When vicious killer Arnold Kluger (Charles McGraw) and his pals escape from Folsom Prison, they go after the detective (Michael O'Shea) and the DA (Frank Conroy) who put Kluger in prison in the fist place.The two, plus a woman Kluger thinks ratted him out are holed up with the men in a desert shack where Kluger and his pals are to be picked up by another confederate, Anthony.Michael O'Shea plays a police officer who, with is wife, is awaiting the birth of their child. He's not supposed to be out on the street but to his wife's chagrin, he runs out when he learns of Kluger's escape, only to be captured by him. At first, Kluger makes him call in as if all is well.Virginia Grey is the woman Kluger thinks betrayed her, and she spends most of the movie screaming and crying to let her leave. Meanwhile the officer and DA are tied up in the next room after being taken to this out of the way cabin. Not looking good.Charles McGraw is dynamite in this film, incredibly mean, without one drop of human kindness. As someone on the board pointed out, people like this exist, making the story scarier. He's absolutely frightening because he's capable of anything.If you're a baby boomer, you'll recognize the voice of Inspector Henderson from Superman right away, Robert Shayne as Police Inspector Murphy. The man worked into his nineties but is probably best remembered as Henderson. The film was made in 1949, and most if not all of these actors wound up in television.Michael O'Shea was always likable, and he's no different here, playing a police detective who keeps his cool. Married to Virginia Mayo, the two did a lot of theater together, and after he retired he became a plainclothes CIA operative.Virginia Grey was a good actress and a lovely one, though this role called for her to be hysterical a good part of the time.This is a short film that packs a wallop - a real wallop. Very hard- hitting.

As a general rule, the only people who are allowed to be good with guns in a movie belong to one of three categories: (1) policemen and other law enforcement officials, as well as prosecuting attorneys; (2) criminals and immoral women; and (3) military personnel, including veterans. But civilians who own guns usually just get themselves killed. If the civilian does not buy the gun himself, but simply gains possession of it somehow, he is allowed to use the gun effectively. But if he buys the gun himself, he is doomed. In short, movies tend to support the position of gun-control advocates, who argue that civilians are more likely to hurt themselves by owning a handgun. Those, on the other hand, who believe that it is a good idea for civilians to own a gun, who support the idea of the armed citizen, will often be exasperated by the way civilians are portrayed in movies as being incompetent with guns that they own. But this movie is the absolute worst of them all in this regard.Kluger, who was on death row in Folsom Prison, manages to escape. He had sworn revenge against the detective who arrested him and the prosecuting attorney who convicted him, and soon kidnaps them, along with Carol, the girlfriend of his partner Tony, because he suspects her of informing on him. Kluger and his two henchman, Nick and Lefty, pack up their captives and a lot of stuff, and put them in a moving van so they can drive to a place and meet up with Tony. That is where the civilian comes in. His name is Joe, and he owns the moving van, which he is forced to drive. And he owns a gun.Joe is supposed to drive the van with Lefty sitting in the cab with him. Everyone else is hidden in the van. Just before Lefty gets in the cab, Joe lowers his visor and grabs his gun. He could easily shoot Lefty and then take off running, but he chickens out and puts the gun back. Later, they come upon a roadblock, where there are several cops looking for Kluger. One of the cops opens the door of the cab to talk to Joe. All Joe would have to do is dive out of the cab and let the cops take care of Lefty, but he just sits there instead. Never mind that Kluger, known to be a vicious killer, is not going to let him live once he is no longer useful, and so Joe has nothing to lose by making a break for it, he is apparently too timid to risk it.When they stop at a filling station for gas, Joe retrieves his gun and hides it on his person while Lefty is dealing with a policeman. He should do something right then, but he doesn't. Eventually, they arrive at a cabin, where they wait for Tony. While everyone is asleep, Joe pulls out his gun. He should just start shooting, but he wakes everyone up instead. Oh well, at least he has the drop on them. He can get the detective and the prosecutor in the next room to take their guns away from the gangsters and all will be well. But Kluger starts walking toward Joe, talking to him in a soothing tone of voice, saying it was a mistake to pull out the gun. "Come on, give it here," Kluger says, as he gently reaches out his hand and takes the gun away from Joe without any resistance. "Now, isn't that better?" Kluger asks. Joe smiles and says, "Yeah." And then Kluger shoots him.Joe gets the award for being the biggest loser civilian with a handgun in cinematic history. Once the audience has been taught the lesson that it is a mistake for a civilian to buy a gun and try to use it to defend himself, the rest is just routine. The only people left are those who movies allow are capable of using a gun, and so it is just a matter of time before one of them gets his hands on a gun and uses it competently. As it turns out, Carol, who is qualified to use a gun on account of her being a cheap gangster's moll, picks up Kluger's pistol and points it at him. This time Kluger knows he is in trouble, because she is not a spineless civilian like Joe, whom he can coax the gun away from. He begs for mercy, but she puts two slugs in him, and it's all over.

CHARLES McGRAW is not the first name you think of when it comes to actors who specialized in good film noirs during the '40s and '50s, but in THE THREAT he shows why he was one of the best in this genre.McGraw is an ex-convict who kidnaps a D.A. (FRANK CONROY), a policeman (MICHAEL O'SHEA) and a singer (VIRGINIA GREY) to get even with them, his revenge motive. Pretty JULIE BISHOP is O'Shea's worried wife.There's not a wasted moment of running time in the brisk one hour and six minute film. It starts with the prison break, proceeds with the kidnapping and the suspense remains taut during the police investigation and chase. It was obviously filmed on a low budget, but the B&W photography is crisp and all the performances are first rate. RALPH BYRD as a thug and VIRGINIA GREY as the captive girlfriend do well in good supporting roles.It's McGraw who makes the strongest impression as a steely-eyed killer, especially during the tense closing scenes with the captives held at gunpoint. Well worth watching.

"The Threat" is an effective "B" film noir that is kind of a junior league "White Heat" with Charles McGraw starring as an escaped killer seeking vengeance on those who sent him up. The storyline is relatively clever and the threadbare production values are easily overlooked due to the earnest acting and fast pace.McGraw was so evilly convincing as the heavy that RKO subsequently signed him to a seven-year contract and starred him in "Armored Car Robbery", "Roadblock" and "The Narrow Margin". When you consider that this picture was shot in under three weeks with a total budget of $221,000, it is quite an achievement for director Felix Feist.One doesn't have to be 8 years old to appreciate economical film making that rises above the typical RKO "B" film sausage grinding of the time.