraike
Screenwriter: Harry Essex
Production Co: RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 13m