if you just look at the bare bone description on a lot of noirs and it can be pretty hard to tell them apart . i think i remember see this solid entry year ago in a mini de toth retrospective and but i be mistake . it a flavorful entry if nothing terribly original or memorable and notable for it harsh and verite style lighting and camera work . excellent usage of los angeles location while this be one of the best representation of 50 la i have see on film . and a really terrific cast and with sterling hayden and charles bronson the most well know ( respectively play the cop in charge of find a trio of escaped con and and the most thuggish of the escapee ) but hardly the only quality player . gene nelson a steve lacey and the ex con try to straighten out his life until it be intrude upon by one of the trio and die in his living room and and phyllis kirk a his devoted wife do a fine job with relatively stereotypical role while dub taylor and jay novello have nice and small character role while and you will even find crazy timothy carey play a wide eyed laugh maniac in a couple of scene near the end . the film do fall a little flat in the third act and with a fairly predictable end that feel more positive and hollywood than a great noir usually should and but it a nice entry and there aren not too many wasted moment in the 73 minute run time . a usual and a well master dvd from warner home video and package with the slightly more interesting decoy .