Tuesday's Forgotten Movies: Cry Danger Starring Dick Powell

This fairly suspenseful, well-made 1951 crime drama stars Dick Powell as Rocky Mulloy, an ex-con who is sprung from prison when a former Marine (Richard Erdman) steps up and offers him an alibi for an old stickup that went south. Rocky's partner Danny is still in the slammer, so Rocky wants to do some checking around since he was framed for the stickup where a guard was shot and killed. Danny's wife played by the gorgeous and talented Rhonda Fleming is also Rocky's old flame, so he's still stuck on her. Fleming deserves mention here again as one of the most underutilized actresses of her era. William Conrad plays the big shot crime chief who sent Rocky up the river. I always think of Conrad as the TV private eye Cannon, not as a villain. Powell is low-keyed, smooth, and tough, as he always is in these crime movies. He gets to say lots of snappy hardboiled dialogue that isn't too corny. Regis Toomey plays the tenacious cop who wants to recover the stolen 100 grand. Lots of great photography is shown of 1950s Los Angeles locales, including a trailer park. It was fun to watch a great cast deliver a solid movie that while not flashy or violent was still entertaining.