Crime Wave

Year: 1954

Grade: B+

Country: USA

Director: De Toth

Review

great, sleeper noir with a solid cast. sterling hayden is the detective overseeing a robbery turned murder. gene nelson gets swept up into the dragnet because of his spotty past (he did time with the actual perpetrators of the robbery/murder). charles bronson (one of his first film roles), ted decorsia, and timothy carey are among the gang members who use nelson and his wife while the cops are on their trail. it’s one of those wrong man noirs that gets worse for the protagonist as the film wears on. it does a good job of setting the scene in that the city becomes its own character – the noise, the surrounding unlawfulness, etc. seeps into the story. i also appreciated the sound design which makes it seem as though the film was shot almost entirely on location. the acoustics are such that every space feels small, as if it were filmed in a tin can rather than a controlled sound stage. great stuff.