In England during the war, John Graham (Robert Preston) works to decode enemy communication. A couple hits and runs on his beloved pregnant wife. They callously run her over to death in order to escape. With the car's license plate, he tracks down the killers without telling the police.
I really wish that she could fall more naturally. Carol's fall is almost comical when the scene calls for something brutal and devastating. Backing up over her is utterly barbaric. It's a sequence that needs to be executed at a high visual level. It's her fall. She can't be doing the silly girlie fall.
After that, the film brings out John's single-minded determination. He's like a British shark locked on his target. The police investigation is a lot less compelling. It's uncovering things that the audience already knows. It is interesting to have the police get ahead of John but the revenge climax is problematic and conveniently staged. The movie is better off staying with John as he burns a path of destruction searching for that woman. That would have been amazingly brutal. It needs to follow the brutal example of running over that boxer guy. It's such a compelling scene. It's savagery at its finest. If only, the movie could maintain that level for the full length.
