WOW! What a horrible film - now I understand the negative reviews on this one. Yes it's terrible and has a feeling of a bad soap opera instead of a decent film noir or mystery.Cameos by Marlene Dietrich, Henry Fonda and Burgess Meredith - who cares, you only see them for 2 or 3 seconds! It's not worth your time to watch this terrible film just to see the 3 of them for a couple of seconds in the background. You are much better off watching one of their films instead of this soap opera garbage for cameos.I'm sorry but this film is confusing and just overall dumb - no real direction or story. The cinematography and acting are that of a child instead of great or even slightly good.This is one of the most boring and lamest films I've seen in awhile. It gets a big 2 out of 10 ONLY for the cameos.2/10

Franchot Tone stars with then-wife Jean Wallace in "Jigsaw" from 1949. It's a B movie with lots of cameos from stars, I guess who were friends of the director, Fletcher Markle, or friends with someone: John Garfield, Henry Fonda, Marlene Dietrich, Marsha Hunt, Burgess Meredith, Everett Sloan, and Brenda Frazier, in roles like a bartender, a waiter, a nightclub singer, etc.This is a real mess of a movie despite the cast. The DA (Walter Vaughn) thinks the death of a print shop owner was suicide, but the ADA (Tone) believes it was murder, connected to an extremist group, "The Crusaders." I think they were supposed to be Communists.Then a journalist who has attacked the group is killed, and Malloy becomes certain The Crusaders are behind it. Investigating, he meets a strange political boss and an attractive singer (Wallace). Either they can help him or are part of a cover up.I really couldn't figure out if this group was really subversive or just a money-making scam; the script kind of waffled between the two. The only reason to see this is for the cameos and the cast, although in my opinion, Jean Wallace couldn't act her way out of a phone booth.At the time of this film she was recently divorced from Tone and would later marry Cornell Wilde. Tone would go on to become involved with starlet Barbara Payton, whose boyfriend Tom Neal would put him in the hospital. In a way, these people's real-life stories are more interesting than this movie.

A different and at times dark and disturbing noir/crime/political drama starring Franchot Tone. Tone plays Assistant District Attorney Howard Malloy who is investigating a couple of strange murders, including that of his friend and newspaper columnist Charles Riggs, that seem to have ties to an underground hate group called The Crusaders. Though it is not ever mentioned by name, the film seems to point towards the emerging dangers of communism. The film is well acted by Tone and his supporting cast including Jean Wallace, Marc Lawrence, Myron McCormick, Winifred Lenihan and Betty Harper. Though only competently directed by Fletcher Markle, there are some interesting camera angles and the finale in a dark, shadowy museum is the real highlight of the film. The movie appears to be filmed on location in New York City and the keen eye will spot quick walk-on and cameo appearances from stars such as Marlene Dietrich, Henry Fonda and Burgess Meredith. A unique, dark, if at times slow film that makes for a real interesting watch.

***SPOILERS*** Way ahead of it's time movie that disclosed to the movie going public back in 1949 that there's a sub rosa government working independently from the laws that govern all of us. Which it's far more destructive then any outside enemy, like at that time the Soviet Union, ever was. Hard to follow at first when we see a man Max Von Brog murdered at his printing shop on 506 East 31 st in Midtown Manhattan by a hood known as Knuckles, George Breen. Mr. Borgs wife, Hester Sondergaad, claims that her husband committed suicide. Later she's picked up at the airport trying to flee the country to Mexico City terrified of those who murdered her husband and feeling that she might well be next. Mrs. Von Borg is put into protective custody by Assistant D.A Malloy, Franchot Tone. Local columnist Charles Riggs, Myron McCormick, feels that those who murdered Von Borg, whom he was printing leaflets and posters for, are highly connected in government and that the suspicion of them belonging to some hate group "The Crusaders". A subversive group that his friend and Assistant D.A Howard Malloy thinks are just a front for their real activities. Later when Riggs goes home to his apartment he's murdered by Knuckles and like Max Von Borg Knuckles makes it look like Riggs killed himself by throwing him out the window.Malloy now with a personal reason to find the killer and those behind him starts making inroads into this group "The Crusaders". Malloy starts by tracking down the person who did the art work for their posters a Mrs. Sigmund Kosterich, Hedley Rainne. It's from Kosterich where he gets the name of a young woman Barbara Whitfield, Jean Wallace, who he's doing a painting of and also seems to be involved with this mysterious group.Going home one evening Malloy is attacked by Knuckles who he knocks out and disarms. After checking his wallet Malloy finds a business card for a person call "The Angel" Angelo Agostini, Marc Lawrence. It turns out that "The Angel" runs some charity outfit in the city. After Malloy has a talk with "The Angel" everything seems to open up for him where he's appointed Special Prosecutor by the Governor. This after he met with Mrs. Hartley a major NYC political king-makers at a big social party who's also a close associate of "The Angle". It seems that those in power, Agostini Mrs. Hartley etc. etc., are trying to buy off Malloy to keep him from finding who and whom their working for. But it doesn't work with the brave and honest Malloy and leads to a shocking and bloody final in the movie. It turned out that the group "The Crusaders" were just a cover and a microscopic part of the real power clique that controls the city of New York if not the entire country.Ground-breaking film who's story has been copied hundreds of times since it's release back in 1949 about those in power who answer to no one but themselves. With both Franchot Tone & Jean Wallace very effective in their parts as the somewhat naive D.A. Who finds out the truth the hard and deadly way. With Jean Wallace as the young singer who also finds out, too late, that she's into something that she had no idea of how dangerous it was.The movie "Jigsaw" has a number of top Hollywood stars in cameo roles and top NYC news & gossip columnist Leonard Lyon who wrote the popular "The Lyons Den" newspaper column. That showed just how important the movie was to them for them to want to be in it. Only the ending was a bit too contrived and phony but with the Hayes Commission back then controlling the US film industry a happy ending was a must in a disturbing as well as dark Film-Noir movie like "Jigsaw".