Sherry Conley (Ginger Rogers) has served four years in prison, when she is taken from the jail to a swanky New York City hotel by police officer Vince Striker (Brian Keith) and prison guard Willoughby (Katherine Anderson). Both are tight lipped as to the reason. However, it is clear that Sherry is in a Tight Spot (1955) when Lloyd Hallett (Edward G. Robinson) informs Sherry of the murder of her friend, Pete Tonelli (Alfred Linder). Tonelli was about to testify against gang leader Benjamin Costain (Lorne Greene), and Hallett wants Sherry to finish the job.
This is a tidy film, with a nice twist in the end that you really don't see coming. It's well cast and well-acted, with an engaging performance from a character actor - more on that later.
With a short, blonde hairstyle and severe clothing, Ginger Rogers looks much older than her 45 years. She looks hard, as her character should be, though at times she uses that baby voice that she sometimes exhibits when she wants the character to be naive or innocent. Ms. Rogers is much too old for the role - Sherry should be hardened by prison life, but she also was supposed to have been a young girl who got caught up with a gangster. As the film opens, Sherry is by no means an innocent and while Ms. Rogers gives a decent portrayal, but this is no where near her best role.
Brian Keith is convincing as the police detective assigned to transport and protect Sherry. Mr. Keith does a good job making Vince hard-boiled, but he is equally adept at making him melt as he develops feelings for his charge.
Brian Keith, the son of noted character actor Robert Keith, started his career in a few silent films as a small child (one featured his father), and in a bit part in Knute Rockne All American (1940). He then began a new job - four years in the Marine Corps as an air gunner. His return saw him in bit parts in a few more films, then on to Broadway, where, as Bob Keith, Jr. he appeared as part of the ensemble in the play Mister Roberts (which featured Henry Fonda in the lead - and his dad as Doc). He got roles in television episodes at this point, finally getting fourth billing in the film Arrowhead (1953). More television and several more films - including The Violent Men (1955), Nightfall (1957), and Storm Center (1957). But it was, perhaps, his role as Mitch in The Parent Trap (1961) that endeared him to a generation. It was this part that may have helped him to get the television series for which he is most remembered - Family Affair (1966). He continued to work in films and television until his death from suicide (his daughter had recently died, and he was suffering from emphysema) in 1997.
Edward G. Robinson is also good as the District Attorney who has pinned his hopes of deporting Costain on Sherry, though there is a hole in his plot line. Why, we wondered, would he approach this woman to testify against Costain, with no offer in hand? One would think that he would arrive with a promise of some reward for her danger, rather than just some lame appeal to her nobility. Mr. Robinson was at a low point in his career at this juncture. He'd been caught up in the McCarthy blacklist, and as he put it, he "entered the 'B' picture phase of my career." (TCM article) Regardless, there is not an actor one looks forward to seeing more in a film than Mr. Robinson.
Lorne Greene is decidedly despicable as the gangland thug out to get Sherry before she can get him. Mr. Greene was two years from playing the ultimate good guy - Ben Cartwright in Bonanza. Also worthy of note is the performance of Katherine Anderson as the prison guard, Willoughby. Her's is a different kind of prison matron - she's kind and caring. Her affection for Sherry is evident from the minute we see her, and Ms. Anderson makes the character both memorable and engaging.
There is a theme that runs through the film - Sherry (who has been out of the world for four years) wants to watch television. But, every time she puts it on, all she can find is a telethon, hosted by a cowboy singer. This was, of course, a dig at television, which had become the rival of the movie industry, and at television's penchant for telethons in the 1950s (AFI catalog). We should note that the film was set in New York City, which, in 1955 had six television stations (not two)!
The original Broadway play on which this film is based, Dead Pigeon (which featured Lloyd Bridges, Joan Lorring, and James Gregory), was inspired by Virginia Hill's testimony to the Kefauver Committee ("Gang Busters: The Kefauver Crime Committee and the Syndicate Films of the 1950s" by Ronald W. Wilson in Mob Culture: Hidden Histories of the American Gangster Film) [For more on Virginia Hill, see this bio].
New York Times review by H.H.T. (Henry Howard Thompson) called this "a pretty good little melodrama, the kind you keep rooting for..." and the book Dreams and Dead Ends: The American Gangster Film, 2nd ed. (by Jack Shadoian) says it is "a B gem that bears repeated viewings." We agree, and suggest you keep your eyes open for a it to appear on a TV set near you. In the meantime, here's a scene where Ginger Rogers talks to Brian Keith:
