Review: Crime Wave

A gang of escaped cons (including Ted de Corsia and Charles Bronson) try to drag recently reformed criminal Gene Nelson (yeah, the guy who directed a couple of crappy Elvis vehicles) into their mess when they need a place to hide out after a bungled robbery leaves a cop dead and one of their own in similar condition. Sterling Hayden is the aggressive, cynical cop who doesn’t believe prisoners can reform, and pressures Nelson to co-operate with the fuzz. However, when a threat is made close to home (that would be wifey Phyllis Kirk), it seems like Nelson has no choice but to take part in the crims’ latest scheme. Timothy Carey is supremely entertaining as a dope addict creep-o henchman, and Dub Taylor has a fun role at the beginning as an unfortunate gas station attendant.

 

1954 Andre de Toth (“House of Wax” being his career highlight) B-grade crime flick has its admirers and some fine elements, but Hayden’s typically overbearing dumb thug performance (he even chews toothpicks, to kick his cigarette habit. Yawn!), Nelson’s blatant miscasting, and a generally unsurprising, unoriginal script hold it back. The supporting cast is top-flight, though, with intimidating Bronson and celebrated nutjob Carey stealing scenes, and some fine work by veteran hood de Corsia (as the mastermind of the whole operation) and (more briefly) Taylor, in the excellent opening scene.

 

Gritty and sometimes realistic, but overall, not all that memorable. Dull main characters played by Hayden, Nelson, and Kirk are a major problem. Scripted by Crane Wilbur (writer-director of the botched “The Bat”, and writer of the much better “House of Wax”, and “The Mad Magician”), Bernard Gordon (“55 Days at Peking”), and Richard Wormser (whose story “The Road to Carmichael’s” was turned into “The Big Steal” with Robert Mitchum), from a story by John Hawkins and Ward Hawkins (who both wrote the short story that “The Killer is Loose” with Joseph Cotten was based on). Watch “The Asphalt Jungle”, “The Killing”, or “Heat” instead.

 

Rating: C+

 

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