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Crime Wave (The City is Dark) (1954)

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Movie Info

A car with two men visible in it pulls up to a Los Angeles service station at night, with a single attendant (Dub Taylor) working. As he starts to pump the gas, he doesn't see the third man come around the side until it's too late and he's knocked cold. The trio carries out their robbery but before they can finish, a motorcycle cop rolls up. A gun battle ensues, and one of the robbers is shot, as is the police officer. Now a manhunt is on for the trio, all escapees from San Quentin who were

Unrated, 1 hr. 14 min.

Drama

Cast

All Critics (8) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (5) | Rotten (1) | DVD (1)

The sense of human vulnerability against hard architecture suggests Lang on a shoestring, but the bleak humanism is all De Toth's

August 26, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion | Comment
CinePassion

Visually brilliant film noir.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television | Comment
Classic Film and Television

A nasty little masterpiece.

August 9, 2007 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid

A neorealist noir gem.

May 22, 2006 Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | Comment
Lessons of Darkness

If the maxim "crime doesn't pay" is noir's given, then Crime Wave spins it to answer "but virtue barely scrapes up a living wage."

May 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

This low-budget B-flick was very entertaining.

May 5, 2003 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment (1)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Crime Wave (The City is Dark)

More heist move/crime caper than film noir. It starts off as one of those early "this is how policework works" half-assed documentaries but eventually turns into a real movie with a narrative story. Pretty unremarkable as an ex con trying to go straight gets sucked into a bank job by guys he served time with. Nothing

July 29, 2007
mjgildea

Super Reviewer

"Crime Wave" (1954): This was something worth my while! I do like many of the quick little noir films, and "Crime Wave" has got to be the perfect example of one. It's not a B-picture, which is probably the reason why it's so good. It's a simple premise-- has-been criminal gets sucked in again after an old buddy gets

August 18, 2011

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