Hideout (1949)

Sadly Over-hyped

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

But first, he's got a big case to solve involving stolen jewelry, a "ring" (pardon the pun) infiltrating the city. This decent B crime drama has elements of both comedy and film noir, and it's surprising that it took movie producers decades to see what an expert comic actor he was. He's forced to fire secretary Lorna Gray, not only because he's dating her but because of a city ordinance that requires that city employees reside there for a year. His new secretary (Sheila Ryan) turns out to be an expert on jewel terminology, and becomes a useful, if sarcastic tool, that he uses to bust this racket.Veteran character actor Ray Collins plays a local businessman who seems to have an involvement in the racket, pretty obvious from the beginning. This is an intriguing but predictable crime drama with decent dialog and a speedy pacing, added on with some dark, moody photography and a few surprising twists. Ryan gets some of the best lines, giving Bridges a great partner to play off of. Chick Chandler, Jeff Corey and Alan Carney add on spice as typical thugs in similar films.

Surprisingly good programmer from Republic. Sly old Arthur (Collins) and two confederates steal expensive necklace from wealthy old lady, after which Arthur double-crosses the two, and turns into respectable philanthropist in little town of Hilltop. Meanwhile, Arthur has sent ahead the lovely Hannah (Gray) to check out the law in Hilltop. There she apparently strikes up a romance with City Attorney Browning (Bridges). Surprisingly, hero Browning appears no match for the wily unscrupulous Arthur. Needless to say, complications ensue.Good script, with interesting characters, noirish atmosphere, and several minor twists. The statuesque Lorna Gray really registers as a treacherous spider woman, while a restrained Lloyd Bridges shows grit as the struggling young attorney. And for fans of Parry Mason, versatile old Ray Collins shows he's not only a sly cop, but an even slyer criminal mastermind. Add a solid supporting cast, and you've got a result that surpasses its lower-end budget. But, please, don't hire the high school horn trio anytime soon

Having been lucky of late, with picking bottom feeder programmers from Republic Pictures, I thought I would give this quickie from John Ford' nephew, Phil, a look see.Ray Collins runs a slick gang of thugs who pull high end jewel robberies. The gang then splits up and meets at a later date for a split. This time however, Collins has decided he will cut out several of the gang, Jeff Corey and Alan Carney, from the split. Collins makes a quick call to John Law and rats out the pair. Collins and his driver, Chick Chandler then catch a train to the town of Hilltop, Iowa. Collins has decided to retire from the "trade" for a while and small-town America seems like the place.He has already sent his girl, Adrian Booth, ahead to keep an eye on the local law etc. Booth has been working for the city attorney, Lloyd Bridges. Bridges is also running for mayor of the town. Booth and Bridges have also been dating on the side.When Collins and Chandler arrive in town he takes up residence in a large house. Collins is using a cover as a retired oil man. Booth tells D.A. Bridges that she is going to work for Collins. They can still see each other of course.Collins and his gunman, Chandler, are being filled in by Booth on the local John Law situation when they are interrupted by Charles Halton. Collins uses Halton to appraise and cut the jewels they steal. Halton tells Collins it will take him a week to cut up the latest score. The take should also be worth $60,000.Halton is calling it a night and heads off to the boarding house he is staying at. D.A. Bridges now comes a calling, Booth and Bridges have a date for the evening. A quiet drive and couple of kisses happen before Booth is driven to her boarding house. The same house it turns out where jewel cutter, Halton is staying.While swapping spit outside the house, Bridges and Booth literally fall over a body. The body turns out to be Halton of course. Booth plays it cool and pretends she does not know the stiff. Bridges calls in the Police. He knows that if he can solve this case, it might be the boost he needs to get elected mayor.The next day Booth informs Collins about the murder of their man. Collins figures it must be Corey and Carney. They must of evaded the Police dragnet Collins had arranged for them. He tells Chandler and Booth to stay calm. The stones are well hidden and hopefully the local cops will catch Corey and Carney. Collins tells Booth to keep up contact with Bridges. "We need to know what the Police discover".Bridges and his new secretary, Sheila Ryan, are busy going through the clues from the murder. The main clue is a pair of glasses that are missing one lens. At the end of the day, he drives over to Collins' house to pick up Booth for a night at the films. While helping Booth on with her coat, he sees a lens on the floor in the shadows. Halton had lost it the night before while at Collins. Bridges pockets the item and escorts Booth out to his car.Instead of taking Booth to the films, he tells her that he needs to stop at the office for a minute. He rushes to his office and pulls the glasses out of the evidence bag. The lens fits! He pockets the glasses and lens and returns to Booth.Rather foolishly, Bridges tells Booth that he thinks her new boss might be involved in the murder. Booth of course is all ears as she asks him to explain further. Bridges spills all he knows about the glasses etc. Booth snuggles up close and tells him how proud she is of him. She is also picking his pocket of the evidence at the same time.The next day Bridges is at a loss at how he could of misplaced the evidence. Booth by this time has filled Collins in on what Bridges thinks. Collins decides the small town hick just might be a problem. He wants Booth to lure him to the train station. Collins has arranged a hit for the unsuspecting Bridges.Things go off kilter for everyone as Booth and Bridges are grabbed up by the thoroughly annoyed ex-gang members, Jeff Corey and Alan Carney. They want their cash and they want it now! Bridges now clues in that Miss Booth is not all peaches and cream. Knife happy Corey comes at Bridges but is beaten off which causes a general free for all. Booth, no shrinking violet in the violence department, pulls iron and drills Corey and Carney.Booth comes clean with Bridges and tells him about Collins and Chandler. Bridges decides to let Booth scram out of town while he arranges to arrest Collins and Chandler.While not as good as several of the other Phil Ford films I've seen, it does not out say its welcome with a quick running time of 61 minutes. I do recommend his film, THE TIGER WOMAN, from 1945.Veteran actor Ray Collins is well known to TV audiences as, Police Lt Tragg, on the long running series, PERRY MASON.

I really liked the casting of Ray Collins in this little B-movie. While he usually played affable sorts of fellows in movies and as a regular on "Perry Mason", here he plays against type--a real scum-bag. It turns out he's the brains of a ring of jewel thieves--and he has no loyalty to anyone but himself. After pulling a big heist, he and his 'associates' relocate to a small town in Iowa to wait until the heat subsides. Once there, one of the gang, is a pretty lady (Lorna Gray) and she soon begins kissing up to the town prosecutor--an idealistic young man (Lloyd Bridges). Bridges, at least at first, seems a bit naive--and you can't help but feel sorry for the guy. But through the course of investigating a murder (that turns out to be linked to Collins' gang), he shows he's pretty bright for a small town guy--and he's assisted with a strange but highly entertaining and sassy new secretary (Sheila Ryan). But, not realizing that Gray is part of the gang, she follows along--misdirecting Bridges and even stealing evidence to help her cohorts.All in all, this is a pretty good B-movie--entertaining and engaging. It's nice to see Bridges in a very good early starring role and as I said above, Collins is excellent as a real creep. Will it change your life or is it a must-see? Nah...but considering it has modest pretenses and keeps your interest, it's worth seeing--particularly if you love Bs or film noir.