Search: Starring Richard Widmark

A genuinely enjoyable jaunt.

Widmark steals the film. He epitomises the unpredictability and vicious mood swings of a natural born killer and is quite mesmerizing.

The film has style, created as much by Max Greene’s atmospheric camerawork as Widmark’s bravura acting.

A taut little noir with well drawn characters brought to life by some of the outstanding talents of the era.

Fuller directs as though McCoy was painting a work of art, so slowly, and lovingly, his camera captures the action.

Lee is on top form as the wild-eyed, cold-hearted villain, approaching black magic with a steely rationality that almost makes it seem like science.

The tension escalates well in the first half; it slackens a bit later, but by then the film has had time to develop its broader themes and introduce different types of existential threat.

Dmytryk keeps it all ticking along nicely with the assurance of an old pro, while giving all the central relationships and subtler nuances room to breathe.