Appointment with Crime

Right before the final few moments of 1946's "Appointment with Crime," I realized I saw it many, many years ago - the final scene is very striking.

William Hartnell plays Leo Martin, who went along with a robbery scheme and was badly injured and wound up in prison while the other perps went free. When he is released from prison, he plans his revenge.

One of his ex-partners, Loman (Raymond Lovell) runs a dime a dance joint. Leo wants a job from him and subsequently learns that the job, a jewelry store robbery, was actually planned by someone else - Gregory Lang (Herbert Lom), an art dealer.

Leo comes up with a way of framing Loman for the murder of the other partner, and then blackmailing Lang, whose gun was used. He also gives himself a great alibi for the murder. At the time it occurred, he was at the dance club monopolizing the time of Carol (Joyce Howard).

Lom is appropriately classy and slimy at the same time. Hartnell is scarily effective and manages to talk without moving his mouth very much.

I have been working off of a list of noirs and near-noirs - many of them atrocious - and this is a cut above those I've seen.