Customer Reviews

Railroaded [VHS]

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Beautiful Clara Calhoun (Jane Randolph) is both a beautician and bookie, so it is not surprising her boyfriend Duke Martin (John Ireland) is involved with the mob. What is surprising is that he plans on robbing her place. The ill-fated plan blows up in Duke's face, and both his partner, Cowie, and a cop end up dead. But before he dies, Cowie points the finger at Steve Ryan (Ed Kelly), who is arrested by Detective Mickey Ferguson (Hugh Beaumont). This is actually where "Railroaded!" becomes interesting, because the detective falls for Ryan's sister, Rosie (Sheila Ryan), who is trying to get the goods on Duke, who has been busy bumping off everybody who might do exactly that.

The script for this 1947 gangster film has some major holes in it, but "Railroaded!" is worth watching because of the work of director Anthony Mann on this film noir. The dialogue and the acting match each other, which is not a compliment, but seeing Ward Cleaver as a hard-boiled detective is certainly a treat. However, it is Ireland's performance as the crazed killer who likes to perfume his bullets that you will remember. This is not classic film noir, but Mann's visual style is above average for the genre and fans should give this film the once over because there is more than enough here to make this worth your while.