This film noir is a great expose of gambling rackets that settle in on college sports to force the outcomes of important games. It stars young James Brown as a basketball hero who finds himself blackmailed by mobsters threatening to send younger sister Sheila Ryan to prison for a drunken hit-and-run. Girlfriend Noreen Nash sets out to find the truth, and learns just how far this racket will go. Lieutenant Regis Toomey seems to be on the up-and-up but is quickly revealed to be a mastermind intending on getting a big payout for himself.
While unrelated to the 1951 Film Noir "The Basketball Fix", it is very similar that it is one of only a few films to cover this subject. I had to confirm that they did not have the same writers because this reminded me of the other film which I had seen prior. Grantland Rice provides an explanation as an actual radio sportscaster of the issues with this racket, and that brings everything all together. A terrific cast of character actors (among them Nana Bryant and Tommy Noonan) and interesting screenplay helps make this B film much better than others and is worth searching out for sports film fans.
While unrelated to the 1951 Film Noir "The Basketball Fix", it is very similar that it is one of only a few films to cover this subject. I had to confirm that they did not have the same writers because this reminded me of the other film which I had seen prior. Grantland Rice provides an explanation as an actual radio sportscaster of the issues with this racket, and that brings everything all together. A terrific cast of character actors (among them Nana Bryant and Tommy Noonan) and interesting screenplay helps make this B film much better than others and is worth searching out for sports film fans.
