***SPOILERS*** Framed for a crime, which is never elaborated or explained in the movie, that he didn't commit ex-SFPD cop Vic Barron, Mark Stevens, is out to not only gets those who framed him but the person who killed his wife and child in a car bomb explosion that left him looking like the phantom of the opera without his mask on. The one person whom Barron is out to get is mob boss Tino Morelli, Douglas Kennedy, whom he thinks order the hit on him that ended up killing both his wife and five year old daughter. Checking out Morellie's old haunts in the city a bay area nightclub owned by Nick Buda, Lewis Martin, Barron is confronted by Buda's bodyguard the man in white Roxey, Skip Homeier, whom he puts away with a couple body chops and hits to the kidney.It's later that Barron gets the word from the out cold Roxey's abused girlfriend Lily Arnold, Joan Vohs, after leaning on her a bit that Morelli skipped out of town and is now residing in th Alasken town ,known as the "Salmon Capital" of the world, Ketchiken. Taking Lily's fishy story to be the real deal Barron takes the first plane out or north to Alaska to both meet and knock off Morelli for what he did to him and his family. It's there that Barron meets bar owner Peggy Hadrding, Martha Hayer, who despite his disfigured mug or face takes a shine to him because of his manly and "I don't give a sh*t about anything" attitude. Meanwhile with the word out that Vic Barron is in town Morelli's bodyguard Johnny Blue-Eyes, Mort Mills, takes a crack at him only ending up on the floor with his kidney's badly damaged from Barron's karate chops. It was later in the movie when Barron breaks into Morelli's house that he karate's chops Johnny Blue-Eyes, who tried to stop him, so bad that he never regained consciousness or woke up for the remainder of the film!****SPOILERS**** Things start to happen that has the vengeful Vic Barron begins to change his opinion about Morelli when he meets his 7 year old daughter Marie, Cheryl Callaway, who's so sweet and friendly to him, even when he attempted to kidnap her, that he has second thoughts of doing her dad in! How could, Barron summarizes, Morelli be such a rat when he produced a sweet and lovable girl like Marie! It soon turns out that Barron was right! Not in how sweet & lovable Marie is but that her dad Morelli couldn't have done what he did in killing his wife & child with a bomb planted in the family car! It turned on Buda's orders, who also framed Barron, it was Roxey who did it who's now also in Alaska and on Buda's orders not only planning to knock off Morelli but also his motor mouth girlfriend Lily and frame Barron for it!P.S Mark Steven's first directed film and probably his best right up there with his later big score in the anti-Castro movie, filmed during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, "Escape from Hell Island" that almost had, if WWIII broke out, him and his entire cast nuked in a massive nuclear exchange between the USA & USSR while filming the movie!

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.

Here is another off the radar Noir, its not listed in the Encyclopedic Reference to American Film Noir but its no doubt a Noir though "noir light" most of the action takes place in Ketchican, Alaska and the film has great locations and action sequences using the town and its environs making full use of the vertical aspect of the town, its waterfront docks and the paper mill.Story is ex cop Vic Barron (Stevens) was not only framed (and sent up for 3 years) by the mob, but also had his face partly blown off while his wife and child were killed in a a car explosion, is out of prison and looking for vengeance. He's looking for mob boss Morelli (Kennedy) who has changed his name and is living as a model citizen with is young daughter and a bodyguard in Ketchican. Mob hit man Roxy (Hormeier) is sent by San Francisco racketeer to take care of all three. Martha Hyer & Cheryl Callaway provide some nice eye candy, the daughter of mob boss takes a liking to Barron a bit too easily (different times compared to today's zeitgeist of not trusting strangers) but its nothing that will detract from the film if you keep the times in mind, streaming on Netflix

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.