Quite a disappointment, due to a cardboard script and the mostly innocuous performances of the kids, especially Lydon. Indeed, it started seeming like the Bowery Boys, or maybe Leave It To Beaver Goes Gothic. The score was often irrelevant, as though he was working on some Stanley Donen glitz. The evil shrink btw sounded oddly like Floyd the Barber. Still, contains one of the funniest exchanges I've ever seen: "Was that some kind of code?" "No, just juvenile vernacular." LOLOL

A poverty-row mystery with echoes of Hamlet directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, the master craftsman of the six-day shooting-schedule cheapie. It's not good, but it's better than it has any right to be, with some bizarre dream sequences, good pacing, moody noir photography and a fine late performance by Warren William as the suave, world-weary murderer. Jimmy Lydon, best known for the "Henry Aldrich" films, is slightly less annoying than usual.

A kind of Hardy Boys-ish mystery that's really no mystery at all, with lousy acting, very few surprises and an overbearing score. Not to mention some instances of sexism and racism, thankfully somewhat mild. The one really unusual thing about it is that it all centers around a premonition, as Lydon's dreams come true. This really turned me off... I'm not interested in the paranormal when it comes to my noir. A couple of interesting touches but not enough to save the rest of it.