After an armed robbery goes wrong and a street cop is shot dead, an innocent young man gets framed for both crimes in this fast-moving thriller that features a lot more violence than is normally seen in movies of this vintage. Betrayals, acts of greed and the presence of a particularly menacing villain, all contribute to the tense atmosphere that prevails throughout and, as the body count mounts, it soon becomes clear that the innocent in this drama are no more protected from danger than the guilty.
Beautician Clara Calhoun (Jane Randolph), who runs an illegal gambling operation in the back room of her beauty shop, covertly assists her boyfriend Duke Martin (John Ireland) and his accomplice Cowie Kowalski (Keefe Brasselle) to break in through the back door of the building to steal the takings. When the robbery's in progress, Clara's terrified assistant Marie (Peggy Converse) screams so loudly that she attracts the attention of a passing street cop who shoots and seriously wounds Kowalski before being shot dead by Martin. The robbers then escape in a laundry truck and Martin drops Kowalski off outside a doctor's office where he abandons the vehicle.
Shortly after the robbery, Detective Sergeant Mickey Ferguson (Hugh Beaumont) and Detective Jim Chubb (Clancy Cooper) arrest the laundry van's owner on suspicion of robbery and murder and despite his protestations of innocence, sandy-haired Steve Ryan (Ed Kelly), whose initialled Navy scarf had been found at the crime scene, is subjected to some intense questioning by the cops who are both convinced of his guilt. When questioned about the robbery, Clara Calhoun had been adamant that the cop killer had sandy hair and she'd been believed despite Marie having said that the killer had black hair. Clara's information is then supported by Kowalski who, when visited at the hospital by the cops and Ryan, identifies the prime suspect as his partner in the robbery.
Ferguson wants to investigate the crime thoroughly to get indisputable proof of Ryan's guilt but gets little support from Chubb (who thinks that the suspect is obviously guilty) or Captain MacTaggart (Charles D Brown), who's desperate for someone to pay for the cop's murder and says that "only the gas chamber will satisfy me".
Throughout Ryan's ordeal, his sister Rosie (Sheila Ryan) had remained very vocal in her support for him as she asserted that he was incapable of such a violent act and became determined to prove his innocence. Ferguson, who's strongly attracted to Rosie, also starts to doubt Ryan's guilt because of how consistent he'd been with his answers whilst under interrogation. So, when Ferguson finds evidence of a strong connection between Clara and Martin and Rosie gets invited to a meeting with Martin at the Club Bombay, the real story behind the robbery soon starts to become clear.
Although "Railroaded!" is a low budget production it's very well-directed by Anthony Mann whose talent for choreographing key scenes is exemplified by the movie's opening sequence in which a night-time aerial shot of a city street gradually leads to a close-up view of Clara Calhoun's "Your House of Beauty" and similar flair is evident in a catfight involving Rosie and Clara and the dark climactic shootout that takes place in a bar at the Club Bombay. Similarly, the quality of Guy Roe's cinematography is awesome, as the prevalence of ultra-dark shadows emphasises the movie's ever-present sense of threat and his skilful use of light ratchets up the tension.
The quality of the acting is generally good but John Ireland and Jane Randolph stand out for their portrayals of the two villains of the piece. Ireland does a good job as the irredeemably evil killer who perfumes his bullets and beats his girlfriend whilst Randolph is splendid as the brassy, tough-talking dame who hits the bottle and gradually disintegrates as the fix that she's in becomes increasingly unbearable. Overall, for such a modest film, "Railroaded!" is surprisingly good.
Beautician Clara Calhoun (Jane Randolph), who runs an illegal gambling operation in the back room of her beauty shop, covertly assists her boyfriend Duke Martin (John Ireland) and his accomplice Cowie Kowalski (Keefe Brasselle) to break in through the back door of the building to steal the takings. When the robbery's in progress, Clara's terrified assistant Marie (Peggy Converse) screams so loudly that she attracts the attention of a passing street cop who shoots and seriously wounds Kowalski before being shot dead by Martin. The robbers then escape in a laundry truck and Martin drops Kowalski off outside a doctor's office where he abandons the vehicle.
Shortly after the robbery, Detective Sergeant Mickey Ferguson (Hugh Beaumont) and Detective Jim Chubb (Clancy Cooper) arrest the laundry van's owner on suspicion of robbery and murder and despite his protestations of innocence, sandy-haired Steve Ryan (Ed Kelly), whose initialled Navy scarf had been found at the crime scene, is subjected to some intense questioning by the cops who are both convinced of his guilt. When questioned about the robbery, Clara Calhoun had been adamant that the cop killer had sandy hair and she'd been believed despite Marie having said that the killer had black hair. Clara's information is then supported by Kowalski who, when visited at the hospital by the cops and Ryan, identifies the prime suspect as his partner in the robbery.
Ferguson wants to investigate the crime thoroughly to get indisputable proof of Ryan's guilt but gets little support from Chubb (who thinks that the suspect is obviously guilty) or Captain MacTaggart (Charles D Brown), who's desperate for someone to pay for the cop's murder and says that "only the gas chamber will satisfy me".
Throughout Ryan's ordeal, his sister Rosie (Sheila Ryan) had remained very vocal in her support for him as she asserted that he was incapable of such a violent act and became determined to prove his innocence. Ferguson, who's strongly attracted to Rosie, also starts to doubt Ryan's guilt because of how consistent he'd been with his answers whilst under interrogation. So, when Ferguson finds evidence of a strong connection between Clara and Martin and Rosie gets invited to a meeting with Martin at the Club Bombay, the real story behind the robbery soon starts to become clear.
Although "Railroaded!" is a low budget production it's very well-directed by Anthony Mann whose talent for choreographing key scenes is exemplified by the movie's opening sequence in which a night-time aerial shot of a city street gradually leads to a close-up view of Clara Calhoun's "Your House of Beauty" and similar flair is evident in a catfight involving Rosie and Clara and the dark climactic shootout that takes place in a bar at the Club Bombay. Similarly, the quality of Guy Roe's cinematography is awesome, as the prevalence of ultra-dark shadows emphasises the movie's ever-present sense of threat and his skilful use of light ratchets up the tension.
The quality of the acting is generally good but John Ireland and Jane Randolph stand out for their portrayals of the two villains of the piece. Ireland does a good job as the irredeemably evil killer who perfumes his bullets and beats his girlfriend whilst Randolph is splendid as the brassy, tough-talking dame who hits the bottle and gradually disintegrates as the fix that she's in becomes increasingly unbearable. Overall, for such a modest film, "Railroaded!" is surprisingly good.