Andre De Toth directed this film noir, shot on real locations. Sterling Hayden stars as no-nonsense police detective Lt. Sims, who is on the trail of three recent prison escapees known to be in the area, since they held up a gas station and shot a motorcycle patrolman. A former con now trying to go straight(played by Gene Nelson) is contacted by both the fugitives and Sims for his help, but all he wants to do is live a quiet life with his new wife(played by Phyllis Kirk), which neither side is willing to do... Marginal film has effective location shooting but a bunch of mostly unsympathetic characters that it is difficult to care about. Charles Bronson costars as one of the hoods.
Review of Crime Wave
