The Crooked Way

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Jack S A well made, above average noir that benefits from a superior visual flair. However, although the fine cast is adequate overall, Payne is a bit of a lightweight to believably impress as a former heartless gangster. Noteworthy early use of CSI (called "Scientific Investigation Division" here) plays a large part in assisting the police to solve two onscreen murders. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Decent script allows for some meaty performances, which the director let play out. While the Amnesia shtick may have been an overdone premise at the time, it works here in part to the opening scenes. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member good noir from first cycle Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Not a bad Film Noir but not a forgotten classic of the genre either. War hero Eddie Rice (John Payne) has a piece of shrapnel in his brain and has no idea who he was before earned the Silver Star fighting the Axis. The only clue he has is that he enlisted in Los Angeles so he takes the advice of his doctor and, when discharged from a military hospital in San Fransisco, heads south to L.A. He soon discovers, through encounters with hard-boiled LAPD detectives, local thugs, and a mysterious femme-fatale (Ellen Drew) he discovers that he was not such a great guy before he became a war hero. The cinematography is great, the black & white photography is crisp and there is very effective use of shadows and great use of closeups (especially of the lovely Ellen Page) but I thought that Clay Pigeon handled the same setup a bit better. Robert Florey was not one of the genre's great directors and Payne is hardly an engaging hero, seemingly sleep-walking through the affair in a daze. The entire premise hinges on the fact that the U.S. military have no idea who Eddie Rice was before he enlisted in the thick of World War II; maybe no one would have checked very closely in 1943 but when military intelligence is trying to determine who Rice is for the medical corps, they would have taken his fingerprints and checked him out with the FBI? Sonny Tufts is great as the heavy, Vince Alexander, however. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Notable for the cinematography. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member The Crooked Way is a minor work of film noir genius that could've really been amazing with a little work on the script and some better casting. The premise is great. An amnesiac WWII vet comes back to LA with a piece of irremovable shrapnel in his head and no memory of his former life. Turns out he was a mobster who screwed over his former partner to stay out of jail and liked pimping out his wife. Needless to say, some chickens come home to roost. Picture a less compelling version of Memento. The direction's pretty decent but in tandem with the cinematography, this is where The Crooked Way really shines. Ellen Drew was pretty good but I never really bought John Payne as the lead because I just kept thinking of him in Miracle on 34th St and the rest of the cast is comprised of people with cartoony voices. The low budget look adds to the grittiness but despite how much The Crooked Way was lacking (mainly with an uneven story and some bad bouts of poorly-executed internal monologue) it could've been a hell of a lot worse... Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Crooked Way

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