Red Light

Half great noir, half bad noir. There are some awesome moments, including three over-the-top death scenes. But a lot of the other scenes are drab, routine and sometimes poorly shot. Our bad guys (Raymond Burr and Harry Morgan) are terrific and menacing, but Virginia Mayo is a dud and George Raft is not at his best. Some of the dialogue is snappy, but then some lines are a swing and a miss. Worst of all is the ham-fisted religious message. It's not a total loss, but I would hardly recommend it.

It's fun enough when it lets itself just tell a pulpy story (nothing special mind you, but enjoyable enough), but it insists on having this preachy undertone that just grows and grows until it can't be contained, and combined with several really dumb plot turns the whole thing collapses. Raft's performance is uneven, but I'd probably blame the script. Burr is given a decent amount of screentime, but little do with it. The whole thing is passable, but a waste of the talent involved.

We love a religious noir movie folks

This crime flick got enough of that gritty feel to deliver what's expected from it. While it stars George Raft, who plays it cool as usual, he's surrounded by characters that'll do what he don't. Express themselves, So Red Light (1949) becomes a more alive crime film than your usual Raft.