Thu 12 Apr 2012
Movie Review: THE LAST CROOKED MILE (1946).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[5] Comments
THE LAST CROOKED MILE. Republic Pictures, 1946. Donald Barry, Ann Savage, Adele Mara, Tom Powers, Sheldon Leonard, Nestor Paiva, Harry Shannon, Ben Welden, John Miljan, Charles D. Brown, John Dehner. Based on a radio play by Robert L. Richards. Director: Philip Ford.
Don “Red†Barry, as he usually was billed – he got the nickname from playing Red Ryder in the 1940 serial – was 5’ 4 ½†tall, making him an easy comparison with Jimmy Cagney, with same on-screen persona: brash and cocky, but as someone on IMDB has pointed out, without the same degree of menace. In the 1940s he had mostly western roles before switching to a more varied list of credits when TV came along.
In Last Crooked Mile, though, he plays a brash and cocky private eye named Tom Dwyer, who horns in uninvited on an armed robbery investigation to get a 10 percent reward for recovering the $300,000 that was stolen. The gang who pulled the job all died trying to make their getaway, and no one knows where the money went.
The car, though, that three of them cracked up in has been restored and is on display in a carnival. Although the car was searched many times with no success, Dwyer thinks it’s a good place to start, and do you know what? He’s right.
While chasing down and avoiding the various thugs and hoodlums who have the same idea, Dwyer meets two attractive women, which is one more than usual in short hour-length B-films like this. One is Adele Mara, who plays an old flame who resents being stood up too many times, and the other is Ann Savage (of Detour fame), who plays a nightclub singer and an old flame of the head of the gang who pulled off the robbery but who is now going straight.
Although the hiding place for the money is no big secret, there are a couple of twists to the tale, and one of them is actually a fairly good one. There is a decent amount of action, some humor (maybe a little too much) and some singing. That plus a storyline that makes sense, and you have a good 60 minutes of entertainment. Not noir, by any means, but still entertaining.
April 12th, 2012 at 10:25 pm
Happy to see Don Barry getting some love. In his later career memorable in many supporting parts, especially Walk On The Wild Side, a strange and disappointing picture, but not Barry’s fault. And, of course, Seven Men From Now. But his credits are filled with interesting work. In his Republic days, just as interesting. Maybe more so. In Plainsman And The Lady he is in support. Knocks the leads off the screen.
April 13th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
I’ve not had the occasion to watch any of Don Barry’s films in recent years. This is the first one I can think of in quite some time. Most of the ones I’ve seen were ones I saw when I was growing up. He’s definitely the star of this one: once he shows up, he’s on the screen maybe 98% of the time.
What surprised me when I went to look at the IMDB page just now is that the overall rating for LAST CROOKED MILE is 7.7 stars out of 10. That’s remarkable for a minor B crime film that no one is heard of. (And more stars than I would give it. A six from me is about as high as I’d go, I think.)
Most of the reviewers mention Ann Savage as one of their reasons for rating it so higher. Well, yes, that is so.
April 16th, 2012 at 10:00 am
I’ve never seen this movie but it has a great cast and will search it out.
One footnote, Adele Mara would later marry writer/producer Roy Huggins and in later years concentrated on raising their three children with an occasional television guest starring roles including for episodes for series produced by her husband–77 Sunset Strip and Maverick.
April 16th, 2012 at 10:32 am
Richard
You really have to be a fan of B-movies to recognize most of the actors in this film, but you are right. All of them were in dozens of them, and they all knew exactly what they were doing in this one — and they do it well.
I include Adele Mara, of course, as one in the category above. I don’t think her name rings a bell with very many people today, but in 1946, when CROOKED MILE was made, she was in ten movies. I don’t know what kind of life that would have made for anyone as busy as that, but it must have been interesting.
— Steve
March 12th, 2022 at 12:09 pm
A decent film and a sound review.
One of the most B-ish of B films and, for once, the two lady stars hold up the performances better than the very ‘B’ males. However, for a dank Saturday March afternoon, it was more than passable.
At 80 minutes, another 7-10 could have been sliced off, but it’s a decent yarn, fairly decently acted on the whole. Don ‘Red’ Barry is an actor I haven’t (knowingly) come across before and his name is not likely to lure me to other films he’s appeared in.