Director Anthony Mann orchestrates a satisfying film noir in this tale about young deliveryman Steve Ryan (Ed Kelly), who’s framed for a robbery he didn’t commit — and the subsequent murder of a cop. While his sister (Sheila Ryan) and hard-boiled police detective Mickey Ferguson (Hugh Beaumont) work to clear Steve’s name, the bona fide bad guy (John Ireland) is on the loose, sadistically perfuming his bullets before each new kill.
Anthony Mann (June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American actor and film director.
Born Emil Anton Bundsmann in the Point Loma area of San Diego, Mann was the son of an Austrian immigrant, Emile Theodore Bundsmann, and Bertha Waxelbaum of Macon, Georgia.
Mann started out as an actor, appearing in plays off-Broadway in New York City. In 1938, he moved to Hollywood, where he joined the Selznick International Pictures.
Mann became an assistant director in 1942, directing low-budget assignments for RKO and Republic Pictures.
Mann was respected for his acute visual sensitivity toward the American Western landscape, effortlessly blending natural vistas with human drama. Mann’s dramas verged on classical tragedy, often showing anguished heroes attempting to resolve personal pain and confusion.
In 1967, Mann died from a heart attack in Berlin, Germany while filming the spy thriller A Dandy in Aspic. The film was completed by the film’s star, Laurence Harvey… read more