Roadblock

This is a fairly standard low budget crime flick, with a couple of interesting touches. It's nice to see McGraw in a rare lead role, and the way McGraw and Dixon meet and hit it off is fairly unique. It seems to be one of the first films to feature a car chase and gun fight in the LA river.

Harold Daniels is a fairly obscure director. A unimpressive one from what I've seen. But Roadblock (1951) might or should be one of his best. It's got it's fans. For me, I've seen too many B-movies from this era to be fooled into thinking this is anything but. Does provide a few thrills. Especially the car climax and the tragic ending. But for the most part, it's as standard as it gets. The non-existent Daniels touch.

I've noticed this before, but only now am I putting a name to a face, Charles McGraw is pretty good noir actor. He plays an insurance detective tempted to the dark side and it makes for a compelling hook that, at least for the first half, felt like it really could go anywhere. Once he makes a decision it's pretty clear how the film will wrap up, but that part's pretty compelling too, including a nice car chase at the end and few cool turns before that.

The film starts with two great scenes establishing Charles McGraw and Joan Dixon as clever cookies. The rest of the movie, although tight and generally enjoyable, fails to live up to that promise. Despite some pretty good plotting and some snappy dialogue, the film just doesn't pop and sizzle like a good noir should. Also, the transformations of McGraw and Dixon (especially Dixon) happen too abruptly to be believable. Good for a quickie noir fix, though, and it has a solid climax.