Pretty good noir in which John Garfield plays an unambiguously crooked lawyer. He's corrupt, he's greedy, he's a bit of a sleaze - but we kinda sympathize with him anyway. The film can be seen as an indictment of capitalism, blurring the lines between the legitimate Wall Street banks and the illegal numbers-rackets run by the mobsters. "Greed is good", 40 years before Gordon Gecko. There's a terrific climax with some great cinematography - I loved the outdoor location shots around New York.

Strong noir that starts off slow but really comes into its own as it progresses. It's not as showy as some others but it's very well constructed, has good characters and ends on a great note.

tough, unsentimental, AWESOME

Good film noir. John Garfield, who's normally the "working-class guy with a heart of gold", is great as a tough-as-nails corrupt lawyer

Excellent noir with a wonderful aura of gloom to it. It has a kind of epic, operatic quality, like The Godfather. The dialogue is poetic and philosophical. John Garfield is great in the lead, and the supporting performances are even better. The movie does get slightly confusing towards the end, but that's fairly typical of the genre. It doesn't really matter, as the nuanced character drama is the real show here. Very riveting and also nicely shot.

Compelling story and acting compensate for some of the heavy-handedness of the approach. A good study of ambition and the different paths it leads the characters on.

Garfield very good, despite one or two histrionic moments. The thing definitely played like a satire of capitalism.