cast instead. Henreid says Eagle Lion were unhappy with Sekely's direction, so they replaced him with Henreid. Reception Henreid says the film did well at the box office but the film was linked financially with three other movies from star producers. None of these did well so Henreid saw no profits. Critical response The New York Times critic Thomas M. Pryor called it "an adequate examination of an intelligent criminal type. There is not quite enough logic in the plot to enable it to stand up under scrutiny, but the story moves along briskly, the performances are sound and there is always the promise of more violence just around the corner." Alain Silver in Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style notes "As in many of these B thrillers, the plot is contrived although the film's conclusion is as downbeat as any noir film since Scarlet Street." See also List of films in the public domain in the United States References External links 1948 films 1948 crime drama films American crime drama films American black-and-white films Film noir Films based on American novels Films about gambling Films directed by Steve Sekely Eagle-Lion Films films Films scored by Sol Kaplan 1940s English-language films 1940s American films