- Title: Dead Reckoning
- IMDb: link
Things start innocent enough with decorated WWII soldiers Murdock (Humphrey Bogart) and Drake (William Prince) are brought back from Paris to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Medal of Honor respectively. Panicking before the pair reach Washington D.C., Drake runs from the train and leaves his old war buddy holding the bag at a loss to make sense of the situation.
Murdock follows clues back to his friend’s home town where he discovers Drake’s secret, meets the dangerous woman (Lizabeth Scott) who turned his life upside down leading to his enlistment under an assumed name, and gets on the wrong side of her boss (Morris Carnovsky), a crooked club owner and mobster. While searching for his friend, Murdock will fall for Coral (Scott) as well, break into a safe, be framed for murder, avoid problematic questions from the police, be knocked around by henchmen, and learn, almost too late, what he’s walked into.
Originally intended for Rita Hayworth in the Coral role, Dead Reckoning is a classic film noir with Scott (viewed as a lesser version of Lauren Bacall), and the somewhat convoluted script, taking much of the brunt of mixed reviews while most praised Bogart stepping back into the kind of bruised-and-battered tough guy role he played so well. Nobody would confuse Dead Reckoning for Bogart’s best, but there’s still enough classic noir trappings to enjoy.
