Leaving Andy Hardy and Judy Garland behind, in the early 50's Mickey Rooney set out to toughen his image with film like this one and Don Siegel's BABY FACE NELSON. Richard Quine had previously directed the excellent Film Noir, PUSHOVER, which gave Kim Novak her first starring role and here he directs Rooney as a poor slob who gets seriously screwed over by a beautiful woman who is in league with a couple of bank robbers (Kevin McCarthy and Jack Kelly) seriously in need of a getaway driver. As a fan of Film Noir I appreciated the uncompromising ending which doesn't offer the romantic get out that spoils so many films. It's an unpretentious movie but a really good one. Rating ***
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