mark.waltz 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.

dougdoepke 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

gordonl56 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.

secondtake Hideout (1949)Just above a run-of-the-mill crime and romance film, officially a B-movie but with enough guts and flair to propel itself through its 60 minutes with conviction. Completely enjoyable, but with some seams showing now and then. Director Philip Ford was a distinctly small studio man, and his films (judging from their IMDb responses) are routine ones. His real success came a few years later, as the main director of televisions classic "Lassie" series. If you've seen any of those, you almost have a sense of how this movie works--the plot is clear, the twists surprise you at the end, but it's all on the surface.The plot is straight forward--some fabulous jewels are stolen, and the chief thief has planned (with unusual elaborateness) his cooling off period in a small town where he owns a house on the hill. This town, with its usual innocence, is where most of the movie takes place, and it's decidedly an anti-drama in some ways. For example, the detective is the d.a. in town, and he's running for mayor, and they show one campaign speech that is the antithesis of Charles Foster Kane's great speech. Here people are on folding chairs and the speaker half mumbles a quote from Lincoln and people clap. It's quite believably bad, in a way, and on purpose. We are not to be impressed by anyone, but sucked in as an equal.The one exception is the chief crook, who is bigger than life and also an actor of a much higher order--Ray Collins. And by coincidence (I assume), this is the actor who played Kane's rival in the Orson Welles classic, James W. Gettys. Collins steals every scene. He has confidence and depth in his role. Even the final speech he gives, with all the double meanings (and slightly comic flair, a surprise for this movie), is plump with drama. The actors around him--the d.a. himself, and two women, the good and the bad--are reasonable enough to keep the film on its feet. In fact, I think a better director might have made this material really sing, because it is only thrown off course by a steady implausibility--a car crash where our hero hops out unscathed, the step in the house giving itself away by a little squeak, or the comic secretary referring to her mother in the fingerprint department. All of this is fine, but it throws us off course.Meaning what? That it's a fun one, a quick and enjoyable little crime drama.