Okay RKO programmer. Though released in 1946, the premise involves Nazis trying to keep their goals alive. Actually, the script makes reference to historical Germany (Bismarck) as "enemies of civilization", no less. Anyhow, discharged marine Johnny (Tierney) gets accidentally mixed up with the Nazi remnants, and gets blamed for murders the die-hards actually committed. Good thing he's got help from comely blonde Evelyn (Jeffreys) and motel owner (Cleveland).The remainder involves a lot of sometimes aimless chasing around. For me, the highlights are the expertly photographed ocean views. To its credit, this programmer goes beyond the usual cramping studio sets.Looks like RKO was promoting Tierney as studio stud since he spends movie's first third shirtless, sporting manly pecs and flat belly. He does well enough in hero's role, but his real charisma showed through as emotionless villains, e.g. (Born to Kill, {1947}). To bad for his career he couldn't stay off the juice and barroom brawls. (Apparently, he scared the heck out of the amiable cast of Seinfeld, {1989-1998}, when he appeared in an episode.) Nonetheless he was a distinctive screen presence, though that presence doesn't really come through here. All in all, director Rosen keeps things moving, which helps divert attention from a convoluted narrative. But my guess is that the script was hastily reworked once the big war ended. Happily, RKO soon turned to noir.

Short Little Throw-Away of a Movie has a Fast Pace and a Lawrence Tierney Good Guy to Boot. It is Exciting and Never Very Serious in its Attempt at a Story of German Spies (the war was over), but Nevertheless was Undeterred in Using the Defeated Nazis as Germans Gone Underground just Waiting for Another Chance.It is All Flighty and Fluff with a Dog. Some Comedy Among the Espionage as the Mistaken Identity Couple Outwit the Police and the Bad Guys with the Help of an Old Jalopy and a Crusty Geezer with a Knack for Knowing Innocence when He sees it.At just Over an Hour it is a Pleasant Time Waster with some Joyful Action and Plenty of Silly Suspense to Keep Things Interesting. It may be the Only Movie where the Star is in a Bathing Suit and Nothing Else, Showing Plenty of Beefcake, for what Seems-Like Forever in this Oddly Pastiched Programmer.

Lawrence Tierney didn't often get to play good guys, and--judging by his performance in this compact, tight little actioner--he's actually pretty good at it. Tierney plays an ex-Marine who inadvertently gets mixed up with a pretty blonde (Anne Jeffreys, looking fetching), German spies and a murdered secret agent. There's more comedy than you usually see in a Tierney picture but there's also the kind of shootouts and fisticuffs you expect in a Tierney picture, and director Phil Rosen expertly blends them all together; in fact, this is probably the best of Rosen's pictures that I've seem (he could usually be found grinding out cheap Bowery Boys programmers for Monogram and shoddy jungle pictures, and worse, for PRC). There's a good supporting cast--John Hamilton, George Cleveland, James Flavin--it's well acted, moves like lightning and everything gets wrapped in just about an hour. Location shooting along the California coast helps greatly. A fun picture, definitely worth an hour of your time.

Maybe RKO got caught short by V-E and V-J day but decided to release this wartime propaganda programmer anyway. It's still a clumsy embarrassment all around. Just-demobbed leatherneck Lawrence Tierney spots a comely blonde (Anne Jeffreys) going in for a swim along the Pacific Coast Highway and decides to join her. She's just signed up a secretary to a senator on a hush-hush assignment but both she and her employer are kidnapped by Nazis and replaced by imposters (in her place is Myrna Dell, who looks like she just `bit into a green persimmon'). Tierney spends half the movie in bathing trunks trying to find her even though the police are now after them as a pair of killers. The whole thing looks dark and cheap; not even Jason Robards (Sr.) as an unctuous German helps out. Director Phil Rosen doesn't even attain the level of competence he did in his several Charlie Chan flicks. Step by Step's only virtue lies in eliciting giggles at the awkwardness of its script, its acting, its production values and even its ideology.