get to the bag first. Still, Harkley succeeds. Arriving at the train station, Moralas chases down Harkley, apprehends him, and takes him into custody. Morales tells the police to stop looking for Shanway. He calls Shanway's wife over the phone, telling her that her husband is freed of all charges. Mrs. Shanway can only respond with glassy-eyed silence. Cast Ricardo Montalbán as Lieutenant Peter Moralas Sally Forrest as Grace Shanway Bruce Bennett as Dr. McAdoo, of Harvard Medical School Elsa Lanchester as Mrs. Smerrling, the landlady Marshall Thompson as Henry Shanway, Grace's husband Jan Sterling as Vivian Heldon, bar-girl and murder victim Edmon Ryan as James Joshua Harkley Betsy Blair as Jackie Elcott Wally Maher as Tim Sharkey Ralph Dumke as A Tattooist Willard Waterman as A Mortician Walter Burke as An Ornithologist Don Shelton as A District Attorney Reception According to MGM records the film earned $429,000 domestically and $346,000 foreign, resulting in a loss of $284,000. Critical response Time magazine called it a "low-budget melodrama without box-office stars or advance ballyhoo [that] does not pretend to do much more than tell a straightaway, logical story of scientific crime detection" but notes that "within such modest limits, Director John Sturges and Scripters Sydney Boehm and Richard Brooks have treated the picture with such taste and craftsmanship that it is just about perfect." The New York Times called it "an adventure which, despite a low budget, is not low in taste or its attention to technical detail, backgrounds and plausibility" with a performance by Montalban that is "natural and unassuming." Honors Nominated Academy Awards: Best Writing, Motion Picture Story, Leonard Spigelgass; 1951. References External links 1950 films 1950 crime drama films American black-and-white films American crime drama films Film noir Films directed by John Sturges Films set in Boston Films set in Massachusetts Films shot in Massachusetts Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films