An ex-con (Gene Nelson) with a beautiful wife and a good job sees his future prospects threatened when his old-time criminal partners call on him for help after a botched hold up. Her character (the wife's) is the most compelling, very well acted by Phyllis Kirk, as she fights and does everything she can to save her man, in one scene holding his hand down so he can't answer the ringing black telephone, while we hear her begging him not to answer. Such is the role of fate that the director (Andre de Toth) deftly utilizes, that this turns out to be the one call he should have responded to. At the film's heart is a story that could easily have been sentimentalized, but with such astute characterizations and an eye to keep the camera going from one character and his actions to another, Crime Wave turns out to be a minor masterpiece.