A serial killer is targeting young women and Walter Kyne (Vincent Price), the immature son of a just-deceased media mogul, decides whichever of his underlings can find the killer can become the new man in charge. The three candidates are Jon Day Griffith (Thomas Mitchell), the newpaper editor, Mark Loving (George Sanders), head of the
We spend a few hours in a police precinct as the officers go through their daily duties, bringing in a combination of hardened criminals and those who are mildly troubled. Standing out from the crowd is Det James McLeod (Kirk Douglas), a man driven by his hatred of his criminal father and an obsession to
Hired killer Philip Raven (Alan Ladd) is betrayed by his employer, being paid with marked bills. He’s chased by Lieutenant Michael Crane (Robert Preston), who is engaged to Ellen Graham (Veronica Lake), who happens to have been recruited by a senator to uncover a spy ring that includes Raven’s employer. She also happens to be
Johnny (Sterling Hayden) is the mastermind of a horse track heist. The others in the gang—all men who are desperate for cash—know only part of the plan. They include the track bartender (Joe Sawyer), a financer (Jay C. Flippen), a policeman (Ted DeCorsia), and a track clerk (Elisha Cook). The clerk’s wife (Marie Windsor) gets
Corrupt politician Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy) takes a liking to Janet Henry (Veronica Lake), so drops gangster Nick Varna (Joseph Calleia) and his strongman Jeff (William Bendix) in favor of her father, reformer candidate Ralph Henry (Moroni Olsen). Then Taylor Henry (Richard Denning), the gambling son of Ralph who is seeing Madvig’s eighteen-year-old sister (Bonita
Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark), an amoral three-time-looser, picks the purse of Candy (Jean Peters), a crime that is witnessed by several government agents. They’ve been watching her because, without her knowing it, she’s carrying government secrets for her traitorous ex-boyfriend, Joey (Richard Kiley). Now both the cops and Candy use informant Moe (Thelma Ritter) to
Overly pure politician Joseph Foster (Thomas Mitchell) says out loud that he’d sell his soul to convict a mob boss. Nick Beal (Ray Milland) appears at that moment with the needed information. Foster begins to fall under Beal’s influence. Beal brings drunken actress Donna Allen (Audrey Totter) in to romance Foster, and gangster Frankie Faulkner
Sleazy press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) survives by getting cruel, dictatorial J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) to mention his clients in his column. Hunsecker makes and destroys lives and careers on a whim. Outside of his own power, the only thing Hunsecker cares about is his sister (Susan Harrison), and he wants to keep her
Private detective Lew Harper (Paul Newman) is hired by rich invalid Mrs. Sampson (Lauren Bacall) to find her degenerate and neurotic husband who disappeared a day ago. Helping, or hindering, his investigation is Sampson’s spoiled daughter Miranda (Pamela Tiffin), the family pilot (Robert Wagner), and Sampson’s lawyer (Arthur Hill). The trail passes by an aging
Philip Monrell (Robert Montgomery) is the charming son of a wealthy steel family and good friends with the good natured playboy Ward Andrews (George Sanders). Well, that’s how it appears. Actually Philip is a paranoid psychopath who is jealous of Ward and recently escaped from an insane asylum. The pair visits Philip’s sickly mother who
Private detective Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) is hired by dim-witted, hulking, ex-con Moose (Mike Mazurki) to find “his Velma.” He’s also hired for a one night body guard job that ends up with his client dead, the killing somehow connected to a stolen jade necklace belonging to the Grayle family: ingénue daughter Ann (Anne Shirley),