When a woman decides to cling on to a windfall of ill-gotten dollars, no man better stand in her way - see?
Murder cover-up thriller. Lizabeth Scott is new to me, and she is mighty impressive, playing a quick-witted, compulsive manipulator with just the right passion and control. It helps that the dialogue early in the movie is worthy of Chandler - concise and full of conflict, rather than self-indulgent speeches that you so often get in Hollywood noir.
The plot gives us a cautionary tale that falls short of full-blooded drama, but it is cleverly worked out with decent concealment of motives and some ironies woven into the outcome. There is one small plot hole in the coincidence of the hero turning up when he did, but that's OK. The writer also has the skill of closing off a lead just when you think you've cracked it. However, the plotting does take over from the earlier character-building, and we end on the melodrama of justice done and dusted, which lacks the bitter sweetness of the best noir.
Pace is good, music standard for this genre, and overall it's a good watch - just lacking some bite for my taste.
Ps. I watched this on youtube, and when I read the title as Killer Bat I thought I'd mistakenly clicked on a cheesy Paramount horror - turns out the release title was Killer Bait.
Murder cover-up thriller. Lizabeth Scott is new to me, and she is mighty impressive, playing a quick-witted, compulsive manipulator with just the right passion and control. It helps that the dialogue early in the movie is worthy of Chandler - concise and full of conflict, rather than self-indulgent speeches that you so often get in Hollywood noir.
The plot gives us a cautionary tale that falls short of full-blooded drama, but it is cleverly worked out with decent concealment of motives and some ironies woven into the outcome. There is one small plot hole in the coincidence of the hero turning up when he did, but that's OK. The writer also has the skill of closing off a lead just when you think you've cracked it. However, the plotting does take over from the earlier character-building, and we end on the melodrama of justice done and dusted, which lacks the bitter sweetness of the best noir.
Pace is good, music standard for this genre, and overall it's a good watch - just lacking some bite for my taste.
Ps. I watched this on youtube, and when I read the title as Killer Bat I thought I'd mistakenly clicked on a cheesy Paramount horror - turns out the release title was Killer Bait.