Three San Quentin escapees (Penny, Hastings and Morgan) kill a cop in a gas-station holdup. Wounded, Morgan flees through black-shadowed streets to the handiest refuge: with former cellmate Steve Lacey, who's paroled, with a new life and lovely wife, and can't afford to be caught associating with old cronies. But homicide detective Sims wants to use Steve to help him catch Penny and Hastings, who in turn extort his help in a bank job. Is there no way out for Steve?... (Full plot summary below)
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Three San Quentin escapees (Penny, Hastings and Morgan) kill a cop in a gas-station holdup. Wounded, Morgan flees through black-shadowed streets to the handiest refuge: with former cellmate Steve Lacey, who's paroled, with a new life and lovely wife, and can't afford to be caught associating with old cronies. But homicide detective Sims wants to use Steve to help him catch Penny and Hastings, who in turn extort his help in a bank job. Is there no way out for Steve?
Leave your thoughts about Crime Wave.
| Slant MagazineEric HendersonIf the maxim "crime doesn't pay" is noir's given, then Crime Wave spins it to answer "but virtue barely scrapes up a living wage." |
| CinePassionFernando F. CroceThe sense of human vulnerability against hard architecture suggests Lang on a shoestring, but the bleak humanism is all De Toth's |
| User ReviewMichael Gwow. the degree of sexual menace offered by the film is quite surprsing, startling, unsettling. even in a modern context it would have the same effect depicted in the same way. or maybe not, considering its chief purveyor here is played by the inimitable, and now dead, timothy carey. i for one would not at all like being sexually assaulted by timothy carey. but i do like watching the crazy bastard act even though this is actually one of his lesser performances. but the film is a masterful noir, above and beyond, in every sense, a good 99.9 percent of the the genres many and varied offerings. bronson is in this one too, and he's a real monstrous prick in it, it's great. hayden is the best actor in it, of course. the dialogue is everything one expects and wants from this kind of movie. |
| User ReviewMike BClassic noir, with a tough-as-nails Sterling Hayden, an as-yet-undiscovered Charles Bronson, and of course, the great Tim Carey. |
| User ReviewTrent RLow budget film noir quickie directed by one eyed Austrian director Andre de Toth (House of Wax). This drips noir , with great shadowy cinematography authentic shot on location Los Angeles, and the amazing Sterling Hayden. The capper is an unbilled performance by the crazed Timothy Carey whose itchy flinching steals every scene he's in. |
| User ReviewMax MEx-con Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson) is caught between his old and recently escaped cell-mates Doc Penny and Ben Hastings (Ted de Corsia and Charles Buchinsky aka Bronson) who try and strongarm him into a bank job, and the cops, led by tough-as-nails Dt. Lt. Sims (an always great Sterling Hayden), who are hot on the trail of the escapees. This has got to be one of the best film noir pictures I have ever seen and unfortunately is little known. Every thing about this film is right on the money; from the great story and dialogue by Crane Wilbur (working from the story Criminal's Mark by John and Ward Hawkins); to the tough and unflinching violence that explodes and ends before the audience can catch it's breath; to the lean and efficient directorial style of brilliant B filmmaker Andre de Toth (House of Wax, The Stranger Wore a Gun, Day of the Outlaw) who eschewed the studio backlot for actual location footage on the streets, diners, and seedy back alleys of 1950's Los Angeles (and managed to shoot the picture in a scant fourteen days); to the outstanding performances by the entire cast, from the featured players right down to the rough, rugged and worn faces (the best this side of a Sergio Leone film) of the background talent (look for celebrated character actors Dub Taylor and Hank Worden in bit parts). And that is what makes this picture really special. The honesty and reality of these characters. These actors don't just give performances - they fully inhabit their roles thus giving what could have been a cheap, throw-away story a true sense of anxious and terse reality. |
| User ReviewArt Sgood stuff this is gr8 noir and a picture with teeth! |
| User ReviewDaniel KIf you want a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time, this is it. And one of the greatest shot movies ever. and the contrasts of B&W. |
| User ReviewJ'onn JNot the best noir. Kind of a by-the-numbers "wrong man" scenario, but it's worth it for the characters and cinematography. The collection of mugs in this movie is impressive. Films just don't have people with faces like that anymore, and it's too bad. |
| User ReviewRussell GA trio of criminals kill a cop in a gas station heist gone bad and Hayden is ready to tear LA apart to get them. The movies hard as nails, and everyone puts in a fantastic performance. Check it out. |
