Thursday, October 12, 2023

The Last Crooked Mile (1946)

An interesting variation on the armed robbery story.

The Jarvis gang steal money from a bank, the gang are eventually hunted down and killed by the police but the loot is not recovered. Insurance investigator Tom (Don Red Barry) is on the case, he thinks the key to finding the cash is the getaway car which the criminals used, this is now a sideshow at a carnival! Tom discovers that Jarvis' ex-girlfriend Sheila (Ann Savage) is a singer at the very same carnival, well that must be a coincidence of course!

Tom gets involved in a dangerous game as various gangster thugs are also after the loot and are not choosy about who they have to kill first. Tom has some help from Bonnie (Adele Mara) though also seems sweet on Sheila...

This is an enjoyable film, though the idea that the getaway car would be sold by the police to a carnival while the loot was still missing does seem a bit strange. A complicated plot with a good twist.