Private Hell 36

Strangely paced but generally effective film noir with clever echoes of Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment", about an unprincipled cop (Steve Cochran) who tries to get his honest partner (Howard Duff) to go along with making off with $80,000 in stolen loot.

Co-written by twitchy, slinky actress Ida Lupino, who gives herself a juicy part, it moves along in fits and starts but has a kind of wobbly, dizzy energy that exerts a certain pull. Sort of like an ice skater that trips up a couple times in the middle of her routine, but gamely sees it through to the end.

I've seen Steve Cochran now in three films ("Tomorrow is Another Day", and "I, Mobster" being the others) and it's clear that he was an actor in command of his craft. He had a very sly, sturdy appeal; he always seems to be laying back, calculating the odds, sizing up the other guy (or girl), figuring his chances. Watching his and Lupino's verbal chess match after they first meet and he is questioning her about what she knows, is pretty close to acting heaven.

It all leads up to a nifty, suitably stark finish, and an arresting closing shot.