Crime Wave (1954)

Powerful

Absolutely Fantastic

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

"Crime Wave" opens with a gang of criminals carrying out a robbery at a gasoline station, in the course of which a police officer is killed and one of the gangsters wounded. The wounded man makes his way to the home of Steve Lacey, a former associate of some of the gang, but dies before medical help can arrive. This turns Lacey's life upside-down. Although he is a former convict, he has been trying to start a new life; he has found an honest job as an aircraft mechanic and has married a woman who supports his determination to "go straight". Soon, Lacey is approached by the surviving gang members. Although he wants nothing to do with them, his fears for this own safety and that of his wife mean that he is forced to allow them to stay in his apartment and reluctantly agrees to assist them with a planned bank robbery.There are a number of similarities with another film noir, Sam Fuller's "Pickup on South Street", which came out the previous year. That film too had a central figure who was an ex-convict, and in both films the police are shown in a less that positive light. The police officers in "Pickup on South Street" are not idealised heroes but flawed characters with little compunction about bullying suspects or bribing informers to get information. The main police character in "Crime Wave", Detective Lieutenant Sims, is a similar figure, ruthless, hard-nosed and lacking in human warmth. Sims does not believe in the possibility of rehabilitation or reform, and hence is very suspicious of Lacey, even though his parole officer is willing to vouch for the young man's reformed character. A surprise development late in the film, however, does enable us to see Sims in a rather more sympathetic way.Director André De Toth was not primarily known as a noir director- he seems to have specialised more in Westerns- but here he reveals himself to have been a competent director of crime dramas, even an innovative one. He shot much of the film on location in Los Angeles, making use of both city landmarks such as City Hall and of more humble buildings. (The gas station which the villains hold up was, for example, a real one). This use of real city locations for added realism seems to have started a trend in film noir; one film said to have been influenced by this one was Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing", which used several of the same actors."Crime Wave" was made as a second feature, which explains why it is so short, at just over 70 minutes in length. De Toth, however, was able to turn the film's short running-time to his advantage, as it has a terseness and gripping sense of tension lacking in some more expansive dramas. A number of typical noir features are present, such as the moody black-and-white photography, with a number of scenes taking place at night or in low levels of lighting. (An alternative title for the film is "The City is Dark"). Another such feature is the sense of moral ambiguity hanging over the storyline, with an ex-convict turning out to be more heroic than the official guardians of law and order. The film does not, however, feature that stock noir character, the seductive but villainous femme fatale- the only major female character is Lacey's courageous and virtuous wife Ellen, played by Phyllis Kirk with her sweetly innocent, girl-next-door prettiness.I would not rate the film quite as highly as "Pickup on South Street", one of the greatest of all films noirs. There are no acting contributions quite on the same level as those of Richard Widmark, Jean Peters and Thelma Ritter in the earlier film, although Sterling Hayden is very effective as Sims. (Another well-known face is a young Charles Bronson, credited under his real name of Charles Buchinsky, as one of the gangsters). Fuller's film also has a greater moral complexity. Whereas Lacey is a reformed character who has gone straight and become a model citizen, Widmark's character, Skip McCoy, is at the beginning of the film far from reformed; in the very first scene we see him stealing a wallet from a young woman on the subway. Crime Wave", however, is a tense, well-paced and well-made crime drama, and for something which began life as a B-movie a remarkably influential one. 7/10

Dancing movie star tried something different in this 1954 film. As Steve Lacey, married to Phyllis Kirk, he is an ex-convict going straight and living a decent life with a good job. All this changes when his former gang pulls a robbery where a police officer is killed, and the wounded bandit comes to Lacey's home before expiring.Lacey becomes implicated and despite the protestations of a very sympathetic parole officer, he is dodged constantly by officer Sterling Hayden, who is as tough as nails and will never forgive or forget Lacey regarding his past.We have the general hostage situation involving Kirk, when Lacey is forced to drive the get-away car in another bank heist.Notice a very young Charles Bronson, as a violent gang member.The story just shows you how hard it can be for a convict trying to live an honest existence. It's as if he is also being pursued by a Jean Valjean character of "Les Miserables."Hayden shows that he finally has heart by the film's end; so does this film.

