Basic detective story in the Hammett vein with a touch of CITIZEN KANE and LAURA as Rosita's life is revealed through flashbacks. Ladd is fun to watch, and there's some pretty good supporting parts. Reed gets second billing, but she only appears in snippets for maybe about 10 minutes total. The film has good atmosphere and makes nice use of locations, but is so convoluted that it can be tough to follow (the lousy copy I watched didn't help). A solid and moody film but a bit too confusing.