Film Noir about the bookmaking rackets in Los Angeles. I DVR'd it off of TCM months ago and finally watched yesterday. Enjoyable film that rolls along. Changes the names but I'm suspecting the characters are based on the big names of LA around that era. Bugsy, Mickey, etc. They refer to a national syndicate based in Cleveland (based on Dalitz and co?). A lot of great outdoor shots of mid century Los Angeles. One thing great about a lot of the noir films, many were shot on location instead of on studio lots. Makes the films age so much better.

Thanks for the tip OAF, I love the oldies as well..

Have you seen Mob City with Jon Bernthal? Was a recent show, but also about the late 40's in L.A. with Dragna, Siegel and Cohen as characters. Very film noir feel to it, was cancelled after just 1 season unfortunately. It wasn't on Breaking Bad, Wire or Sopranos level, maybe not even on the level of a show like Ray Donovan, but I liked it nevertheless..

I remember not liking the first episode of Mob City. I really want to see the Coen Bros. do a movie about that era in LA, primarily about the gangsters. Almost every movie and tv show about that time in LA is mostly about the cops.

This is in my top 5 favorite Noir films. If I remember right English who helped write the script was known to bet on the horses, and play cards with some of the Jewish mobsters in L.A. and L.V. as well as being an acquaintance of Virginia Hill.

Yeah, I get the feeling that the people behind this knew a thing or two. This was 1950, just as the Kefauver hearings were in motion, so a lot of the material they covered wasn't exactly common knowledge yet.

I think the characters are each based on a few different people. The hitman who works out of a clothing store on Sunset calls back Micky Cohen's clothing store on Sunset. The hitman was Italian, of course.

I'm going to end up watching this one a few times. btw, I was thinking the girl who the main character likes, the one beaten by her jealous syndicate boyfriend, was based on Virginia Hill.