Fairly good low-budget noir about a train-heist. Problem is that I lost interest in the main character when it is disclosed that he is having an affair with the doctors wife. His wife was so loyal and attentive to him that we lose his motivation as to why we wanted to do the heist. Was he going to leave his wife behind at start a new life with new money? How was he going to deal with the doctor? And why did he murder the plane mechanic? He seems to be such a heel that we don't care what happens to him. Would have been a much better film if the motivation was just the money. Silly requirement to make reviews 10 line minimum! ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES RICH A DULL BOY. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES..

***SPOILERS***One the many film noir "Perfect Crime" movies of the 1950's that turned out to be anything but perfect has hotshot insurance investigator Charlie Norman, Mark Stevens, trying to act like a tough guy but coming across more like the wimpy Filex Unger of the TV show "The Odd Couple". In fact it's Felix's partner it that show Jack Klugman, as Oscar Madison, who's in the movie playing a private ambulance driver, using his car, who's given the 3rd degree by Norman while being interrogated by the police. The movie has to do with a $500,000.00 train robbery that Norman dreamed up involving disbarred, for drinking on the job, surgeon Paul Brucker, Wesley Addy, posing as a doctor trying to help one of the passengers, who's part of the robbery detail, suffering from appendicitis.Right from the start all of Norman's plans go downhill with one of his fellow train robbers getting shot accidentally thus upsetting the time table he set to make a quick getaway south of the border to Mexico. Things get even worse when Brucker going against Norman's orders makes a dash for the Mexican border with his wife and fellow train robber Linda ,the former wife of "The Lemon Drop Kid" himself Jack Lemon, played by Felicia Farr only to get gunned down by the Mexican border guards. As for Norman he secretly had the hots for Linda for some time and decided to take her along with him to Mexico and later Argentina with the stolen money and leave his long suffering wife Ruth played by Marianne Stewart, in being married to the two timing heel,behind. It was in fact Ruth who got the last laugh by mailing the stolen money she was to deliver to him back to it's rightful owner the train company.***SPOILERS*** Better then expected film noir crime drama directed by it's star Mark Stevens who kept the action tight, in not stretching it out, and mood depressing as hell in making losers of almost everyone in the film. It's in the final moments of the movie that Norman got everything he had coming to him as well as lost what turned to be the love of his life Linda who foolishly went along with the jerk in his attempt to escape justice. As for Norman himself he gets his piece of justice from the barrel from the .38 of his good friend train inspector Joe Armstrong, King Calder. It was Armstrong who had figured out his plan, with the help of Norman's soon to be estranged & widowed wife Ruth, of escape and stopped it before he could put it into operation!

Gang executes intricate train robbery, putting two insurance investigators on their trail, with a major twist.At about the time Kubrick was making a reputation with his heist film The Killing (1956), Mark Stevens put together this little gem. Unlike Kubrick's classic, this caper film doesn't rise to semi-artistic heights, but it is tight, tough, and well-acted, with some nice touches. For example, there're the surly baggage handler and the brusque airplane mechanic, both colorful bits that could have easily remained routine. Aben Kandel's script is carefully plotted, dribbling out pieces of information that keep us glued to developments-- plus that great opening hook with its careful staging. But what I especially like is his and Stevens' attention to jilted wife Ruth (Stewart). It would have been so easy to shove this plain-faced woman aside as Stevens cavorts with the lovely Linda (Farr). Instead they play up her heartbreak as this drably devoted wife watches the collapse of everything she holds dear. In my book, it's a sensitive dimension that helps lift this 80- minutes beyond the simply well-crafted.In addition to Stewart's fine performance is King Calder's (Armstong). His humorless, Bassett hound face is perfect for the dogged investigator who knows the importance of visualizing and goes where the evidence takes him, regardless. Look too for Jack Klugman (Frankie) in one of his earliest film roles. Judging from Stevens' list of credits (IMDB), he's one of those contract players trying his best after the break up of the old studio system and the decline of the B-movie. Whatever his later misfortunes (Gunsight Ridge {1957}; Gun Fever {1958})-- he and Kandel team up to score solidly with this overlooked little caper gem.

This is a neat, no-frills thriller about an intricately planned train heist, the turbulent insurance investigator assigned to the case, and his hard-nosed boss whose motto is "There's no such thing as a perfect crime." Filmed in the flat, greyish TV style of the 50s with occasional expressionist touches, it is rife with plot twists and intriguing characters, and features a supporting cast of familiar faces (Alan Reed, Jack Klugman, etc). It should appeal to those who prefer story over stylishness. Tough-guy Stevens starred in several top-notch noirs of the 40s, and directed a couple of good second-feature thrillers in the 50s, including Cry Vengeance.