CRIME WAVE (1953)

Three escapees from San Quentin (Ted de Corsia, Nedrick Young, Charles Buchinsky aka Bronson) pull off a string of two-bit robberies and murders to mislead the cops as they prepare for a big bank heist. They need Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson), a Quentin parolee living the straight life as an airplane mechanic and pilot, to fly them to Mexico. Lacey refuses, but the bad guys hold his cute wife (Phyllis Kirk), leaving her hostage in the tender care of Timothy (Eternal Lunatic) Carey. Meanwhile, ultra-hardass LAPD Lt. (Sterling Hayden), who's already onto the scheme, tries to force Lacey to rat them out. Director Andre De Toth keeps up the pace and the unbearable pressure on Lacey to build up a first-class film noir with a nice twist at the end. He assembled a choice bunch of plug-uglies and other colorful characters (Dub Taylor, Jay Novello, James Bell), working with a snappy script and giving their all, especially di Corsia, Eternal Thug with Leadership Qualities. Hayden, just about my favorite actor of that era, is perfect for his role. This movie is a little (73 minutes) gem.