Conte and Mature are enjoyable enough leads but there's just not enough meat here to last 90 minutes. It certainly has a nice hook, starting with Conte as a copkiller who's been shot and is possibly on his deathbed. From there it seems to tread water with the occasional moralizing, then a nice twist is followed by a few great scenes, but the film quickly reverts to treading water towards an inevitable finale. Decent noir to pass the time and it has its moments, but left me wanting more.

Wonderful. It's excellent on every level, and Siodmak once again brings his affinity for the noir sensibility to this movie which, along with 'The Killers', arguably rates as his most accomplished work.

Conte and Mature are stellar noir icons. I especially enjoy Mature, whose expression conveys a kind of forlorn warmth. There's a host of wonderful supporting actors, including the always outstanding Shelley Winters, and Hope Emerson as the hulking masseuse who rants about "fat, old ladies with too many jewels." The photography is sublime, a number of memorable shots and great location work. Also the use of music is quite effective. A very evocative film with a palpable atmosphere of sadness.

The characters seem cursed by a heavy fucking despair in this tenacious noir; Martin Rome is on the run, from the law and presumably himself; he's a bestial and beaten actor in the dispirited urban maze - a guy with an inopportune go-ahead spirit. This is hard and cold, persistently gloomy, with only small glimpses of unsettled love. Claustrophobically shot and brilliantly acted.