ThiefHott
Too much of everything
Cathardincu
Surprisingly incoherent and boring
Arianna Moses
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
Scott LeBrun
"Crime Wave" is a rock solid little crime melodrama with a cracking pace and a time honoured theme of an ex-con trying to go straight. Its characters are tough and memorable and there are some great moments for not just the leads but the other performers as well. It doesn't have a lot of action but it's just as moody as the best films of its kind and fairly brutal at times. The cast is excellent right down the line; you come to admire Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson) for attempting to get his life back in order and hate his scummy associates for drawing him right back into the crime game.Sterling Hayden is enjoyably cranky, hard-boiled detective Lt. Sims, who subscribes to the idea that "once a con, always a con", and applies it to Lacey, who is visited by thugs including "Doc" Penny (Ted de Corsia), Ben Hastings (Charles Bronson), and Gat Morgan (Nedrick Young). Soon Lacey realizes that he's going to have to go along with Penny and his plans to rob a bank as the gang threatens Lacey's wife Ellen (Phyllis Kirk).This eclectic cast also includes Jay Novello, in a standout supporting performance as slimy veterinarian Otto Hessler, who's tired of humanity and now prefers to tend to the needs of animals, as well as James Bell as Lacey's parole officer, Dub Taylor in a typically hearty turn as a jovial gas station attendant, and legendary eccentric Timothy Carey in a deliciously creepy portrayal of lowlife Johnny Haslett. Bronson is fun as swaggering punk Hastings. Keep an eye out for Hank Worden and Iris Adrian as well.Efficient direction by Andre De Toth (who'd previously worked with Bronson on the horror classic "House of Wax"), impressive hand-held camera-work and use of real L.A. locations all aid in the storytelling in this taut and stylish production.Eight out of 10.
PWNYCNY
This is a good movie. The cinematography and acting are excellent. Sterling Hayden dominates the movie. The on-locations shots of Los Angeles capture the essence of the U.S. urban scene in the early 1950s. This movie is proof that elaborate and expensive sets ate not necessary to produce a solid movie. The close-ups of Phyllis Kirk and Gene Nelson are wonderful. The rest of cast are excellent too. Jay Novello playing the doctor is great casting. And no one could have played Ted de Corsia's part better. This movie shows how excellent casting can lift an otherwise standard crime melodrama to a higher artistic level. The use of black-and-white really works effectively in establishing the mood - somber, gritty, unpretentious. Of course, the movie is also well-directed, proof being the way the story is told - through actions, not narration, and through strong acting. This movie is a cinematic gem.
edwagreen
Dancing movie star tried something different in this 1954 film. As Steve Lacey, married to Phyllis Kirk, he is an ex-convict going straight and living a decent life with a good job. All this changes when his former gang pulls a robbery where a police officer is killed, and the wounded bandit comes to Lacey's home before expiring.Lacey becomes implicated and despite the protestations of a very sympathetic parole officer, he is dodged constantly by officer Sterling Hayden, who is as tough as nails and will never forgive or forget Lacey regarding his past.We have the general hostage situation involving Kirk, when Lacey is forced to drive the get-away car in another bank heist.Notice a very young Charles Bronson, as a violent gang member.The story just shows you how hard it can be for a convict trying to live an honest existence. It's as if he is also being pursued by a Jean Valjean character of "Les Miserables."Hayden shows that he finally has heart by the film's end; so does this film.
MartinHafer
"Crime Wave" is a very good example of a forgotten film noir picture that deserves to be seen. Its strengths are its directness--it is compactly told, brutally violent and lacking in the glamor and glitz you find in some of the 'pretty' examples of noir. Heck, to me noir pictures should NOT be pretty--they need ugly actors, dark camera work and relatively modest production values--not the flashy Hollywood type of actors or sets. In this sense, the film is quite a success--with the most notable actor being the rugged but far from pretty Sterling Hayden (a veteran of noir) and the rather obscure Gene Nelson.The story itself is pretty simple. A gang of vicious robbers commit a strong-arm robbery and kill a cop. One of the gang is mortally wounded in the robbery but manages to make it to the home of an ex-con who lives nearby. The con has gone straight and wants nothing to do with crime--he's happily married and has a decent job. But, when the other two gang members later show up as well and demand he become the new third member of the gang or they'll kill his wife, he's stuck. Should he help them or go to the cops? As for Hayden, he plays an amazingly cynical cop who's tough to like. He is in many ways a jerk--and a lot less likable than the ex-con. I like that juxtaposition and the film is exciting throughout--making it well worth your time.By the way, while not long enough, there's a nice making of DVD extra included with this film as well as the movie "Decoy" on the same disk.
