Quem com Ferro Fere

Robert Sterling (Jeff) is a loud-mouthed, brash prisoner who gets the treatment that he deserves whilst staying in prison. He engineers an escape with Dan Dailey (Dinkie) who is part of an organized gang that the police have been trying to smash for a while. However, Sterling isn't who he seems to be and he is put into a difficult situation with the arrival of Donna Reed (Maria). She is looking for her brother - guess who - yep, it's psycho-man Dailey - and she finds out the truth about her brother and Sterling. During all of this, the police have only one mission - to stop Dailey's gang.

This is an entertaining fast-paced film with the best performances coming from Dailey and Reed. Sterling is way over-the-top at the beginning of the film and quite annoying. Similarly, Charles Winninger is annoying as he provides needless comedy as a drunk doctor. The film never drags and so must be given credit although the love affair between Reed and Sterling is somewhat unconvincing, especially at the end of the film when she would HATE him. As it is, we get some cuddly stuff.

The ending is quite tense as we follow Dailey into a dancehall and we realize that his time is up. It's obviously influenced by Dillinger's last moments as he was staked out and then shot down as he left a cinema. They even give Dailey a dolly-bird escort as he leaves the venue, just as Dillinger left with his dolly-bird, although in Dillinger's case she was implicated in his betrayal. Nothing of that sort here but we do get a shoot-out.