Jeopardy

A marvelous turn by Ralph Meeker. The scenes with Stanwyck and him are clearly the highlight. Great lines: "Frankly, I'm not a family man" "Out of the nowhere into the here" "I like cheap perfume--it don't last as long, but it hits harder." Starts off like a sitcom, with lame voiceover and inconsequential music. Not real sure about the plausibility of the whole fallen piling/giant crowbar pulled by car thing--or Meeker's sudden transformation at the end. Still, a nicely subversive little film.

It's not much, but it's an entertaining enough little noir thriller that is the right length at just over an hour. The beginning probably could have even been shortened a bit more. Stanwyck and Meeker are both quite good in their roles. Sullivan is maybe overearnest and the kid is not good. The premise is a little over the top, but it works okay. Some of the tension is pretty real. A couple of plot holes and the ultimate conclusion is not terribly convincing, but it's worth the time.

Stanwyck seems to be gearing up for her future career as television by appearing in this--it looks, and sounds, just like a television show. The writers--mercifully--jam us through the action briskly, but their dialogue is terrible. That kid is forced to say stuff no kid would ever say, and the repeated references to Barbara Stanwyck being an hysterical female are most laughable. Her sparring with Ralph Meeker is the best aspect of the movie.

Lamest concept in movie history? Also some pretty trite moralizing BUT great performances from stanwyk and meeker

Stanwyk and Meeker are great in an okay movie.

The film has a great build-up to an ending that felt lazy. They created some interesting drama and then just voided it with a handshake.

The ending is pretty good, dialogue aside, but the lead up, despite the film being a brisk 69 minutes, is rather dull. Stanwyck has her moments, but like the rest of the film is mostly just treading water.

Fairly routine but satisfying thriller in which a woman must save her husband but gets sidelined by a desperate escaped convict. Stanwyck is good as always and Meeker is gleefully sinister. The film is diminished by the presence of an annoying child, but gets elevated by a couple of interesting ways in which it subverts production code. Unfortunately I can't discuss them without giving away key plot points. Tune out the little brat (actually most of the first half) and it's not a bad flick.