Tight little low budget thriller from talented journeyman director Phil Karlson. Ginger Rogers plays a gangsters moll who's in protective custody until she can testify in court. Brian Keith plays the cop assigned to protect her and the great Edward G. Robinson is along for the ride as well. This one isn't a film noir classic, but it's solid entertainment that's a great showcase for Rogers, who would soon after stop appearing in films all that much, likely due to sexist Hollywood not wanting 40something actresses in leading roles.

This is one of the best roles in the latter portion of Ginger Rogers' career. She is an incredibly earthy and entertaining bad girl--complete with a nice accent and a lot of sass. While a somewhat similar role was given to her a decade earlier with "Roxy Hart", this film was pretty awful and lacked any sense of believability. In "Tight Spot", however, she gives a first-rate performance in a film where I expected very little.The film begins with Rogers being taken from her comfy prison cell and she's whisked away to a hotel room. This is because the prosecutor (Edward G. Robinson) is intent on convincing her to testify against a gangster (Lorne Greene). However, she has no intention on making a deal with anyone, as she knows if she testifies she's a dead woman.Assisting Robinson in this is a matron (who you see very little of) and a detective (Brian Keith). Keith seems to have contempt for her and doesn't hide it. However, Robinson treats her like a lady and hopes this will loosen her resolve. A bit later in the film, however, there's an interesting twist, as Keith and Rogers seem to be developing some chemistry. Just at that interesting moment, an assassin is spotted at the window--many floors from the street below. The assassin begins shooting wildly--hitting the matron and Rogers. Rogers miraculously escapes but is even more determined not to testify. What happens next was really exciting and quite a twist. However, I'll say more, as I don't want to ruin the film for you.Overall, this is a very well written noir-like film. Tough dialog and some nice surprises make this one worth seeing--with nice performances all around. A nice little surprise of a film.

As many reviewers have noted, Ginger Rogers was too old to pull off this role, and her career of playing good girls works against her here -- a real "bad girl" type would have helped the believability of the story and character.The location filming in the opening sections is very good, which hurts the film because the over-lit hotel room set where most of the story takes place looks awful in contrast. Phil Karlson directed some decent noir films, so it's a shame that there isn't any inventive lighting to give this stage-bound film some more style.A major problem here is that the characters simply aren't very smart about their situation, so I found myself asking "why don't they do that?" more than once. Lorne Greene is terrific in a small part as the Crime Boss; Brian Keith is good, Robinson is solid but not particularly memorable, and the film has one terrific scene between Ginger and her sister. Otherwise, except for one twist, I found the plot very predictable and I knew exactly how it was going to play out within about 25 minutes. So in the end, it's just okay, but certainly not something I'd ever watch again.

Ginger Rogers sheds her usual movie ways and portrays a girl surviving a sentence for hiding a criminal. She is offered her freedom if she will testify against someone who the government is trying to get. Problem is that her ex-boyfriend has already taken a fatal bullet on his way to testify.Edward G. Robinson is the D.A. here in this exciting film. There is a marvelous supporting performance by Brian Keith, as the cop, assigned to watch her. Naturally, romance blooms and there is quite a surprise waiting for viewers when we realize who he really is in this film.Here is a girl telling those in prison to keep their mouths shut and do as little as possible. "Never volunteer" is her motto. How quickly the situation and her beliefs change.As Sherry Conley, Rogers depicts a girl whose environment led her astray. The film is well worth catching.