Good noir film based on the Cornell Woolrich novel “The Black Path Of Fear.”
Chuck Scott (Robert Cummings) is out of the Navy, in Miami and broke. He finds a wallet with some cash and treats himself to breakfast. He sees the owners name and address in the wallet and decides to go to his house and return it.
Things look a bit strange as he’s finally let in. Gino (Peter Lorre) takes him back to see the owner, Eddie Roman (Steve Cochran). Before they get there, Roman is getting a haircut and manicure. When he makes a sudden move, the manicurist accidentally stabs his finger. He slugs her. The female barber leads her out and Gino and Chuck come in. Chuck returns the wallet. Gino sneers and calls him a sucker. Eddie sneers and calls him an honest guy. He hires him as his chauffeur.
Businessman Emmerrich Johnson (Lloyd Corrigan) comes over for dinner. Eddie wants to buy two of his ships. He wants a decision on the spot. Johnson wants time to make a decision. Eddie asks him if he wants to see his wine cellar. He says yes. Uh-Oh.
Eddie’s wife Lorna (Michele Morgan) likes to be driven to the beach at night. She also wants out and asks Chuck to get her to Havana. The next day he buys two tickets on a ship. There’s only a single cabin. Chuck likes that. Lorna doesn’t mind either. That night, they take off. When he doesn’t answer his phone, Gino investigates. Chuck’s gone but the idiot left a travel folder in the wastebasket. He shows it to Eddie. He doesn’t seem to care.
Chuck and Lorna arrive in Havana. They plan to keep sailing to South America. Their guide strands them but they have an hour or so before the ships sails so the two stop into a nightclub for a drink. A photographer takes their picture. Lorna falls. There’s a knife in her back. Chuck’s arrested. Later, he escapes.
And then……..
Jack Benny’s announcer Don Wilson has a bit part as Fats. Michele Morgan appeared in many movies and TV shows in her native France from 1935-1999.
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