***SPOILERS*** While robbing a local gas station a shoot-out accrued with a motorcycle cop getting gunned bu by itchy trigger finger hoodlum Gat Morgan, Nedrick Young, who was himself shot in the crossfire. Given $100.00 and the use of the car by his fellow crooks Doc Penny, Ted De Corsia, and Ben Hasting, Charles Bonson, Morgan makes it to the apartment of his friend and former cell-mate ex-convict Steve Lacey, Gene Nelson, in oder to get immediate medical help before he bleeds to death. Getting in touch with another fellow ex-convict and disbarred doctor Otto Hessler, Jay Novello, to patch Morgan up and stop the bleeding Hessler is more interested in getting paid for his services instead of saving Morgan's life. With the bickering over what Hessler is to get paid Morgan ends up dying on the couch from loss of blood.Calling his parole officer Daniel O'Keefe, James Bell, for advice in what to do Lacey is told to get in touch with the local police which would very probably, in associating with a fellow convict, violate his parole and sent him back into the slammer. Things get even more dangerous and complicated when Doc Perry & Ben Hasting unexpectedly showed up at the the Lacey apartment and hold Steves wife Ellen, Phyllis Kirk, hostage in making sure that he goes along with their plan, as the wheel-man, to knock off the Bank of America branch in Glendale that Friday!With his wife Ellen being held hostage and him facing hard time behind bars for harboring a fugitive and cop killer no less Steve finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place in cooperating with the police. It's Let. Det. Sims,Sterling Hayden, sterling performance in trying to keep Steve on the ball in playing it both safe and dangerous that finally pays dividends for everyone involved. That's by Steve tipping him off to when the bank job is going to take place and at the same time keeping both Doc Perry and Ben Hasting totally in the dark that he's, Det. Let. Sims,on to them.Hard edge and gritty on location, the city of L.A, photography as well as tough and take no BS acting on the part of Sterling Hayden makes "Crime Wave" one of the best crime films of the 1950's. It was Sterling's sterling performance in the movie that had him land the lead role in the Stanley Kubick classic "The Killing" some two years later. As well as giving him the role of the mentally deranged General Jack D. Ripper in the end of the world black comedy, through nuclear destruction, in the 1964 movie to end all movies about the subject "Doctor Strangelove".

There's something particularly pleasing about a relatively short, low budget movie which has the power to make a great impact and "Crime Wave" (a.k.a. "The City Is Dark" & "Don't Cry Baby") is just such a movie. It's very well acted, has interesting characters and maintains a lively pace throughout. The story's main protagonist is an ex-con who's trying desperately to go straight and neither the cops nor the criminals believe in his determination or ability to do so. He's pressured and threatened by both and this puts him in a tight spot because if he cooperates with the criminals, he'll inevitably fall back into a life of crime and if he doesn't, he and his wife could find themselves in mortal danger.Since serving out a prison sentence, Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson) has been successful in avoiding further trouble. He's married to Ellen (Phyllis Kirk), has his own apartment and also a well-paid job as an airplane mechanic. His problems begin when one of his ex-cell mates turns up at his home. Gat Morgan (Ned Young) who's seriously injured is carrying a gun and Steve and Ellen are forced to let him stay. Shortly after, Dr Otto Hessler (Jay Novello)arrives to attend to Gat's gunshot wound but it's too late as Gat dies before the doctor can help. Hessler takes the dead man's money to cover his costs and leaves.At the same time, LAPD Detective Lieutenant Sims (Sterling Hayden) has been able to confirm that the three men who had just carried out a gas station robbery and killed a motorcycle cop were a group of escaped convicts who'd broken out of San Quentin. He has a hunch that the men will contact their old cell mate and so arrests Steve and takes him in for questioning. Steve insists that he's unable to help and is eventually released.Steve's situation then gets worse when the other two gang members, Doc Penny (Ted de Corsia) and Ben Hastings (Charles Bronson) turn up at his apartment. Hastings takes Steve's car and goes to Hessler's place where he kills the doctor and then has to escape on foot because a passer-by had witnessed the murder. As soon as the car found close to the murder scene is identified as Steve's, he becomes the focus of a police manhunt. Penny and Hastings then force Steve to help them carry out a bank robbery and the tension builds steadily because Steve has tipped off the cops and also, the heist doesn't go according to plan.Sims and Hessler are the two strongest characters in "Crime Wave". Sims is big, tough and permanently dishevelled and habitually chews toothpicks to help him give up smoking. He's intimidating and deeply cynical and doesn't believe that Steve or any ex-con can be rehabilitated. His unsophisticated method of operation simply involves bullying and threatening everyone regardless of whether they happen to be suspects or witnesses and Sterling Hayden gives an immensely powerful performance in this role.Dr Hessler is a very believable underground physician, a man who's no longer able to practice medicine legitimately and who's turned his attentions to caring for animals instead. He's obviously suffered some misfortune in the past and consoles himself by turning to the bottle. His genuine fondness of animals is a positive quality, which goes some way to balance out such actions as relieving a dead patient of his (albeit stolen) money. Jay Novello does well in bringing out the different aspects of Hessler's character so vividly.The visual style of this movie is quite striking and the nocturnal scenes are particularly well framed and lit. The shadowy streets add powerfully to the atmosphere of the piece and the use of so many location shots is effective in strengthening the movie's strong sense of realism. "Crime Wave" is very enjoyable on a number of levels and certainly merits greater recognition than it's been given in the past.