AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Ed-Shullivan Who does not love a good suspense/mystery? I for one really enjoy a good film noir especially when the opening sequence captures an audience's attention within the first five minutes without even uttering a single word. This is a film that you cannot leave the room for even a minute because if you do, you will certainly miss a key piece of this films centerpiece, which is a map containing the location of dozens of untapped oil fields worth millions of dollars.There are plenty of evil doers trying to pull a fast one on each other in the hopes of netting themselves the one map that holds the locations of dozens of oil fields. But as tough guy detective Dan Hammer (Pat O-Brien) soon finds out while trying to protect a client of his named Hasso (Marc Krah) who happens to be a murderer himself from his other enemies one of which named Walter Gredson (Jerome Cowan) also pays Hammer to locate the map before anyone else can get their hands on it.This is a cat and mouse game that also includes a gorgeous cabaret singer named Maxine (Anne Jeffreys) who is working incognito for her so called fiance Walter Gredson, but soon falls head over heels for the smooth talking, hard swinging detective Dan Hammer. Besides the cat and mouse game I was impressed by Hammer's guard dog who always laid directly in front of Hammer's office doorway but yet the bad guys were neither intimidated by Hammer's dog, nor was Hammer ever forewarned by either a growl, bark or nary a whimper that there is trouble approaching Hammer's doorway. Some guard dog eh? He was adorable and this picture with its mystery and cinematography that reminded me of the next years more successful film (1948) Key Largo is well worth watching.I give Riff Raff seven (7) woofs-woofs, its "howling" good action and mystery to keep you entertained

ksf-2 Anne Jeffreys, Pat OBrien, and Walter Slezak star in the search for a missing passenger. The passenger had a map of valuable oil reserves, but didn't land with the plane in Panama. Of course they question the only other passenger, who claims he knows nothing about it. Then they bring in the private eye (OBrien) to figure out what's going on. Expert viewers will recognize Percy Kilbride as "Pop", the taxi driver, who knows more than he should. He was Pa Kettle for MANY years. It's a decent plot, but everyone keeps getting knocked off, and now Dan, the P.I. is running out of clues. The rest of the story is very typical noir... private eye against thugs, private eye against the authorities. Keeps getting into trouble, keeps getting out of it. Obrien pretty much carries the show.

ThreeGuysOneMovie On occasion I head on over to TCM to see what's on and I walk right into great film that I haven't seen before. This time, I came across Riffraff a little film noir gem that I had never even heard of. The plot of Riffraff is pretty simple. Two men get on a plane headed for Panama. One of the men has a map to some oil locations in Peru. When the plane lands one of the men is missing along with the map. All kinds of seedy characters want the map. So they all seek out the help of Dan Hammer, (could there be a more perfect name for a noir anti-hero?) the local private eye/man about town. Apparently this movie is pretty well known for its opening sequence that involves 6 minutes with dialogue but what sets this film apart is that it has some great acting and some dialogue that you just won't see in movies today. Pat O'Brien is great in lead role. He doesn't really look like the classic tough guy but his performance is definitely a highlight.Walter Slezak does a decent job trying to imitate Sydney Greenstreet and Percy Kilbride is great as the comic relief/older buddy. I was unfamiliar with Anne Jefferys who plays the femme fatale in this one but she really impressed me. My only complaint is that the missing map is hidden in a location that is painfully obvious and it requires a little bit of a suspension of disbelief in order to accept that the characters don't see the map when it is right in front of their faces. Riffraff is definitely not one of the bigger budget noir's of its time but it's a great little B movie and well worth the a watch. Unfortunately, after I watched this I did a little digging around and I couldn't find a DVD release for the movie. I found it on VHS on Amazon but I don't know a single person that still has a VCR. Hopefully someone will release this on DVD soon.

Jed from Toronto I thought I'd seen just about all of the great, dark thrillers made in the late 40s - this little gem was a great surprise! It is well scripted, well acted, fast paced and commands the viewers attention. Walter Slezak is wonderful in his role as villain: fat, sweaty and greedy - what worked for Sidney Greenstreet works equally as well for Slezak. Slezak, who usually played villains and cads, had the knack of winning an audience's affection. Pat O'Brien is excellent in the role, if a little long-in-the-tooth to be courting a 23 year old Anne Jeffrys. Percy Kilbride, of Pa Kettle fame, is fun in his role as a placid yet cunning taxi driver, whose taxi would have been considered ancient, even in 1947. Definitely worth watching if you are a fan of this genre. As an aside, it's great to see that Anne Jeffreys is still very active in acting, and still very beautiful - nearly 60 years after this film was made.