Cry Vengeance (1954)

What do you do when you get framed for bribery, your face is disfigured and your wife and child are killed? You seek revenge, even if it takes you to Ketchikan, Alaska. Mark Stevens (THE DARK CORNER, THE STREET WITH NO NAME) both stars and makes his directorial debut with a cheapie BIG HEAT knockoff, but it's a tasty little morsel. Stevens gives the best performance I've seen from him, cold and intense, and leads a mighty fine cast of B-roster supporting players. The characters are so engaging that the deaths are tangibly felt by the viewer. Pretty much everyone in this movie is fun to watch, especially Skip Homeier as the suave, menacing gangster and Joan Vohs as his conflicted moll. Even the little girl is good. The film has a terrific rough-and-tumble attitude, with biting dialogue, dark morality, smoky jazz in nightclubs and cheap dives, and lots of fist fights. There's some good exploration of ethical grey area. It could use a little more directorial finesse, but for a first effort it's not too bad and sports a couple of well-shot sequences. Maybe not one of the greats, but it packs a good noir punch.

Here is another off the radar Noir, its not listed in the Encyclopedic Reference to American Film Noir but its no doubt a Noir though "noir light" most of the action takes place in Ketchican, Alaska and the film has great locations and action sequences using the town and its environs making full use of the vertical aspect of the town, its waterfront docks and the paper mill.Story is ex cop Vic Barron (Stevens) was not only framed (and sent up for 3 years) by the mob, but also had his face partly blown off while his wife and child were killed in a a car explosion, is out of prison and looking for vengeance. He's looking for mob boss Morelli (Kennedy) who has changed his name and is living as a model citizen with is young daughter and a bodyguard in Ketchican. Mob hit man Roxy (Hormeier) is sent by San Francisco racketeer to take care of all three. Martha Hyer & Cheryl Callaway provide some nice eye candy, the daughter of mob boss takes a liking to Barron a bit too easily (different times compared to today's zeitgeist of not trusting strangers) but its nothing that will detract from the film if you keep the times in mind, streaming on Netflix

Well, me being a resident of Ketchikan, Alaska my entire life, am amazed. I just watched this film about 2 weeks ago, and I think it was awesome. The areal shots of the town are really neat. Now, of course, the city has changed quite abit, but its still neat to see historic Ketchikan in a great film. For those of whom that have seen this movie, the house that it was shot in just recently burned down. That was sad, because obviously it was a very historic house. I would suggest that everyone see this film. It was awesomely filmed, and it is very entertaining. Also, if you are ever in the Ketchikan area, hit it up! Anyway, thats all I have to say.

I can't say this was a great film, nor can I recommend it to anyone who does not have a familiarity with Ketchikan, Alaska, where it was filmed. Without a tender place in your heart for Alaska's first city, this film will probably not seem too keen to you.But, if you have lived in Ketchikan for any length of time it is a lot of fun to see your hometown as it was nearly 50 years ago. I know this excludes most everyone out there, but hey, I am not recommending it to most everyone. If you know and love Ketchikan, check it out, you will get a kick out of it. Otherwise, skip it.