Wizard-8 The premise of "The Threat" - an escaped criminal seeking revenge on the cop and the district attorney that sent him to jail - is an irresistible one. It's leanly made (less than seventy minutes in length), with no real unnecessary scenes. The acting is pretty good as well, and there are a few genuinely tense moments.All the same, I thought the movie could have been better. There is one big part of the movie that could have been improved, and that is with the depiction of the cop and the district attorney. Once they are kidnapped, they are given almost NOTHING to do for the remainder of the picture. I was hoping for some kind of brewing psychological battle between them and the criminal who kidnapped them. The movie is still worth a look, but you'll see some great potential that simply wasn't realized.

mark.waltz A nasty criminal escapes from prison and immediately takes up with his old gang, kidnapping a key witness (who actually never blabbed), the detective who caught him, and the D.A. who prosecuted him. In the course of just over an hour, his violent mission for revenge takes him on a road trip where the excitement never lets up. There are several close calls for the criminals disguised as delivery truck drivers with the kidnapped victims in the hull, gagged inside a car. But the three victims have their own plan up their sleeve even though the female witness (Virginia Grey in one of her rare leads) seems to have divided loyalties.While there have been many movies about prison breaks, a lot of them end up being predictable or going off on plot twists which are straight out of an Indiana Jones movie. This peaks with a stand-off between police at a train crossing and later at a gas station. It all culminates at an abandoned shack where the gangsters find themselves at the mercy of their own victims and one not yet caught gangster determined to get back in control. Charles McGraw is ruthless and seemingly unstoppable as the head of this gang of violent criminals, while Michael O'Shea is a tough yet law-abiding (and more importantly, honest) cop. It's Virginia Grey, however, who stands out, giving a thrilling performance as the less than savory female who may or may not have given key private testimony without taking the stand. She's come a long way since insulting Joan Crawford behind the perfume counter in "The Women"!

Michael_Elliott Threat, The (1949) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A man (Charles McGraw) escapes from prison after swearing to seek vengeance on those he feels got him there in the first place. The guilty man kidnaps the detective and D.A. who landed him in prison with hopes of killing them slowly. I really enjoyed the story, the direction and the music score but the supporting performances are so incredibly dull that I couldn't wait for the film to be over. McGraw is very good in his role but his supporting cast doesn't offer any help so their story is never interesting nor did I ever care if they were killed or not. With a different cast this thing could have been a classic.

Eric Chapman It took about 10 minutes for me to get into the story, because I didn't recognize any of the actors at first and I wasn't sure who I was supposed to identify with; but this turned out to be a typically tough and snappy little crime caper (65 minutes long) from director Felix Feist.Feist really knew how to use his small budgets wisely. He creates a tension-filled atmosphere, keeps things moving at a crisp pace, deftly establishes and stokes conflicts, and can usually be counted on for one "bravura" piece of camerawork in every film (here, it takes place at the climax in the desert shack). He was just a very sound and capable filmmaker.What also seemed to stand out about his work was how single-mindedly sadistic and downright mean his bad guys were. Here, Charles McGraw plays an escaped convict whose thirst for revenge against the detective and D.A. who put him away, really fuels the film and keeps it on track. McGraw emerges as very controlled, coiled and menacingly methodical. It's a good part and a very fine performance - the guy just doesn't give an inch and you find yourself having to respect that.Generally, when low budget crime movies fail it's because the bad guy is stupid or lets his guard down at a crucial moment - none of that here. McGraw is going out on a limb with his plan and he knows sooner or later that limb is probably going to snap, but the way he figures it it's well worth the risk.