Mark Sevens stars and directs this crime drama. After angering mobsters, police officer Vic Barron(Stevens)is framed for a crime he didn't commit. The worse part is suffering the tragedy of his wife and child being murdered. After serving his time, Barron is determined to seek revenge on one man in particular, Tino Morelli(Douglas Kennedy), who helped put him behind bars.When have you seen Film Noir set in Alaska? Barron is blind to everything but getting vengeance and he travels to a remote town in Alaska. Ketchikan is where the mild mannered Vic is sure he'll find his man and settle the score. CRY VENGEANCE may seem a bit off beat; sometimes making it hard to tell the difference between good and bad. The plot is sustainable and even miles and miles of snow look good.Rounding out the cast are: Martha Hyer, Cheryl Callaway, Mort Mills, Don Haggerty and John Doucette.

Mark Stevens was a leading player in B movies, and was an excellent cop in THE STREET WITH NO NAME (1948, see my review) and private eye in THE DARK CORNER (1946, see my review), both excellent noirs. Here he got his first chance chance to direct himself. Although he does well enough as a director in other respects, because he could not see himself he probably did not realize that he looked too grim throughout most of the film, never changing his expression during the early portions. This may have made sense in theory, because he a wronged man seeking vengeance, and grief-stricken at the death of his wife and child. But one cannot have a single expression for nearly an hour like that without it becoming monotonous. Stevens furthermore according to the story had to have a severely scarred side of his face, which meant that he could show very little emotion on his face in any case. The film was largely shot at Ketchikan, Alaska. Alaska was not even a state at that time, but still a Territory. This was an extremely unusual place to set a film in the 1950s. The location footage, especially the aerial footage, is thus of considerable historical interest, not least to the people who live there today. Mark Stevens went on to direct himself again in TIME TABLE (1956) and directed three more feature films and 50 television drama episodes in the nine years between 1956 and 1965. He last appeared as an actor in 1987, and he died in 1994 at the age of 77. This film is not outstanding, but it is nevertheless a contribution to the noir genre.

Mark Stevens was never a big star. Most of his career he played in B-movies and did a bit of TV. So, in light of this, I was surprised that he not only starred in this film but directed it as well. Now having a cast full of mostly no-names might negatively impact most films, but with film noir, having these less familiar faces is great--as it adds to the realism.Stevens plays a guy who was a cop. He's spent the last three years in prison for a crime he didn't do. The mob not only set him up but killed his family and disfigured his face. So, it's not at all surprising that now that he's out of prison, he's ready to exact vengeance against the guy responsible. The problem, however, is that through much of the film you really aren't sure who the culprit is--though Stevens' character sure seems to know and he's out to kill Tino Morelli (Douglas Kennedy).The movie is a very good film about revenge gone amok. The characters turn out to be very complex and the villain worse than you'd expect to find--even in a B-film. Entertaining throughout and the only scene that I thought was poorly handled was the phone call to Stevens near the end--it just seemed contrived.If you do watch, pay attention to the performance and character played by Skip Homeier--he's very memorable!! Also, while not exactly the same film, this one is very reminiscent of Gregory Peck's "The Bravados"--another exceptional film about revenge. See this one as well!By the way, it's odd that this film was set mostly in Ketchikan, Alaska. Despite the city being inundated with cruise ships, it really doesn't look all that different today than it does in this movie. And, the fishing is quite good.

I can't say this was a great film, nor can I recommend it to anyone who does not have a familiarity with Ketchikan, Alaska, where it was filmed. Without a tender place in your heart for Alaska's first city, this film will probably not seem too keen to you.But, if you have lived in Ketchikan for any length of time it is a lot of fun to see your hometown as it was nearly 50 years ago. I know this excludes most everyone out there, but hey, I am not recommending it to most everyone. If you know and love Ketchikan, check it out, you will get a kick out of it. Otherwise, skip it.