Some of Cavalcanti's direction is too flamboyant for the true noir feel, but the black and white cinematography is gorgeous, the dialogue hardboiled, Trevor Howard's hero hard-bitten, and Griffith Jones villain unusually sadistic. The climactic fight in the undertaker's parlor--although heavy-handed--is well-photographed and exciting, and the ending is surprisingly downbeat and moving.

Noir in every sense of the word, from the atmosphere, the dark cinematography, and the criminal underworld to the post war, broken moral compass commentary. It starts off very good and builds up slowly, but it's the final 20 minutes that thrust this into greatness. It's like Cavalcanti realized he had a great thing going and went all out, the cinematography gets just a tad better, the pacing gets ratcheted up a notch, and that final fight scene is astounding..

A bit more brutal than the average American noir, and ends on a more depressing note. Cavalcanti directs the film wonderfully, full of deep shadows and tight framing and dramatic angles. Trevor Howard is excellent in the lead, playing more of an anti-hero than his usual charming roles, but still sympathetic. The story is a noir standard and is done here very well, packing a lot of plot development into its 95 minutes. Terrific movie throughout, very dark and tense and cynical.

A bit overdone...and some fairly crappy acting throughout. The whole thing comes off like a British road version of one of those ripping-good crime yarns by the Yanks. Still, there is the occasional crackling/amusing exchange of dialogue.