A deadly prison break sends two convicts in different directions, the instigator (Harvey), vicious and bucking for the electric chair, heads to San Fran, the other (Langton), a trustee forced at gunpoint to drive the getaway, treks to a roadhouse in San Maria where Grubers's ex-girlfriend works and rendezvous is planned. But before the reunion, Coulter "finds a new slant" on life, befriending the locals and winning the heart of Hope (Downs) who's no interest in rekindling past passion with Matt the mugshot.
This is a dark one, in part due to the fact that nearly the entire film (76m) is pitched at night, good for building tension and trust both. It's also the homiest noir you'll ever see, the characters in and around Dillon's roadway rest stop so likeable you almost wish you were in Johnny's spot, even as the poor guy is a nervous wreck waiting on his nut-job nemesis. There is Maggie (Kerby), proprieter and mother figure, a bit crusty but always a song in her big heart; Georgie (Weeks), the naughty niece and gun moll aspirant ("I like a he-man!") who keeps missing her bus to the big city; the Shaws, cute couple who return each year to relax & entertain, Louisa (Callejo) a doctor and dancer, Alec (Auer) a cabbie and Renaissance man, a charmed act that tops Mischa's Oscar nom'd Carlo (Godfrey); Smitty (Bohnen of Best-Years) is the decorated seaman turned café cook whose binging hides a sad secret; and then there's Hope, pretty femme swell true to her name. A rough start in life (dad split, mom died) left her to drift, working seedy joints and hitching her wagon to a snake with "a little bit of money (Fargo)." But now the angels have lighted, Maggie is her guide, Johnny Galahad and all is possible.
John Reinhardt (b. Vienna), husband of Elizabeth (Laura), directs on a screenplay by Robert Presnell whose catalog includes Meet-John-Doe My-Man-Godfrey Employees-Entrance. This film marked their third team in 1947 alone, Die preceded by The-Guilty and High-Tide, all around 70 minutes and well received. Watch for familiar face Rory Mallinson as Mac the cop and Tom Noonan in a bad boy role (hold-up crook). You "can't put ketchup on it" but I check-in at this cozy noir at least once a year (3.5/4).