From an original story by Jay Dratler, written by he and Dorothy Davenport, very holey plot is nevertheless fun. Brian Donlevy travels from San Francisco over the Bay to Sausalito, picks up a man who his wife Helen Walker claims (by telephone) is a relative, but he's in fact her lover. He tries to kill the husband but is killed himself. For no apparent reason - OK, he is concussed - Donlevy travels North and ends up in Idaho, where he meets cute garage owner Ella Raines and succumbs to small town charm. But meanwhile the wife is on trial for murdering her husband. So it's all very watchable despite many moments of 'What?'
It was sad to see Anna May Wong in such a small role after her glorious twenties.
Partnership of detective Charles Coburn with 'copper' Raines trying to solve the mystery is the most fun aspect of the film's final third.
With Robert Warwick, Clarence Kolb, Mae Marsh. Philip Ahn, who plays Wong's father, (much on TV 1950-s - 70s, including Kung Fu and MASH) was waiting for his girlfriend Wong when Douglas Fairbanks spotted him and insisted he do a screen test. His contribution here is perhaps a summary of his whole career when Coburn asks him if 'You understandee English?' and Ahn replies, 'Yes, also Italian, French and Hebrew'.
Shot by Ernest Laszlo, with some nice on location stuff, music by Michel Michelet. An independent Harry Popkin production.
The married couple's apartment looks like the same one in Vertigo where Stewart confuses a woman with Kim Novak. It is - The Brocklebank.
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