A gripping film noir, all the more effective for being staged by Milestone as a steamy romantic melodrama.

Pervaded by his guilty-liberal fascination with power and money.

In the hands of a great visual stylist (like Rossen himself) the movie could have been a masterpiece. As is, it’s still a corker.

...offers the great pleasures that can come from watching a well-made film that is happy to exploit genre conventions for all they’re worth.