When Lloyd Corrigan's drive hooks into the woods, he follows it and, unseen, finds two people burying a corpse. The criminals find the ball and warn him not to go to the police and he worries about his duty and the risk to his daughters, Anita Louise and Terry Moore. Meanwhile, the murders are trying to track down Corrigan, because he's got the plates for their counterfeiting racket in John Sturges' second movie as director.
The most interesting touches to this Columbia second feature mystery is the way that cinematographer Henry Freulich shoots it. The early portions with Corrigan and his family are shot in bright lighting, with some light-hearted banter, while baddies Wilton Graff and Doris Houck are shot in noirish shadows. As the movie progresses and Corrigan's worries and situations worsen, the shadows lengthen and his own world grows dark and the musical cues agitato.
The movie never progresses much beyond its B roots, of a gemutlich, normal family menaced by criminals outside the pale of hard-working, well-meaning law enforcement. Within those confines, however, the cast and crew show themselves capable of good work.
The most interesting touches to this Columbia second feature mystery is the way that cinematographer Henry Freulich shoots it. The early portions with Corrigan and his family are shot in bright lighting, with some light-hearted banter, while baddies Wilton Graff and Doris Houck are shot in noirish shadows. As the movie progresses and Corrigan's worries and situations worsen, the shadows lengthen and his own world grows dark and the musical cues agitato.
The movie never progresses much beyond its B roots, of a gemutlich, normal family menaced by criminals outside the pale of hard-working, well-meaning law enforcement. Within those confines, however, the cast and crew show themselves capable of good work.